# NALscribe: live captions — user reviews > 22 indexed App Store user reviews of NALscribe by National Acoustic Laboratories, rated 3.60/5 from 14 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/nalscribe-live-captions/id1578207797/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/nalscribe-live-captions/id1578207797.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 7 · 4★ 1 · 3★ 2 · 2★ 2 · 1★ 2 ## Newest reviews (8 of 22) ### 5/5 — Great app *2024-03-06, version 1.5* Finally a sensible app. For hearing-impaired people who can speak but can no longer hear so well, it is an alternative for communicating and participating in all areas of life without an interpreter. What's more, the app is free, unlike the others that charge high monthly fees. Of course, designing the app costs time and money. We are happy to make a one-off payment that everyone can afford. A few more suggestions for the developer. It would be great if it could automatically recognise and place commas, full stops, question marks etc. in the sentence. It would also be great if speech recognition could recognise speakers. For example, speaker 1, speaker 2 or distinguishing the whole thing by colour. Despite everything, it's already a great app. ### 5/5 — Brilliant app for deaf or hard of hearing *2024-02-08, version 1.5* This app by NALscribe is fantastic because I have very loud tinnitus I have trouble hearing when more than 2 people are in a room so I will switch the app on and catch every word said. ### 5/5 — Excellent App!!! *2024-01-14, version 1.5* If you are hearing impaired, this App is very helpful, thank you NAL :-) ### 5/5 — Absolutely brilliant *2022-01-28, version 1.1.3* Good accuracy. Right then in my phone. A real game-changer! Excellent work! ### 5/5 — Good app :-) *2021-12-01, version 1.1.1* I haven’t gotten much chance to use the app much so far, but this app will definitely help me communicate with friends! However, I would definitely like an option to toggle the profanity filter. ### 5/5 — So Quick!! *2021-11-01, version 1.0* I couldn’t believe how quick it is to convert voice to email text! Imagine?? No lagging behind the conversation!!! ### 5/5 — Easy to use *2021-10-27, version 1.0* So easy to use, and so much better than using a pen and paper! Will use this regularly! ### 5/5 — Game Changer *2021-10-25, version 1.0* I can’t tell you how excited I am to have this app. I have been working for Hearing Australia for 10 years and have resorted to pen and paper many times when verbal communication has been impossible. This app will make such a difference to do many people. It will facilitate easier communication In so many settings, Hearing centres, aged care, banks, retail, health care, any setting where accurate communication is important. I particularly love the adjustable letter size and dark background, do much better for people who may also be vision impaired. Love your work NAL 💙 ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Add manual button to download language model *2023-03-14, version 1.2* Offline mode works fine on an iphone, however on an apple ipad mini, it gives the prompt to use the app for a brief period with offline mode off and while connected to the internet, to download the language model for offline use, but fails to begin the download. Please add manual button to download the language model for offline use, as a client requires this app but cannot set it up on their own due to having no access to the internet. ### 2/5 — Operation problem *2022-05-02* Using iPhone 12 with ios 15.4.1. I am not able to toggle the recorder on/off by pressing the record button or clear the text. Recorder remains on even after closing and reopening the app. Can’t seem to find a way to contact tech support to help wit this annoying problem. Also can’t seem to find a nickname not taken to post review! **Developer response:** Hi Allie’s owner, This app behaviour sounds unusual. Please close the app by swiping up from the bottom of the screen, pausing in the middle of the screen, and then swiping up on the NALscribe preview. This will refresh the app state when reopened and resolve the issue. If you require any further technical support, please don’t hesitate to contact us at feedback@nal.gov.au. Thanks. ### 3/5 — Feature suggestion *2023-12-25, version 1.5* Works great but can I suggest There were times where I would have the app open ready to go yet the person that is speaking to me would not understand why I would have my phone out towards him or her and they would look at the phone or read my previous translated message which is from another person. Despite my attempts to tell him that I am deaf and to say what you talking to me I read here. Perhaps have a message like “The person you are speaking to is deaf. Please speak here and I will translate to text for him to understand you. Thank you.” Or something like that. ### 4/5 — No ads or subscriptions thank god *2025-10-09, version 1.7* Most transcription apps are full of exploitative subscriptions, ads and ai cr*p. This is free. Simple. And works. No fuss. I cannot recommend it enough. Only complaint is turning on offline transcription permanently screws the speech recognition. so the app has to be reinstalled. But that is a minor gripe. ### 5/5 — Appreciation *2026-03-12, version 1.9* Recently Apple did a software update which unfortunately caused great problems for my mother and I. My mother is 87 years of age in a wheelchair with only 5% of Hearing she relies upon this app to communicate with anybody that goes to visit her. I visitor each day. My mother uses an iPhone/iPad a mirror is this onto her 54 inch TV. This way she’s able to read the text in real time and communicate. We’ve also purchased some little microphones. Which we pin to our appelle which gives us even greater control. When visiting the Hospital or doctors mother takes her iPhone I pin the microphone to the doctor or the consultant. And he can then speak to me mother in real time conveying the problems to her directly. Without this app, none of this could be achieved. The software update by Apple unfortunately made it not possible to mirror onto the TV. I contacted the app and within hours received a reply. To say that they were on the job and that they were doing an update. One day later the update was achieved. And we were back on track. I sent this message to them below. Not all heroes wear capes, you have made many people out there very happy, please thank the team for all there hard work, the update works brilliantly thank you 👍 The people that make this happen donate a lot of their time and effort to helping people less fortunate, and I think they do a tremendous job. Thanking the whole team yet again. ### 5/5 — Big help *2025-12-28* It's not 100% but close enough. ### 5/5 — Thank You so much *2025-08-25, version 1.7* A wonderful app – thank you for making it free! It really helps my 86-year-old mother read what we say, and it’s a great support for anyone with hearing impairments. I hope future updates will include features like color-coding for different speakers and quicker adaptation when the speaker changes. ### 5/5 — I love using this app *2024-12-16, version 1.7* NALscribe is one of the best speech to text apps I’ve ever used. Accurate and nice big text font which is fully adjustable. Also has an option for UK English as well as American and Australian. Well done to the developers. ### 5/5 — Good but a suggestion for improvement *2024-10-31, version 1.7* I have just found the NALscribe app and I really like it. I have a suggestion. It would be helpful if the app were to turn upside down when you invert the phone. It would make more sense to point the microphone in the direction of the speaker but as it currently works, the transcription is upside down. So if it were to switch, like a browser screen, the transcription would be the right way up. Thanks for the app ### 5/5 — Simple and accurate *2024-07-14* This is so easy to use, perfect for those who don’t need a lot of bells or whistles (or get confused by too many options), just some help understanding what people are saying. It’s very accurate, the punctuation is surprisingly good (and helpful) - especially love how readable the text is (bright white, large, on a dark background). Thank you!!! ## Most praised reviews (4 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Great way to make communication accessible! *2024-07-08, version 1.6* I have used this app with my older family members as well as customers at work and it is amazing! A great way to ensure you are communicating in an accessible way for friends and colleagues who are hard of hearing! ### 5/5 — Best App for Aussies *2024-04-05, version 1.5* I have been using the NALscribe app for about a year. I am deaf and have tried other apps, but found this one to be perfect for the Australian lingo. I can lip/speech read, but the app helps immensely with lazy speakers, mask wearers and mumblers who are difficult to lip read. My only issue is that sometimes the microphone doesn’t pick up speech and I have to reset the app. It’s probably more a problem with the iPhone microphone than the app itself. I recommend the app. ### 5/5 — Great Little App *2024-03-29, version 1.5* This is a great little app for live transcription. It does exactly what it says on the tin. I particularly like you can change the font size which makes the text very readable ### 5/5 — Sanity saver - great app *2024-03-18, version 1.5* This app has been a sanity saver for me since my elderly father lost his hearing following an operation last year. Being his primary carer and having to attend a high number of health appointments and the likes with dad this app has helped me and others communicate with dad. Before finding this app it was very difficult and time consuming having to write often detailed information down for him. I have to be particularly careful with my diction & make sure I check and edit before showing dad what I said but that is still so much easier than writing everything down. Dads Doctor now uses this app with him & loves it. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-07-31.*