# Spokenly: Audio to Text AI app — user reviews > 175 indexed App Store user reviews of Spokenly by Vadim Akhmerov, rated 4.40/5 from 56 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/spokenly-audio-to-text-ai-app/id6740315592/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/spokenly-audio-to-text-ai-app/id6740315592.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 46 · 4★ 2 · 3★ 0 · 2★ 2 · 1★ 6 ## Newest reviews (16 of 175) ### 2/5 — Don’t understand the mic usage *2026-08-05, version 1.10.2* Coming from Wispr flow and like Spokenly but if you don’t keep the mic on, anytime you try to use voice to text it opens the Spokenly and you have to go back to the app you want to use. If you keep the mic on it uses battery and the mic indicator stays on. Wispr Flow doesn’t seem to suffer from this. ### 4/5 — Records need to be accessible in finder *2026-07-13* UNfortunately, no option after recording to directly access the file, always have to use the search function ### 4/5 — Love it _ seriously needs punctuation & typographical symbols. *2026-07-08, version 2.16.0* Love the near-perfect word match with my voice _ but the app SERIOUSLY NEEDS punctuation & typographical symbols. I still have to type and fix A Lot due to this issue. “hyphen, parentheses” I spoke those words & it spells them out vs. adding the punctuation. ### 2/5 — Mandatory Paywall - Incredible app but so expensive and limited *2026-07-02, version 1.8.0* firstly, yeah, this app is amazing. best one ive used by a country mile. problem is you get x amount of usage (barely any, actually) and you are hit with a £49.99 per 6 months mandatory fee. As far as I can tell, none of the models work until you pay this, and I am not paying £100 a year for a bloody audio transcription app!!!!! modern apps are so upsetting :( just put ads in the thing! ### 4/5 — Brilliant app held back by intrusive prompts *2026-06-19, version 1.7.6* This app is fantastic, and being able to use your own API key is a massive plus. But despite using a third-party key, I am still forced to sit through irrelevant premium nag screens once or twice a day. There is no reason to upgrade when using your own API, so these constant interruptions are just frustrating enough to make me consider deleting it. I did email the developer suggesting a monthly option (say £3) to remove the pop-ups while keeping my own key - a win-win for their revenue and our user experience, but didn't hear back. Currently, it's just too intrusive. ### 4/5 — Limited (not the song) *2026-06-17, version 2.16.0* I’m using this to paste into an email. The speech to text is accurate and immediate. ### 5/5 — Merci *2026-06-04* C'est exactement l'application que je recherchais, c'est-à-dire de Bring Your Own Key. Je voulais implanter ma clé OpenAI et c'est vraiment la seule application qui le fait. J'ai failli le recoder, mais vu que ça existe avec Spokenly, je ne vais pas le faire. Merci beaucoup pour cette application, elle est top 😊. Elle est juste sur le pricing, donc c'est formidable. Merci beaucoup aux développeurs d'avoir créé cette application 🙏. Je suis d'ailleurs en train de dicter ce message avec Spokenly et ma clé OpenAI personnelle. Et un grand merci parce que des applications comme Whisper ont un modèle de pricing vraiment trop élevé. C'est scandaleux de faire des prix comme ça. Donc merci beaucoup aux développeurs. ### 5/5 — Great *2026-06-04, version 1.7.5* Really nice app, I like it because I can customize it to my needs/style, I hope there will be in the future a way to only pickup my voice and block out the background speech. Others also have the same issues which I guess is due to my hardware. ### 4/5 — Great with some caveats *2026-06-03* currently stress testing the app. love that it can work locally or online. i'm currently using a local parakeet model with an API to clean things up. however i'm running into some issues—the dictation itself is pretty good, especially with parakeet. but with the API i'm using, even with the AI prompt and system prompt, the model thinks i'm speaking directly to it. so sometimes instead of transcribing what i'm dictating it gives me a response to what i've said, which is a little bit frustrating. i'm not sure if this is an issue with the spokenly app or with the API model i've chosen. i'm currently using Anthropic's Haiku model. ### 2/5 — Missing language settings *2026-05-29* No option to select language of the local voice models. ### 3/5 — Keyboard dictation doesn't detect audio unless the app is open. And is considered the active app. *2026-05-23, version 1.7.4* No speech detected. ### 5/5 — Sehr tolle App macht genau was sie soll. Vielen Dank *2026-05-22* Ich habe sehr lange gesucht, weil die meisten KI Tastaturen sich auf irgendwelche erweiterten LLM Features zentrieren, die ich nicht brauche. Ich brauche eine Tastatur, die meine Sprache zu Text umwandelt und diesen direkt im aktuellen Eingabefeld einfügt. Das macht die Tastatur sehr gut und sie funktioniert auch mit VoiceOver, vielen Dank weiter so ### 2/5 — Slow *2026-05-21, version 2.16.0* Too slow and does not clean up grammar ### 5/5 — Minha produtividade mudou de forma absurda. *2026-05-20* Inclusive, estou escrevendo esta avaliação usando O próprio app ### 5/5 — Much better than Apple Voice Detection *2026-05-17* I downloaded one of the Nvidia Parakeet local models and have this running in local mode and it works almost perfectly without needing a subscription plan. Although, some of the workflows like using prompts with the dictation, which is very useful, would need a subscription, and I may think about upgrading in the future for that use case. ### 5/5 — After trying multiple apps, this was the clear winner! *2026-05-04* Spokenly was an easy choice for me. My bigger need was desktop dictation, and on my Mac, Spokenly was the clear winner. I love being able to choose different models and create custom prompts, which gives me much more control over the output. What also sets Spokenly apart is that it’s more than just a keyboard. Some competing apps simply install a dictation keyboard, but Spokenly includes a full app with useful features that stand on their own, in addition to the keyboard. In short, it offers a lot more than many of its competitors, and I really like that. It’s also priced extremely competitively — about a third less than many similar tools — and I personally like it better than the more expensive options. That made the decision simple. Give Spokenly a shot! ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Leider ist die Bedienung aus der Hölle *2026-08-06* Mal ein Beispiel am iPad: Ich möchte im Safari Browser eine URL per Sprache eingeben. iOS Spracherkennung: 1. Ich tippe auf das Mikrofon neben dem URL Feld, spreche die gewünschte URL ein, und die Seite wird aufgerufen Spokenly: 1. Ich rufe die Spokenly Tastatur auf 2. Gehe auf Diktat starten 3. Es erscheint ein Pop-up ‚Wische zurück zu deiner App‘ 4. Ich schließe das Pop-up 5. Ich wische zurück zu Safari 6. Ich beende die Aufnahme 7. Ich schicke die Eingabe mit Return ab 8. Ich blende die Tastatur wieder aus 8 Schritte statt 1 Schritt, nur um eine Webseite über Spracheingabe aufzurufen. Am iPad ist es viel zu umständlich. Dazu kommt, dass es keinen Button gibt, um die Spokenly Tastatur wieder auszublenden. Bei manchen Apps z. B. OneNote kann man die Tastatur nicht wegwischen. Dann wird es extrem umständlich, weil man erst auf eine andere Tastatur umschalten muss um diese ausblenden Beim iPhone gibt es zwar eine Aktionstaste, die man mit einem entsprechenden Kurz-Befehl belegen kann. Aber es geht immer den Umweg über die Zwischenablage. Das ist ja auch echt kompliziert, man muss dann immer zusätzlich aus der Zwischenablage den Text einfügen und kann nicht direkt in der App diktieren. Also so ist das alles viel zu umständlich. Ein anderer negativer Punkt: Zahlen werden nicht als Zahlen geschrieben, sondern als Text. Auch Zeichen werden als Text ausgegeben, also nicht %, sondern Prozent. Ganz blöd: auch bei Satzzeichen ist das so. Also nicht ! sondern Ausrufezeichen steht dann im Text. Das können andere Apps und selbst die Apple Spracherkennung besser. Aber für mich das größte Problem: das Mikrofon aktiviert sich immer irgendwie von selber. Es kommt dann das iOS Pop-Up-Live Aktivitäten, und weißt darauf hin, dass Spokenly aktiv ist. Das geht in meinen Augen gar nicht! Im Übrigen gibt es in den Einstellungen auch keinerlei Möglichkeit, dass Hintergrund-Diktat komplett abzuschalten. Man kann nur wählen in welchem Modus, aber abschalten geht nicht. Nicht unerwähnt möchte ich lassen, dass Spokenly auf einem Windows PC sehr gut funktioniert. Aber die iOS App ist eine Katastrophe. ### 1/5 — Dropped transcriptions, short trial period *2026-06-19, version 2.16.0* The app repeatedly dropped 1-2 minute voice inputs, causing lost ideas and frustration. On the day I deleted the app, I tried to record a 1-minute voice input once, Spokenly lost it. I tried AGAIN, it lost it again, then took me to the ‘you are out of free use’ screen. So, goodbye. ### 1/5 — Extremely buggy *2026-05-29, version 2.16.0* 99% of the time when I try to activate it with a hotkey it doesn’t respond, so I have to reboot it and then it says the local model isn’t connected. Horrible software. ### 1/5 — Privacy is poor *2026-05-03, version 1.7.4* App auto switched from local only mode to OpenAI internet based API and started sharing my recordings with the internet. ### 1/5 — Surprise Fee Structure *2026-02-27* While the app always charged for online models, there was a carve out for using local models. That changed today. Even if you don’t use online models, you have to pay a subscription that factors in using online models and tokens. There are no alternative paths. At $10 it’s completely overpriced for someone who occasionally uses local models for dictation. With these types of business practices e.g. changing the fee structure on a whim, it’s best to avoid this developer and their apps. **Developer response:** Spokenly is still completely free with local models or your own API keys. Nothing changed there. Most likely you were using AI Prompts, a feature that processes text with cloud AI. The only change is that AI Prompts now needs your own API key as well. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions. ### 1/5 — Bloated and buggy for a simple function *2026-02-18, version 2.16.0* I installed the app hoping to use voice input most of the time. I immediately uninstalled after trying out a lot of features that are not needed for a simple voice input application. Additionally, every time I activate the voice input, the app changes back to the Mac default microphone even though I have tried to change the input to my external Yeti microphone. ### 1/5 — Should be “Brokenly” *2026-01-31* I use this app on Mac and iOS. On Mac, it's fine. By fine I mean it does what it should most of the time. On iOS, it is a steaming hot pile of garbage that makes me want to strap the developer to a rocket and shoot the rocket into the sun. The mechanism through which it works is a custom keyboard that has a big “record” button on it. Every time you want to dictate, you press the record button. The problem is if you haven't had the Spokenly app as your frontmost app for a couple of minutes, it switches to enable recording, and you have to manually go back to the app in which you meant to transcribe and pray to God that you weren't halfway through a composition that it deleted itself when the keyboard automatically switched you back to the Spokenly app. If it was just one app that behaved that way (like Reddit, where I need it the most and it's the least reliable) I could learn to live with it, I guess? But it happens in all the apps, all the time. Then it gets really stupid when you just hit the blue record button over and over and over, but it never actually starts dictating and you have to turn your phone off and on again, because closing and reopening the app manually doesn't fix it. What makes me so angry about this app is the 10% of the time that it works as intended, it is like magic and a glimpse into what life could be. But the other 90% of the time, all you can think about is how it's one big joke that the dev is playing on society. **Developer response:** Thanks for taking the time to write this. The issues you're experiencing are related to device performance. Local AI models can struggle on older devices, especially within iOS keyboard limitations. For keyboard dictation, online models are actually preferred since they don't depend on device power. Switch to an online model and the problems should be gone. Feel free to reach out via the contact form in the app if you need help. ### 1/5 — truncating or skipping *2026-01-20, version 2.15.4* I tried this app with a few local models but everything was truncated except for the recordings that didn’t even populate. ### 1/5 — Keyboard Changes *2025-12-20, version 1.5.0* The best part of the app was that I didn't always have to dictate because the keyboard was available. That is not the case anymore, it seems. ### 1/5 — Very buggy and inconsistent *2025-09-04, version 2.13.3* I cannot get consistent behavior from this app. It forgets that I paid and even after I restore purchases, it still only works about half the time. It records the audio but doesn’t do anything with it. I’ve tried repeatedly with different apps. Good concept. Poor execution. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — This is what to use on your desktop or laptop. *2026-08-16* I use this all the time, only on my desktop and my laptop, but it works very well and I've tried almost all the other ones and this was the best. I use a different model for my phone, which is called Aqua Voice. ### 5/5 — Love it *2026-08-12, version 2.16.0* I can't recommend this enough. It's easy to use, saves me tons of time, and doesn't lock me in. I can bring my own models and tweak the prompts for whatever I'm doing. It's genuinely changed how I work ### 5/5 — Yet another reviewer compelled to review. *2026-07-25* Spokenly is one of the few speech-to-text apps on the App Store that handles AI transcription fairly. Its BYOK options are free, and so is local processing. If you pay Spokenly, it’s either out of gratitude or because you’ve chosen to have them process your voice on their own hardware. Most competitors don’t offer that choice, and next to Spokenly they look extractive and predatory. As a sidenote: If you go the BYOK route, use Groq. The free tier allows 2,000 transcription requests and eight hours of audio per day, which is far more than one person will use dictating texts and longer messages. Free tiers don’t stay this generous forever, so take advantage of it. Overall, I highly recommend Spokenly and feel like the team running this all deserves all the recognition. 5/5 ### 5/5 — Great app *2026-07-01, version 2.16.0* I use this app a lot. The most important thing for me is using local models for privacy reasons. This app lets me use Nvidia Parakeet and Apple Intelligence. Both transcribe the audio on the device, and nothing is sent to a third party. ### 5/5 — Delightful Time Saver! *2026-06-25, version 2.16.0* Once you get used to using it, Spokenly is a joy to use. ### 5/5 — Seems great! *2026-06-12, version 1.7.6* I've been using Spokely for a way to write text that's alternative to typing. I find it more natural to simply speak and unfortunately the standard Mac dictation doesn’t really transcribe my voice well. So Spokenly and some other apps have been a bit of a game changer. Spokenly has been working reliably and it's convenient. It offers multitude of models to choose from, and many of them were great. Therefore, I’m really happy about this app being accessible and allowing me to express myself through voice. ### 5/5 — Amazing Tool *2026-06-11* One can really improve the productivity of working by using Spokenly, the amount of time it saves from typing to simple dictation is the killer, the accuracy is very good. ### 5/5 — Perfekt für iPhone und MacBook *2026-06-10* Ich benutze es auf meinem iPhone und MacBook und finde das Abo‑Paket fair, wenn ich die anderen Preise anschaue. Außerdem gilt das Abo für alle Geräte. Man zahlt 10 Euro im Monat für MacBook und iPhone, das finde ich extrem praktisch. Man wird nicht abgezockt. Bisher bin ich sehr zufrieden und gespannt, wie sich die App positiv entwickelt. Ich sehe viel Potenzial ### 5/5 — Awesome local Speech to Text app *2026-06-08* I’m using it all the time with the combination of Nvidia Parakeet v3 and the results are awesome so far. Thank you for this great App! ❤️ ### 5/5 — A must-have for voice typing *2026-06-05* Spokenly genuinely surprised me. It quickly became part of my daily workflow: I just speak naturally and get clean, well-formatted text back. The transcription is fast and accurate, punctuation works well, and local model support is a great plus for privacy. Perfect for notes, messages, emails, drafts, and capturing ideas on the go. The interface is polished, simple, and easy to use. You can tell a lot of care went into this app. Definitely 5 stars. --- *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 2026-09-04.*