Comparison

DictationRec vs Hyphen

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

DictationRec

Record dictations and meetings with simultaneous speech recognition. Share transcribed text and audio files via email or AirDrop. Supports multiple languages and offers live or delayed recognition modes.

Highlights
  • Real-time speech recognition
  • Simultaneous audio recording
  • Multiple language support
  • Live and shift recognition modes
  • File sharing via email/AirDrop
  • Organized folder for past dictations
Features
Read full description

This app records dictation/meeting contents and simultaneously takes speech recognition of them and displays them sequentially. You can share recognition results by email for instance. Because the recognition engine is Apple's formal voice recognition engine that is available on iOS10, it supports different local languages in different countries including Japan. Attention: This app requires internet connection through WiFi or communication environment with carriers. How to use is as follows. (1) Recognition language selection:   Speech recognition of the language corresponding to the locale of the terminal is possible immediately after startup it is. Tap the "Settings" button on the upper right to move to the setting screen. By selecting any language from the language picker, speech recognition of that language becomes possible. (2) Recognition mode selection: There are two recognition modes, live mode and shift mode.It works in live mode at first. Tap the mode change switch to change the recognition mode. (3) Live mode:    Tap the "Start microphone" button to perform recognition sequentially. What you say is instantly displayed as text. A recording file is created at the same time. You can adjust the microphone input volume with the Vol slider. (This may not be possible depending on the model.) Tap the "Finish" button to save the recording file and text file of recognition results.   Tap the "Play" button to play the recorded file. You can specify the recording start position with the slider. (4) Shift mode: By tapping the "Start Microphone" button, a divided recording file is created at intervals of about 1 minute, and the contents of the file are recognized with a 1-minute delay and sequentially displayed as text.  When you tap the "Finish" button, the recording file for each minute and the text file of the recognition results are saved. You can specify the file number and play the corresponding audio file from the speaker. (5) Folder:    Tap the folder button to display a list of dictations/minutes created in the past. Tap any of them to view the final result of the dictation/minutes. Recording playback is also possible. By tapping the "Share" button, you can share audio files and recognition result files by email, AirDrop, etc. (6) Erase:    Tap the "Clear" button to clear the displayed text. It also deletes all the files that were divided and recorded in shift mode. After erasing, audio cannot be played back even if the file number is specified.

About

Hyphen

This minimalist app allows for quick capture of daily thoughts, tasks, and moments. It organizes entries by day and provides a visual timeline of your year, highlighting days with more activity. Notes are automatically timestamped and can be entered via typing or voice.

Highlights
  • Quick entry via typing or voice
  • Automatic timestamping
  • Visual year-in-a-glance timeline
  • Smart grouping of related notes
  • Secure cross-device syncing
  • Private and inaccessible by developer
Features
Read full description

Hyphen is a quiet place for the details you would otherwise lose. Write a sentence, list, quotation, decision, observation, or full page. Every note belongs to its day, so you can move naturally through time and return by date, month, year, Chronicle, or search. WRITE WITHOUT FRICTION Capture a quick thought in place. Expand into the full editor when the thought becomes something larger. MARKDOWN MADE FOR IPHONE Use headings, emphasis, lists, checklists, quotations, links, and code without hunting through the iOS keyboard for punctuation. SEE YOUR DAYS TAKE SHAPE Move naturally between Day, Month, and Year, and view time as a quiet record of activity. Hyphen shows continuity without turning your writing into a streak game. FIND WHAT YOU WROTE Search your writing, browse Chronicle, and move directly back to the day where a thought belongs.

Screenshots

DictationRec4 screens
Hyphen4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Hyphen at 100% against DictationRec's 14%. Hyphen also leads on price (Free vs $0.99) and update cadence (every 2 days vs every 3 months). DictationRec's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 18.0). On ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Hyphen is free to download; DictationRec costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

DictationRec ships an update every 3 months, Hyphen every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
DictationRec versus Hyphen: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDictationRecHyphen
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating—5.0 (7 ratings) — better
Positive reviews14.3% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings—7 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHIROFUMI MARUOCHRISTOPH J WHITELAM

Customer experience

DictationRec

Written reviews7 reviews
Positive14.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative85.7%

Hyphen

All ratings7 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

DictationRec

No in-app purchases

None

Hyphen

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is DictationRec free?
DictationRec costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Hyphen free?
Hyphen is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do DictationRec or Hyphen have ads?
Neither DictationRec nor Hyphen shows ads.
Which is updated more often, DictationRec or Hyphen?
DictationRec ships an update every 3 months, and Hyphen every 2 days. Most recently, DictationRec was updated on October 24, 2026 and Hyphen on October 8, 2026.

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