Comparison

Earshot Live Transcription vs Encria

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

Head to head
About

Earshot Live Transcription

This app provides real-time, on-device captioning for conversations, lectures, and ambient sounds. It prioritizes privacy and offline functionality, making speech accessible without cloud processing. It also offers translation and urgent sound alerts.

Highlights
  • Real-time captioning
  • Ambient sound recognition
  • Speech translation
  • Offline functionality
  • On-device processing
  • Save and share transcripts
Features
Read full description

Earshot is real-time, on-device captioning for iPhone - for conversations, lectures, doctor visits, anywhere you want to read what's being said. It's a free app that captions speech and ambient sound in real time, inspired by a Deaf researcher who'd spent his career on captioning. Having a disability shouldn't cost you money or your privacy. So I built Earshot. • Free — no sign-up, no sign-in, no ads, no upsells. • Private — everything runs on your device. The only network call is to download or update the local speech model so conversations never go to the cloud. • Offline — works with no Wi-Fi or cellular connection. • Multilingual — 99 languages, and it can translate any of them into English. • Ambient-sound aware — recognizes hundreds of environmental sounds, with full-screen alerts for urgent ones: smoke alarm, carbon monoxide, doorbell, crying baby, phone ringing, sirens. Accessibility tools shouldn't themselves be inaccessible. Free should mean free. Private should mean private. WHAT IT DOES • Real-time captions in a clean, focused screen, plus a chat-style "feed" layout. Tap the cog for text size, vibration, and ambient-sound options. • Translate non-English speech to English on the fly. • Full-screen urgent-sound alerts with strong haptics; ambient-sound tags shown in the corner when you want them. • Save transcripts on your device as readable documents. Star the ones to keep, filter by 1:1 or group, by alerts, by starred. • Share any transcript as plain text — it never leaves your device unless you send it. WHO IT'S FOR Built for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community as a private alternative to cloud captioning. Also useful in loud environments, for language learners, and for anyone who wants to read or save what was said. PRIVACY Audio never leaves your device. No accounts, no analytics, no ads, no tracking. The AI model downloads once on first launch (~244 MB) — the only network request the app makes. Full policy at briankemler.github.io/LiveTranscribe/privacy. REQUIREMENTS iPhone on iOS 17 or later. Works offline after the one-time model download. CONTACT brian.kemler@gmail.com

About

Encria

Features
Read full description

Turn handwritten pages into clean, editable text on iPhone and iPad. Capture a page with your camera or import several images from Photos. Encria transcribes handwriting, keeps the original pages beside the result, and lets you correct, copy, or share the text. • Keep the raw transcription word for word, and let an optional AI pass repair reading errors and broken sentences • Compare every result with the original page • Fix the words flagged as uncertain, underlined right under the original • Save corrections and writing profiles on your device • Keep your document library locally on your iPhone or iPad • Use Encria without creating an account Start with 5 transcribed pages per month. Encria Pro includes up to 500 pages per month and batches of up to 20 pages. Your images are sent only when you explicitly start a transcription. Encria's server keeps no durable database of your documents or source images. Handwriting recognition can make mistakes, so always review important transcriptions. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Earshot Live Transcription4 screens
Encria4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Earshot Live Transcription at none against Encria's 4. Encria's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs monthly). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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

Both are free to download. Encria sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Earshot Live Transcription asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Earshot Live Transcription ships an update monthly, Encria every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
Earshot Live Transcription versus Encria: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEarshot Live TranscriptionEncria
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings3 — better—
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB18 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBrian KemlerTeo Goulois

In-app purchases

None

Earshot Live Transcription

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

Encria

Subscriptions2
  • Encria Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Encria Pro Yearly$34.991 Year
One-time2
  • 100 OCR Page Credits$1.99
  • Encria Pro Lifetime$179.99

Questions

Is Earshot Live Transcription free?
Earshot Live Transcription is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Encria free?
Encria is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Earshot Live Transcription or Encria have ads?
Neither Earshot Live Transcription nor Encria shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Earshot Live Transcription or Encria?
Earshot Live Transcription ships an update monthly, and Encria every 4 days. Most recently, Earshot Live Transcription was updated on October 12, 2026 and Encria on October 10, 2026.

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