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Help Voice Action App for ICS?

N

nik lauder

Lurker
What is the best voice actions app (e.g., Speaktoit Assistant, Vlingo, Jeannie) for the SGN with ICS 4.0.2?
I would like to use it to send and receive texts, send email, get directions, find businesses, etc.
 
As the prior poster said, stock voice commands work fine. However, I did just download Dragon Go the other day. Haven't played with it much, just decided to give it a try after reading about it.
 
nik lauder said:
Vlingo seems to allow more flexibility in commands than the stock voice actions.My concern is will Vlingo work with the SGN and ICS 4.0.2.
Click to expand...
Vlingo works fine on mine, I do prefer stock though. It's less flexible, but cleaner than the others. Vlingo is pretty functional and not over-powering like the others (especially Eva), but it is still three steps (open app, then press trigger, then speak) whereas with stock it is only two. The in-car functionality of Vlingo is useful though. If I had to rank them, I would go:


  1. Stock
  2. Vlingo
  3. Dragon Go (great at recognition/ clean UI, but lacking some features)
  4. SpeaktoIt Assistant
  5. Eva

Then there are a few that are still rather sub-par (I think):

  • iris
  • Skyvi
  • .Andy

I don't know, some might like the UI better, but some of the UI's become persistent and just hang out in the background. Eva even has a "shake the phone" to wake/activate it that was really annoying and rather counter-intuitive to disable.
 
My only objection to Stock -- which has me seeking alternatives -- is its access: Its button is too small. With Vlingo, I can place its icon in the bottom row where it is larger and easier to press. If someone knew of a way to trigger the Stock app from an icon or widget, that would be rock star...
 
rickaltman said:
My only objection to Stock -- which has me seeking alternatives -- is its access: Its button is too small. With Vlingo, I can place its icon in the bottom row where it is larger and easier to press. If someone knew of a way to trigger the Stock app from an icon or widget, that would be rock star...
Click to expand...

On previous versions of android they could be accessed by long pressing search. I am glad a few rom developers have added that capability back. :D

Screenshot_2012-02-13-20-53-12.png
 
rickaltman said:
How does one long press Search??
Click to expand...

Just hold it down for awhile. Of course, you have to root and load a rom with the search key option first. I wish they had kept a way to access by long pressing a softkey on stock 4.0, i used it all the time on 2.2 and 2.3. Luckily, I don't mind rooting. ;)
 
An alternative to rooting is to install Nova Launcher. With Nova, you can add an icon to your homescreen that activates Voice Actions.

To do this:
Install Nova Launcher
Long press on homescreen
Select Nova Actions
Select Voice Search

Simple, though I prefer rooting :D
 
I've tested all the voice apps on my captivate with dk3. I need something to control music, nav, and sms read/replies. bluetooth car handles calling for me. Here's my critique:

Vlingo: does not control music & is resource hog
Voice Actions: does not open apps or read sms
Announcify: did not work with my ics rom, also does not allow reply
Jeannie: great siri clone, does not read sms, nag for paid app
EVA: 28 day trial
Speak to it assistant: does not work with my ics rom
Skyvi: confusing and annoying
text by voice: does not pause music when activated

My final solution was to setup text by voice with google voice actions. If you disable the listen for and enable calling settings you can still use voice actions. I also found nova launcher to be necessary to have a shortcut for voice actions and large resized widgets while driving. If Vlingo could handle music I would go with that. I'll probably hold out for the google assistant app coming in late 2012 before I try any others. I'm hoping the assistant app will wake by voice, read sms/gtalk, open apps, pause/next track music, and work through bluetooth headset.
 
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