Article written for Zapier, an online service that allows you to connect your apps and automate your tasks. 

Perfect ideas don’t wait for you to sit down at your desk. They come during hikes, while you’re walking your dog, and in the middle of lunch. Shouldn’t you be able to save those thoughts at any time, no matter where you are or what you’re doing?

That’s what voice dictation is for. It lets you record your ideas hands-free, even if you’re folding laundry, walking to the grocery store, or making dinner.

Voice recognition software can translate hundreds of thousands of words in dozens of languages, all in real time. You can “talk” to your devices and tell them to open new apps, send an email, or even tell you a joke. These tools translate your voice into text much faster than you could ever type, improving your productivity.

We wanted to find out exactly how much a voice dictation tools impact efficiency. So we tested free, built-in speech recognition software and paid apps on desktop and mobile to see which ones were best at comprehension, accuracy, and ease of use. The result? A guide to our favorite voice dictation apps, along with tips for finding the right microphone and creating detailed speech-to-text notes. Plus, you’ll find out if voice dictation is right for you.

The guide covers the following sections:

• How to Successfully Dictate Text
• My Experience with Dictation
• The Best Dictation Software
• The Best Mobile Apps for Dictation
• The Best Microphones for Dictation

To read the entire guide, click here.