audio iphone journaling??

Posted by Kaye (Folsom, California, USA) on 05/08/15 07:17 PM

Hello all,

I often find that my journals are an invaluable treasure after a trip abroad. However, I also find that by the end of a full day of sight-seeing (and maybe some wine), I lose steam pretty quickly. I often have GREAT entries for the first few days and nothing by the end. Then I hit me....I use Siri a lot. Could I use her to dictate my travel journal each day??

Has anyone done this? Which apps do you recommend? I found "My Own Diary" and "DailyBook" on the iStore. Would love to hear any experiences with these or others.

Thanks in advance!!
Kaye

Posted by Ken

Vernon, Canada

05/09/15 02:48 AM

32345 posts

Kaye,

I've tried audio journals in the past and while it sounds like a good idea, it doesn't work as well in practice. I found that it took an inordinate length of time to transcribe the material to written form when I got home. The method that works best for me is to simply record the highlights of each day into a Word document when I'm back in the hotel for the night. Even if I'm "out of steam", it only takes a few minutes. Once I have the basic information recorded, I can edit, expand and polish later when I have more time.

As I recall, Siri requires a connection to Apple Servers so you'd need to have data service on your phone. You could of course use the Voice Recorder rather than Siri.

Posted by Mira

Midwest

05/09/15 12:59 PM

2768 posts

I haven't done this but I think it sounds like a great idea. Another Idea is to look into dictation apps? So you speak, but the program writes it down for you. I do this for text messages sometimes, it's faster than typing on a phone and nowhere near as tiring on the hand! I'm sure there are Word-type apps that recognize speech and take dictation

Posted by Kaye OP

Folsom, California, USA

05/09/15 02:32 PM

322 posts

Hi,
Thanks for your advice. The My Own Diary app allows you to speak and the app transcribes it into text in a journal. I loaded it onto my iPad which is wifi only (no cell access) so I won't have to worry about using data. I have tested it and it does work. However, like dictation, you must speak punctuation. Also I can only say about 3 long sentences before I have to wait for the app to catch up to me. Still I think it will keep me journaling more. I generally do not take a laptop with me on trips (iPad, iPhone only) in an attempt to "travel light."

If anyone else has tried this or similar apps and has advice for me, I'd love to hear it.

As always, this forum ROCKS!!
kaye