Control Your Mac With Vocal: Dictate Documents And Manage Applications
Vocal - Vocally control your computer ($1.99) by Matthew Roberts. Previously we told you about a new voice command app, Vocal, and now we have finally given it a more in depth test drive.
Vocal is similar to Dragon Dictation, but it does much more than that. It controls your computer — with your voice! But for it to work, you will need to be using an iPhone 4S. You can use Vocal with any device (iPad, iPhone 4) but unless it's a 4S, you'll only be able to type commands, not speak them. Using the iPhone 4S, Vocal allows you to dictate text and give your Mac simple commands.
Just download the free Mac software, load it up, and connect the Vocal iPhone app with your computer. You can now control any application and dictate long documents using your phone. And, before you start asking, yes: I name all of my devices after the seven deadly sins ... but in Latin (i.e., Invidia is envy in Latin).
The great thing about this app is that, although Siri tends to cut you off when you're telling her what to do, with Vocal you're given infinite time to dictate commands and text to your computer. You do have to actually tap the microphone button to use this app, though, and then hit "done" to stop. But once you're done, the commands are sent instantly. And it allows you all of the time you need to write emails, dictate tasks, and whatever else you choose to do.
When you tell Vocal to play something, it just plays the current song. You can pause and start the music whenever you'd like, but it doesn't seem to be able to find anything specific to play. For example, I tried telling it to play Modest Mouse. I even prefaced it with "play," but it only unpaused the music that was paused, and continued playing the song that was already on.
I was able, however, to open iChat and Twitter with the app and dictate and send messages to my friends and coworkers easily. You're able to use Vocal to search your computer for things as well — through Spotlight or just on the Web.
If you want to be able to dictate long documents and control your Mac using voice recognition software, you will not find a less expensive solution. Although Vocal needs to be able to control more apps and perform more commands, it's great for what it does. I look forward to updates in the future that add to Vocal's ability.
