How do I add speech-to-text to my app using an API?

To add speech-to-text to your app with an API, the basic flow is:

1. Capture audio from the user
2. Send the audio to a speech-to-text API
3. Receive transcribed text
4. Display or process the text in your app

Common implementation options

Option 1: Use a hosted speech-to-text API

Popular providers include:

• OpenAI
• Google Cloud Speech-to-Text
• Azure Speech
• AWS Transcribe
• AssemblyAI
• Deepgram

This is usually the fastest way to integrate.

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Typical integration steps

1) Record audio in your app

You can capture:

• Microphone input for live dictation
• Uploaded audio files like MP3, WAV, M4A, etc.

In web apps, you might use:

• MediaRecorder API
• getUserMedia() for microphone access

In mobile apps, you’d use the platform’s audio recording APIs.

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2) Send audio to the speech-to-text endpoint

Most APIs accept:

• Multipart form uploads
• Base64 audio
• Streaming audio for real-time transcription

For non-real-time transcription, sending a file is simplest.

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3) Parse the response

The API will usually return:

• The transcribed text
• Sometimes timestamps
• Sometimes confidence scores
• Sometimes speaker labels

Example response:

{
  "text": "Hello, this is a test transcription."
}

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Example: using an HTTP API from a backend

JavaScript/Node example

import fs from "fs";
import fetch from "node-fetch";

async function transcribeAudio() {
  const audioBuffer = fs.readFileSync("audio.mp3");

  const formData = new FormData();
  formData.append("file", new Blob([audioBuffer]), "audio.mp3");
  formData.append("model", "whisper-1");

  const response = await fetch("https://api.example.com/v1/transcriptions", {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      Authorization: `Bearer YOUR_API_KEY`,
    },
    body: formData,
  });

  const result = await response.json();
  console.log(result.text);
}

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If you want real-time speech-to-text

Use one of these approaches:

• WebSockets
• Streaming HTTP
• Realtime SDKs

This is better for:

• Live captions
• Voice assistants
• Dictation apps

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Best practices

• Do not expose API keys in frontend code
• Send audio through your backend if the provider requires a secret key
• Validate file type and size
• Consider privacy and compliance if you store audio
• Add error handling for:
  • No microphone permission
  • Unsupported audio format
  • Network failures
  • Long audio files

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If you’re using OpenAI specifically

You typically:

1. Record or collect an audio file
2. Upload it to the transcription endpoint
3. Read the returned transcript

If you want, I can give you:

• A web app example
• A Python example
• A Node.js example
• A real-time streaming example

Just tell me your stack.