Enhanced voice input and voice memo in iOS 15 Enlarged loupe for text cursor

It's convenient to be able to write texts and record voices on the iPhone. Whether it is allowed or not will depend on the environment, but it will be an essential feature for some people. As a freelance writer, I use the iPhone as one of the finest work tools in addition to the MacBook and iPad. In fact, depending on the article, the iPhone alone may handle coverage, writing, shooting, and even organizing images.

From that perspective, iOS 15, released this fall, had some reliable updates. In this article, I would like to explain three points: (1) the text cursor has become more convenient, (2) the voice input has been enhanced, and (3) the voice memo function has been enhanced.

When specifying where to enter text, the vertical line displayed to indicate the position is the "text cursor". You can operate this text cursor by pressing and holding "blank" on the software keyboard. You can also specify the cursor position by tapping or long-pressing the screen. However, in the latter case, while it can be specified intuitively with a finger, there is a disadvantage that the screen display is hidden and it is difficult to know where the specification is made.

In iOS 15, when you press and hold the screen to display the text cursor, the enlarged loupe is displayed at the top immediately. It's an intuitive and accurate method, so it's one of the techniques you should remember.

On iOS, you can use voice input by tapping the microphone icon displayed on the software keyboard. Literally, it is a function that automatically recognizes the words spoken by mouth and inputs them as text. You need to speak fluently and clearly, but in some scenes it's easier and easier to type long sentences than using the keyboard by hand.

There are two things to keep in mind about voice input updates in iOS 15. The first is that voice input in multiple languages, including Japanese, is now on-device processing. In short, voice input can now be performed even when there is no internet connection.

Second, the time limit for one voice input has disappeared. Previously, there was a limit of 60 seconds, but with iOS 15, this has been removed, and voice input is possible regardless of the length of the text.

For the "Voice Memos" app, I want to keep in mind three evolutionary points. One is that it has a "silence skip" function. When the same function is enabled and the recording is played back, the voice is automatically recognized and the place where there is no sound is skipped naturally. Speaking of interviews, the margins such as the time when Interviewee is thinking will be cut, so wasteful time can be saved during playback.

Second, it is now possible to change the playback speed. Since the speed can be adjusted in all 7 steps, it is easy to fine-tune the speed according to the sense of speed of the speaker when transcribing the minutes. If you want to get a rough idea of ​​the whole thing, it is convenient to use it at a high speed to listen and slowly check the important parts.

Third, it is now possible to share multiple voice memos at the same time. It will be useful in situations such as sharing multiple recorded data with team members or backing up to the PC side.