Voice Control has gotten to be a pretty big thing over the past couple of years. Not just because it’s admittedly pretty cool but, also because it’s gotten more precise than I’m sure many of us would have imagined. Talking into our smartphones and tablets might still feel a little funny but, the benefits they can offer us these days are brilliant, and with so much of the time spent inside apps, launching them quickly is important. Read on to see how SayIt can help you launch apps faster than ever before.
Description: SayIt is a voice control app that specializes in launching apps installed on your device, on command. It works very well and the whole idea is that you can launch whatever app you want by merely saying it, unless you have the world’s most cluttered homescreen finding apps in the app drawer can be a tedious affair. SayIt offers lightning fast launching of apps, and an array of widgets withe added functionality to boot. Read on to see how you can reap the benefits of this great app.
How it Works: If there was an app easier to get started with than this, I haven’t heard of it. Just go ahead and download the app from the Play Store to get started and then you’ll see the icon on your homescreen. That’s all you have to hit to get the app up and running, you’ll see a voice prompt and then you just speak:
SayIt uses Google’s voice recognition engine and it’s a choice that I can’t fault them for, it’s built into Android now and there’s no reason not to use it, it is after all, the most accurate. Launching an app is so straight forward, and fast that the app doesn’t even give a waiting screen or loading screen. If I were to simply speak “Play Magazines”, it will launch the magazine app almost instantly:
That’s pretty much all there is to the basic operation to the app, it’s incredibly accurate and launching of apps is insanely fast. That’s not all the app can do though, as there are a selection of widgets:
The vertical widget features a hanging scroller, you can scroll your apps there and quickly launch them without speaking, which is great when you need to be quiet, and you can always hit the SayIt logo to launch the voice control. The horizontal search bar type widget has a scrollable window of your apps that pops out when you hit the “rn” logo:
As well as this, there is the persistent notification, which you can turn on by launching SayIt – through a voice command if you like! – and selecting the option:
This then places a notification for you to launch an app through voice whenever and wherever you like.
Oh and for devices running Android 4.2 there’s even a lockscreen widget!
Opinion: It’s very rare that I’m this impressed by any app, let alone one as simple as this. It’s hard not to bring Google Now into this review and honestly, this serves its purpose better than Google Now. Google’s latest adventure in search is great but, SayIt launches apps faster than I could have imagined, even with my thick British accent, I had no problems. Which is largely down to the decision to use Google’s own voice recognition tech – a smart move, indeed. The persistent notification might seem annoying but it’s incredibly useful, you can launch whatever, from whichever app, and you can do it whenever you like.
Ratings
- Speed (5/5) – Built alongside the latest version of Android, this app flies and it’ll launch apps quicker than you imagined. It’s seriously speedy.
- Features (5/5) – You could say there is only one feature to SayIt but the widgets add quick launch abilities on the quiet and they look good, too.
- Theme (4/5) – There’s not too much to say about the theme on offer here – because there isn’t much of one – but, it doesn’t mess with the good-looking formula introduced in Ice Cream Sandwich. We wish more apps built on the Holo design.
- Overall (5/5) – SayIt is something that you might have to get used to but once you do, it’s going to stick with you for a long time. It’s fast and easy to use, what more do you want?
Pros
- Ridiculously fast app opening times.
- Holo design for app and widget, blends in well on any Nexus or AOSP ROM.
- No painful setup required, just speak and go.
- Persistent notification to launch apps anywhere in Android.
Cons
- An introduction to the app would be nice.
- Persistent notification feature a little obtuse to find.
Conclusion: SayIt is one of those apps that will become a mainstay on your Android devices. It works well on my Nexus 7 but on my One X it’s even more useful, launching apps like GMail, Chrome, Messages and all the everyday apps is so much quicker with SayIt. As a voice launcher, you might think it to be gimmicky and a little bloated but, I’m happy to report that this is a very lightweight app and doesn’t try to be anything more than it is, a super-fast way to launch your apps with little hassle or fuss. This is definitely an app that I’d recommend to friends and other Android fans.
