Google Recorder dooes not transcribe

enduring78

Hello everyone,

On my old Pixel 6 Pro, I have the Googlw Recorder app installed in a secondary profile. I also have the Speech Synthesis app installed, with the mic permission. The Google Recorder lists all languaces, and can transcribe. So far so good.

I tried to replicate that setup on my new Pixel 8. Installed the same apps, with the same Google account. When I open the Google Recorder app for the first time, it offers to download a English (US) update for transcribing, and sees some other languages (but not as many as my 6 Pro). However, when I exit the profile and login again, it only offers a generic 'English' option.

I have searched for this and there are some threads on this, but all of them have 'install Speech Synthesis' as a solution, which I already have installed.

Can anyone see what I am missing or doing wrong here?

hamlet9371

This works for me: uninstall speech synthesis, reinstall it, go to Settings > System > Languages > Speech, click the icon on the right, and download the language there. Then choose 'Do not update' in 'Auto update language' and revoke internet permission of both speech synthesis and the recorder app.

enduring78

hamlet9371

Thank you for the suggestion! I have downloaded the languages via the Settings->languages menu, and the languages are listed therevas downloaded.

If I immediately open the Recorder app they also show up, but it I end the session and login again they ars all gone from the Recorder app.

I also saw this thread which describes similar behaviour to what I'm experiencing without any answers:

https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/13810-recorder-transcribe-not-working-with-new-offline-language-models

enduring78

Update:

I have taken both phones, created a new profile on both, removed the SIM card and joined the same WiFI. Setup Sandboxed Google Play on both. Installed the Speech recognition app, and confirmed it could download the list of languages in Settings->Language. Exited the profile, logged in again and downloaded the Recorder app.

On the Pixel 6 Pro, it says it needs a update for English (US) and asks me to turn on speaker labels, but otherwise shows all languages. On the Pixel 8, no languages are shown in the 'Transcription language' setting inside the Recorder app.

enduring78

Update #2:

I have fully migrated to my Pixel 8 and decided to restore my Pixel 6 Pro to the stock OS to maybe figure something out.

Nothing is really different compared to when it was running GOS, except for one (maybe crucial) thing: Android System Intelligence is not installed on GrapheneOS. Now I get it, maybe it has privacy impacts or something.

I tried manually disabling it via ADB, and the Recorder behaved exactly like my Pixel 8: the newly added languages are not visible, even after a reboot.

So to be clear, I have different behaviour:

Pixel 8, running GOS: only finds the default set of languages, after profile restart only 'English' is shown
Pixel 6 Pro, running GOS: Recorder works, but not with the newly released languages
Pixel 6 Pro, running stock OS, but never connected to the internet: Recorder works, but only 'English' is shown
Pixel 6 Pro, running stock OS: Recorder works, including the newly released languages, but seems to need the Android System Intelligence package

Is there anyone who knows more about this than I do, who is willing to help me get this fixed?

DollyRags

I have transcription working on my Pixel 8, but only with the old version of the languages. As soon as I update a language it vanishes from the list on recorder. The updated language still works for GBoard voice typing though.
I have no idea why the updated versions don't function, hoping it's fixed in the future.

I followed a process similar to hamlet to get the old versions working,
It may not be working for you because the languages like to auto update and ending the session or restarting the pixel can trigger that.
I’d suggest you go to your speech synth app and clear the app data, then quickly go to Settings->languages and download the language you desire. Then quickly revoke Network from speech synthesis before the app can fetch the list of updated languages.

enduring78

DollyRags Thank you for the suggestion!

I have tried it and the languages do persist this time. However, like you already said, they are old versions and certainly not the new languages that were added a few days ago.
This is especially sad because my main language was just added :(

Oh also, do you see the speaker label thing anywhere? I do see it on my Pixel 6 Pro, but never saw it on my Pixel 8. Not sure if this also has to do with the older language set?