"Live captions" simply means the words people say, written out on a screen the instant they're spoken. You may have seen them on TV or in video calls. On a phone, the same idea becomes a pocket-sized tool for following any conversation in real life.
From sound to text, in real time
When someone speaks, the microphone captures the sound and speech-recognition software converts it into text — word by word, as it hears them. A good system shows partial words immediately and firms them up a moment later, so you read along at the speed of the conversation rather than waiting for a finished paragraph.
What makes captions good
- Speed — text should appear with almost no delay.
- Accuracy — clear audio, fewer errors; background noise and overlapping voices make it harder.
- Readability — big, high-contrast text that's easy to glance at.
- Speakers — labelling who's talking keeps group conversations easy to follow.
Why it matters
For people who are deaf or hard of hearing, captions turn everyday moments — a class, a meeting, a chat at the kitchen table — from a guessing game into something you can simply read. And when captions can also translate, a conversation in another language stops being a barrier.
That's what Audimo does: fast, readable live captions and translation on your phone, in 60+ languages.