@enginnblt/react-native-nitro-speech-to-text

🚀 A high-performance, type-safe Speech-to-Text library for React Native, powered by Nitro Modules.

Features

• Blazing Fast: Uses Nitro Modules for ultra-low overhead bridge communication.
• Microphone Recognition: Real-time speech-to-text from the microphone on both iOS and Android.
• File Transcription: Transcribe audio files directly (Local path support). [Currently iOS only]
• Volume Metering: Real-time audio level callbacks for building voice visualizations.
• Type-Safe: Full TypeScript support with auto-generated interfaces.
• Advanced iOS Options: Support for contextualStrings (iOS 17+), addsPunctuation, and requiresOnDeviceRecognition.

Installation

# Using bun
bun add @enginnblt/react-native-nitro-speech-to-text react-native-nitro-modules

# Using npm
npm install @enginnblt/react-native-nitro-speech-to-text react-native-nitro-modules

# Using yarn
yarn add @enginnblt/react-native-nitro-speech-to-text react-native-nitro-modules

iOS Setup

Add the following keys to your Info.plist:

<key>NSMicrophoneUsageDescription</key>
<string>This app needs access to the microphone for speech recognition.</string>
<key>NSSpeechRecognitionUsageDescription</key>
<string>This app needs access to speech recognition to transcribe your voice.</string>

Then run:

npx pod-install

Android Setup

Add the permission to your AndroidManifest.xml:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.RECORD_AUDIO" />

Usage

🎨 The Hook Way (Recommended)

The easiest way to use the recognizer is via the useSpeechRecognizer hook. It handles state, permissions, and callbacks for you.

import { useSpeechRecognizer } from "@enginnblt/react-native-nitro-speech-to-text";

function App() {
  const {
    isAvailable,
    isListening,
    result,
    volume,
    error,
    start,
    stop,
    requestPermission,
  } = useSpeechRecognizer({
    locale: "en-US",
  });

  const handlePress = async () => {
    if (isListening) {
      await stop();
    } else {
      // Always request permission before starting live listening
      const status = await requestPermission();
      if (status === "granted") {
        await start();
      }
    }
  };

  return (
    <View>
      <Text>Transcript: {result}</Text>
      <Button title={isListening ? "Stop" : "Start"} onPress={handlePress} />
    </View>
  );
}

🛠 The Manual Way

If you need more control, you can use the SpeechRecognizer class directly.

import { SpeechRecognizer } from "@enginnblt/react-native-nitro-speech-to-text";

const recognizer = SpeechRecognizer.construct();

const start = async () => {
  // 1. Check availability
  const available = await recognizer.isAvailable();
  if (!available) return;

  // 2. Request permission (Mandatory for live mic)
  const permission = await recognizer.requestPermission();
  if (permission !== "granted") return;

  // 3. Start listening
  await recognizer.startListening("en-US", {
    onStart: () => console.log("Started!"),
    onResult: (results) => console.log("Transcripts:", results),
    onError: (err) => console.error(err.code, err.message),
  });
};

📄 File Transcription (iOS)

await recognizer.startTranscription("path/to/audio/file.mp3", "en-US", {
  onResult: (segments, fullText, isFinal) => {
    console.log("Full Text:", fullText);
    console.log("Segments:", segments); // Array of {transcription, timestamp, duration}
  },
  onError: (err) => console.error(err),
});

API Reference

useSpeechRecognizer(options?: UseSpeechRecognizerOptions)

A professional hook for handling real-time speech recognition.

Options:

• locale?: string: Default locale (e.g., 'en-US').
• contextualStrings?: string[]: Boost specific words (iOS only).

Return Value:

• isAvailable: boolean | null: Service availability.
• permissionStatus: PermissionStatus | null: Mic permission status.
• isListening: boolean: Active state.
• result: string: The current best transcript.
• volume: number: Audio level (0-1).
• error: SpeechErrorResult | null: Last error.
• start(options?): Promise<void>: Start listening.
• stop(): Promise<void>: Stop and process.
• cancel(): Promise<void>: Discard and stop.
• requestPermission(): Promise<PermissionStatus>: Trigger permission prompt.

SpeechRecognizer

The underlying native bridge.

Method	Description
isAvailable(): Promise<boolean>	Checks if speech recognition is supported.
requestPermission(): Promise<PermissionStatus>	Requests microphone & recognition permissions.
startListening(locale: string, callbacks: SpeechCallbacks, options?: Options): Promise<void>	Starts live recognition.
startTranscription(path: string, locale: string, callbacks: TranscriptionCallbacks): Promise<void>	Transcribes a file (iOS).
stop(): Promise<void>	Stops gracefully.
cancel(): Promise<void>	Cancels immediately.

Note

For a full list of types and interfaces, check the api.d.ts file.

Platform Support

Feature	iOS	Android
Live Listening	✅	✅
File Transcription	✅	❌
Volume Metering	✅	✅
Contextual Strings	✅ (iOS 17+)	❌
On-Device Mode	✅	❌

Credits

Created by @enginnblt. Powered by Nitro Modules.

License

MIT