Support

Ear to Eye for iOS · updated August 2026

Getting started, in one breath

Open Ear to Eye → hold the phone near the sound → tap Listen.

It captions anything the microphone can hear: someone talking in the room, the TV, a voicemail or video played out loud. Words appear one at a time (or in short phrases) at the top; the transcript below is for re-reading — tap any sentence to replay it.

• Point the arrow at whoever's speaking. The microphones ride the bottom edge of the phone, so aiming that end at the sound captures best — the app rotates its screen automatically if that leaves the phone upside down.
• Stop stills the word stream instantly — everything already heard is in the transcript, so you never lose a word.
• More → Settings adjusts pace, word-vs-phrase display, and text size.
• Reset to defaults restores the easy settings (slower pace, phrases, large text).

Captioning phone calls needs a second device

iOS does not let any app hear a call that the same phone is on — that's a platform rule, not a bug, and we verified it on real hardware. To caption a call:

1. Take the call on speaker on a different device — an iPad, a family member's phone, a landline.
2. Run Ear to Eye on your iPhone sitting next to it, listening.

If you tap Listen while your iPhone is on a call, the app notices and explains this instead of failing silently. Also note: in some US states, captioning a call is treated like recording it — get everyone's consent.

Troubleshooting

• No words appear when I tap Listen. Check that Ear to Eye has both permissions in iOS Settings → Ear to Eye: Microphone and Speech Recognition. Both are required for live captioning.
• Words appear but lag or garble. Get the phone closer to the sound source and reduce background noise. Speakerphone-into-mic works best within a couple of feet. A network connection improves recognition accuracy.
• The word stream feels too fast or too slow. More → Settings → pace. Phrase mode shows a few words at a time and is gentler for most readers. Need a moment? Tap Stop — nothing is lost; it's all in the transcript.
• Captioning stopped by itself. If the phone received a call, iOS suspends mic access — see the second-device setup above. Otherwise just tap Listen again; everything already heard is saved in the transcript.

Requirements

One app for iPhone and iPad (iOS 17 or later) and Mac (macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon) — available on the App Store. Pre-release builds, when we run them, go through TestFlight.

Contact

[email protected] — bug reports, feature requests, or feedback. If you or someone you care for lives with aphasia or an auditory processing disorder, we'd especially like to hear how it works for you.

Ear to Eye is a communication aid — not a medical device, and it makes no clinical claims.