Voice message as text
Rasum shows the spoken text below each voice message. This way you can read a voice message instead of listening to it. The conversion runs only on your phone.
How does voice message as text work?
Section titled “How does voice message as text work?”Rasum converts voice messages to text directly on your phone. The text appears in the chat below the voice message. Below it, in small letters, it says “Automatically recognised”.
This applies to voice messages you receive and to your own. The feature is turned on at the start.
The app shortens long texts. With “Show more” you see the whole text, with “Show less” you shorten it again.
Does my voice message leave the phone?
Section titled “Does my voice message leave the phone?”No. The conversion runs only on your phone. The app says: “Conversion runs only on this device. Audio and text never leave it.”
The recognised text stays on your phone. The other people in the chat do not see your recognised text. Their own phone converts the voice message itself if the feature is turned on there.
Android: The recognised text is stored encrypted on the phone.
iPhone: When you delete a voice message or sign out, Rasum also deletes the recognised text.
What do I need for this?
Section titled “What do I need for this?”For the conversion, Rasum needs a speech model. This is a large file that the app downloads once.
Your phone needs:
- at least 4 GB of RAM,
- enough free storage space for the speech model,
- a Wi-Fi connection for the first download (or you allow downloading over mobile data).
Android: You also need Android 10 or newer and a phone with a 64-bit processor.
The speech model is about 800 MB. The app shows the exact size in the settings below the switch “Also download over mobile data”.
Which languages are recognised?
Section titled “Which languages are recognised?”Rasum recognises these languages: Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish and Ukrainian.
If Rasum detects a different language, it says “Language not supported (…)” below the message. With “Convert anyway” Rasum tries anyway. The result may then be inaccurate.
Where do I set up voice message as text?
Section titled “Where do I set up voice message as text?”You find the settings under “Settings” → “Voice messages” 
. You open the settings with your profile picture at the top left of the chat list.
This page has:
- “Convert voice messages to text” – turns the feature on or off.
- “Speech model” – shows whether the speech model has been downloaded (see below).
- “Also download over mobile data” – allows downloading without Wi-Fi. Below it, it says “The speech model is about … .”
- “Delete speech model (…)” – deletes the speech model and frees up storage. The size is shown in brackets.
- at the very bottom, a note about the licences of the speech models.
Download the speech model over mobile data
Section titled “Download the speech model over mobile data”At the start, Rasum downloads the speech model only over Wi-Fi. Without Wi-Fi, the speech model shows “Waiting for Wi‑Fi”.
If you do not want to wait:
- Open “Settings” → “Voice messages”.
- Turn on “Also download over mobile data”.
What do the speech model statuses mean?
Section titled “What do the speech model statuses mean?”Under “Speech model” in the settings, Rasum shows the current status.
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| “Not downloaded” | The speech model is not on the phone yet. |
| “Waiting for Wi‑Fi” | Rasum downloads the speech model as soon as you are on Wi-Fi. |
| “Downloading … 42% (… of …)” | The speech model is being downloaded. |
| “Checking …” | Rasum is checking the downloaded speech model. |
| “Ready (version …)” | Everything is done. Voice messages are converted. |
| “Not enough storage (… free needed)” | There is not enough space on the phone. Delete photos, videos or apps and try again. |
| “Error: …” | The download did not work. Tap “Try again”. |
| “Not possible on this device” | Your phone does not meet the requirements (see above). |
After “Error:” the reason is shown, for example “Server unreachable”, “File damaged”, “Self-test failed” or “Model cannot be loaded”. For “Server unreachable”, check your internet connection.
When a new version of the speech model is available, the app shows for example “Update waiting for Wi‑Fi”. The download then runs by itself.
My phone is too old for voice message as text
Section titled “My phone is too old for voice message as text”If your phone does not meet the requirements, Rasum shows “Not possible on this device” and gives the reason, for example: “Your device has 3 GB of RAM. Conversion needs at least 4 GB …”.
Below it, it says: “You can still listen to voice messages as usual.” No text then appears below voice messages.
What do the statuses below a voice message mean?
Section titled “What do the statuses below a voice message mean?”Below a voice message in the chat, one of these texts can appear.
| Status | Meaning | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| “Waiting for the speech model” | The speech model has not been downloaded yet. | Tapping opens the “Voice messages” settings. There you see whether the speech model is still downloading or waiting for Wi-Fi. |
| “Waiting for conversion (position 3)” | Several voice messages are waiting. This message is next soon. | Nothing. Wait a moment. |
| “Converting to text …” | The conversion is running. | Nothing. Wait a moment. |
| the recognised text with “Automatically recognised” | Done. | – |
| “No text recognised” | No speech was found in the recording. | Listen to the message. |
| “Language not supported (…)” | The message is in a language that Rasum does not recognise. | Tap “Convert anyway” or listen to the message. |
| “Conversion failed” with “Try again” | The conversion did not work. | Tap “Try again”. |
| “Conversion failed” without a button | Rasum cannot convert this voice message. | Listen to the message. |
| “Speech model faulty” | Something is wrong with the speech model. | Tapping opens the settings. There you see the error and can try again with “Try again”. |
If there is nothing at all below a voice message, the feature is turned off or your phone does not meet the requirements.
What does “Conversion failed” mean?
Section titled “What does “Conversion failed” mean?”“Conversion failed” means: Rasum could not convert this voice message to text. The voice message itself is not lost. You can still listen to it.
- With the “Try again” button: Tap it. Rasum tries again.
- Without a button: Rasum cannot convert this file, for example because it is too large or has an unknown format. Rasum will not try again by itself for this message later either.
Rasum does not convert voice messages that are longer than 30 minutes.
If the error happens with many voice messages, update Rasum to the newest version. More about this under Update the app.
Turn off voice message as text
Section titled “Turn off voice message as text”- Open “Settings” → “Voice messages”.
- Turn off “Convert voice messages to text”.
- If the speech model has already been downloaded, Rasum asks “Also delete the speech model?”.
- Tap “Delete” to free up storage space. Or tap “Keep” if you want to use the feature again later.
After that, no text appears below voice messages. You can still listen to them as usual.