Vlingo or drivesafe.ly?

[prakash99]

I would like to have a text-to-speech app read out my emails and texts while I'm on my commute (and not at other times when I'm not driving). I have narrowed down my options to Vlingo and Drivesafe.ly..... I wonder which one will be better. I'd like to hear about the pros and cons of either one from anyone who has been using either of these apps. Do these support Bluetooth? My cars Bluetooth does not support a2dp.

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[Chrisy]

I'm a Drive Safe.ly fan. I used it on my BlackBerry since it was released and it works great! Haven't tried in on my Android yet, but thanks for reminding me to get it.

I was given a free paid version of Vlingo by the dev to try on my BlackBerry and I didn't care for it.

Sorry, I don't use Bluetooth so not sure about that. Drive Safe.ly has a nicer UI and was always quick.

 

[prakash99]

Thanks, Chrisy. I'm gonna try it out.

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[Xopher]

The main difference between the Android versions and the BlackBerry versions is when they start reading messages.

With BlackBerry, both Vlingo and Drivesafe.ly both read messages as they arrive on the device. Drivesafe.ly has a better sounding voice for reading messages, but Vlingo (IMO) has better capabilities when you want to speak to the device.

On Android, both apps poll the email servers and read the messages directly from the server. They will check messages every five minutes (or however long you have the interval set). That can mean emails may not get read if the email app picks them up first, and messages will be read before they are actually received by the device. I haven't seen a way to get either app to read email messages as they arrive on the phone. Of course, with both apps, they read SMS messages when they arrive.

If you are also wanting to speak to your phone and have it send SMS, emails, make calls, and such, Vlingo will be a better option. Vlingo will also let you reply back using your voice.

When I had my BlackBerry, I used both apps. I preferred the way DriveSafe.ly would read messages, and the capabilities of Vlingo for converting speech to text (plus all the commands).

As far as bluetooth headsets, I think it is a limitation of Android, at least with 2.1/2.2. Bluetooth seems to get better with each update. I'm not sure about the bluetooth features with 2.3, but it may be able to read through the bluetooth, or at least accept voice commands/dictation.

 

[prakash99]

Thank you so much for your detailed reply. That really helped me "understand" these two apps a lot. I know I will have to play with these for quite some time before I am able to decide.

I didn't have a positive experience with Drivesafe.ly so far. I configured it to launch automatically when it is docked in my car, it did start but it turned off by itself in a few minutes. Now I would like to give Vlingo a go before I come back to Drivesafe.ly

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[djncanada1]

I have used both apps and am not impressed with either. I have a service Voice on the Go to send text and email, it has a log in #, truly hands free. The limitations of the service are reading incoming text messages and replying to text messages.

The other issue with Vlingo and Drivesafe.ly is the lack of integration with in car bluetooth, neither work. I also found both apps would turn on when not in the car. The implementation by Microsoft on Tango seems to be the closest, still does not work with in car bluetooth.

I would love some suggestions on apps that read and reply to SMS.

Dave