Speakable items: Difference between revisions

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Speakable items is part of the speech recognition feature in the classic Mac OS and macOS operating systems. It allows the user to control their computer with natural speech, without having to train the computer beforehand. The commands must be present in the Speakable items folder though but can be created with something as simple as a shortcut, AppleScript, keyboard command, or Automator workflows.

History

Speakable items was first introduced as part of Apple's speech recognition software PlainTalk in 1993. Originally available only on Quadra AV models, it was later integrated with the System 7.1.2 release of the Macintosh system software.^[1]

With the release of Mac OS X v10.4 it was featured as #12 on their list of features. In OS X Mountain Lion, Speakable Items has been relocated to the Accessibility panel in System Preferences.

Automation

Mac OS X v10.4 added Automator workflows which can also be used as Speakable items.

If a workflow is saved as an application and put in the Speakable items folder it becomes available to the speech recognition software. The words the computer will recognize to execute the command will be the name of the saved Automator application. Some words might have to be misspelt for the computer to know the proper pronunciation. (For example, the computer best recognizes "Les Misérables" as Lay Mizzer Ob).

Because Automator is made to comply with AppleScript applications only, most third party or non AppleScript applications, such as Limewire or Final Cut Studio apps will not work with speakable items, unless you configure commands only with "define a keyboard command": in which you'll just select "this application only" after making a keyboard command.

Problems

While Speakable Items is useful, as well as innovative, recognition gets hard and distorted some times.

In Macs without dual beamforming microphones (pre-2012), background noise interferes with recognition, and limits the usefulness of the "listening continuously" option.
Sometimes the pronunciation the computer understands varies from the proper pronunciation. This usually happens with custom commands.
The Speakable items folder also has the abilities to open applications that are blocked by Parental Controls without an administrators permission. This is achieved by copying and application and placing within the folder and opening it from there. However this does not bypass applications from an unidentified developer, if the Applications Downloaded From: App Store or App Store and Identified Developers setting is checked.

References

^ Matt Neuburg (August 28, 2000). "Bossing Your Mac with PlainTalk". TidBITS. Retrieved August 21, 2006.

External links

[1] Matt Neuburg (August 28, 2000). "Bossing Your Mac with PlainTalk". TidBITS. Retrieved August 21, 2006.

[1]

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 <!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Speakable Items.png|right|thumb|The Speakable Items [[window (computing)|window]], executing the "Tell Me a Joke" [[command]].]] -->
-'''Speakable items''' is part of the speech recognition feature in the [[Mac OS]] and [[Mac OS X]] [[operating system]]s.  It allows the user to control their computer with natural speech, without having to train the computer beforehand.  The commands must be present in the Speakable items folder though but can be created with something as simple as a shortcut, [[AppleScript]], keyboard command, or [[Automator (software)|Automator]] workflows.
+'''Speakable items''' is part of the speech recognition feature in the [[classic Mac OS]] and [[macOS]] [[operating system]]s.  It allows the user to control their computer with natural speech, without having to train the computer beforehand.  The commands must be present in the Speakable items folder though but can be created with something as simple as a shortcut, [[AppleScript]], keyboard command, or [[Automator (software)|Automator]] workflows.
 ==History==
-[[Image:Speakable Items List.png|thumb|left|The Speakable Items command list (please note that this list has [[Personalization|customized]] commands in it, so not all will appear in all lists).]]
+<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Speakable Items List.png|thumb|left|The Speakable Items command list (please note that this list has [[Personalization|customized]] commands in it, so not all will appear in all lists).]] -->
-Speakable items was first introduced as part of Apple's speech recognition software [[PlainTalk]] in 1993.  Originally available only on [[Macintosh Quadra|Quadra AV]] models, it was later integrated with the [[System 7 (Macintosh)|System 7.1.2]] release of the Macintosh system software.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://db.tidbits.com/index.php?tbart=06090 | title=Bossing Your Mac with PlainTalk | author=Matt Neuburg | date=August 28, 2000 | work=TidBITS | accessdate=2006-08-21 }}</ref>
+Speakable items was first introduced as part of Apple's speech recognition software [[PlainTalk]] in 1993.  Originally available only on [[Macintosh Quadra|Quadra AV]] models, it was later integrated with the [[System 7 (Macintosh)|System 7.1.2]] release of the Macintosh system software.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://db.tidbits.com/index.php?tbart=06090 | title=Bossing Your Mac with PlainTalk | author=Matt Neuburg | date=August 28, 2000 | work=TidBITS | access-date=August 21, 2006 }}</ref>
-With the release of [[Mac OS X v10.4]] it was featured as #12 on their list of features.
+With the release of [[Mac OS X v10.4]] it was featured as #12 on their list of features. In [[OS X Mountain Lion]], Speakable Items has been relocated to the Accessibility panel in [[System Preferences]].
 == Automation ==
 <!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Automator Window 1.png|thumb|right|Automation saved into Speakable Items command]] -->
-Mac OS X v10.4 added [[Automator]] workflows which can also be used as Speakable items.
+Mac OS X v10.4 added [[Apple Automator|Automator]] workflows which can also be used as Speakable items.
 If a workflow is saved as an application and put in the Speakable items folder it becomes available to the speech recognition software. The words the computer will recognize to execute the command will be the name of the saved Automator application. Some words might have to be misspelt for the computer to know the proper pronunciation. (For example, the computer best recognizes "[[Les Misérables]]" as ''Lay Mizzer Ob'').
-Because Automator is made to comply with [[AppleScript]] applications only, most third party or non AppleScript applications, such as [[Limewire]] or [[Final Cut Studio]] apps will not work with speakable items, unless you configure commands only with "define a keyboard command": in which you'll just select "this application only" after making a keyboard command such as +C or other combinations.
+Because Automator is made to comply with [[AppleScript]] applications only, most third party or non AppleScript applications, such as [[Limewire]] or [[Final Cut Studio]] apps will not work with speakable items, unless you configure commands only with "define a keyboard command": in which you'll just select "this application only" after making a keyboard command.
 == Problems ==
 While Speakable Items is useful, as well as innovative, recognition gets hard and distorted some times.
+# In Macs without dual beamforming microphones (pre-2012), background noise interferes with recognition, and limits the usefulness of the "listening continuously" option.
-# When playing iTunes tracks (or other audio) Speakable Items often doesn't recognize voices or mistakes sounds as commands not being spoken at all.
+# Sometimes the pronunciation the computer understands varies from the proper pronunciation. This usually happens with custom commands.
-# Audio in the background easily distracts the receiver and does not recognize a user's command.
+# The Speakable items folder also has the abilities to open applications that are blocked by Parental Controls without an administrators permission. This is achieved by copying and application and placing within the folder and opening it from there. However this does not bypass applications from an unidentified developer, if the Applications Downloaded From: App Store or App Store and Identified Developers setting is checked.
-# When "listening continuously" (the setting contrary to "Push to talk") it may mistake clicks and typing for short commands.
-# Sometimes, usually with custom commands, the pronunciation so that the computer will understand varies from the proper pronunciation in its respective languages.
-There has also been recurring problems users experience where Speakable Items inexplicably stops functioning, and can no longer be accessed. This can be corrected by doing the following:
-# Go into Spotlight
-# Type <code>com.apple.speech</code>
-# A few results will pop up. Click "reveal in finder."
-# Highlight all, and drag to a backup folder (or alternatively, to the trash bin)
-# Open System Preferences -> Speech - > Settings tab.
-# Turn off Speakable Items, then turn back on.
-# The speech bubble float should pop back up
-Some people have also found that they have a problem with speakable items once the chess.app file is opened: it autostarts and cannot be gotten rid of, even when chess.app is closed again, except by going through activity monitor.
 ==See also==
@@ Line 41: / Line 30: @@
 ==References==
+{{reflist}}
-<div class="references-small">
-<!--See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the <ref(erences/)> tags-->
-<references/>
-</div>
 ==External links==
-*[http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61493 Mac OS X: Speech - How to add items to Speakable Items]
+*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120402174910/http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61493 Mac OS X: Speech - How to add items to Speakable Items]
+*[http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11447 OS X Mountain Lion: Create spoken commands]
-{{Mac OS X}}
+{{macOS}}
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Speakable Items}}
-[[Category:Mac OS X]]
+[[Category:MacOS]]
 [[mr:स्पीकेबल आयटेम्स]]