SpeakMe is a free Android application that allows users to select specific applications to receive sound notifications. In other words, you can let you phone read notifications for selected applications, according to precise instructions. SpeakMe is quite a useful app like Dragon Mobile Assistant and provides a minimalist interface with handy options like “Shake To Silence”.
Using SpeakMe is quite easy and you can even mark the minimum number of seconds that must pass (between a specific notification) before you get the next alert. For example, you might add a timeframe after which the app can alert you regarding Twitter tweets (from a Twitter app) to keep yourself updated about tweets from your contacts.
Overview Of SpeakMe Features
SpeakMe can be particularly useful when you are unable to directly use your phone (e.g. during driving) but would like receive relevant alerts from some apps. The application starts off with a handy tutorials which guides you through the various options. You might require installing text to Speech libraries to use this app. These libraries can be downloaded from the link given at the startup guide that is displayed when the app runs for the first time.
Enabling SpeakMe
To use SpeakMe, you will have to enable the accessibility settings from your Android device. The option to enable these settings is displayed when the user guide ends at first run. It is worth mentioning here that the accessibility service may be able to collect all textual data that you type, including personal data, credit card numbers and passwords.
Application Options
You can begin selecting apps for voice notifications, download speech library and access application settings by launching the app and hitting Settings from your Android device.
Shake To Silence
SpeakMe also comes with a Shake To Silence feature that can be used to trigger the app. This feature can be accessed from Settings option from the main menu. From here you can enable/disable the app, disable the instructions pop-up, limit the notification to only say the name of the app and select an audio stream for the notification (e.g. Music Stream, Notification/Phone Stream or Alarm Stream).
SpeakMe works with devices running Android version 2.1 or above.
