Speech for Windows Phone 8
[ This article is for Windows Phone 8 developers. If you’re developing for Windows 10, see the latest documentation. ]
In Windows Phone 8 users can interact with your app using speech. There are three speech components that you can integrate with your app: voice commands, speech recognition, and text-to-speech (TTS), as demonstrated in the following image:
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Voice Commands
When a user installs your app, they can automatically use voice commands to access it by speaking "open" or "start", followed by your app name. As a developer, you can also leverage voice commands to allow users to deep link into your app, from outside of your app, by speaking a phrase such as "Start Contoso Search" or "Contoso Show Me My Favorites." You can set up your app so that the phrase links to a specific page in your app, performs a task, or initiates an action.
Discoverability is also a key aspect of voice commands. When you extend and customize voice commands, end users can find out what phrases your app is listening for through system help and the What can I say screen.
For more info, see Voice commands for Windows Phone 8.
Speech recognition
From inside your app, users can speak to give input or to accomplish tasks by using speech recognition. Speech recognition conceptually seems very similar to the voice command feature, but is developed in a different way, using a different API. The key is that speech recognition occurs when you are in the app, and voice commands occur from outside of the app.
Windows Phone 8 includes support for pre-defined grammars for free-text dictation and web search, and also supports custom grammars that are authored using the industry-standard Speech Recognition Grammar Specification (SRGS) Version 1.0. You can create your own GUI, or use a built-in GUI for speech recognition that supports disambiguation and provides visual feedback to users.
For more info, see Speech recognition for Windows Phone 8.
Text-to-speech (TTS)
Also while inside your app, you can use text-to-speech (TTS), also known as speech synthesis, to speak text to the user through the phone’s speaker. Your app can speak a simple string of text, or a formatted string defined by the industry-standard Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML) Version 1.0.
For more info, see Text-to-speech (TTS) for Windows Phone 8.
Speech samples
The following table lists the set of speech-related code samples that are available for download.
Sample name |
Speech features demonstrated in sample |
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Play with text-to-speech (speech synthesis) installed voices |
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Updating a voice command phrase list using a background agent |
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Speech design guidelines
Designed thoughtfully and implemented effectively, speech can be a robust and enjoyable way for people to interact with your Windows Phone app, complementing or even replacing interaction by touch, tap, and gestures. Before beginning the development stage, browse the Speech design guidelines for Windows Phone topic for helpful tips on designing a useful, engaging speech-enabled app.