Koo launches 'talk to type' feature

NEW DELHI: Social media platform Koo has launched a unique “talk to type” feature, which allows users to post on the site without using their keyboard.


Before the launch of the feature, users could type out their thoughts and post them on the platform. They could also post images and videos by clicking on the create button. Users will now be able to create textual posts by clicking on an icon depicting a man’s face. Once they click it, they can speak what they want to type, and the text will appear on their screen.

The platform, dubbed as the domestic alternative to Twitter, has over 5.5 million users in India, and currently supports six regional languages, including

Kannada

, Hindi, Tamil,

Telugu

,

Marathi

and Bengali, beside English. The “talk to type” feature is available in all the languages supported by the app. Koo also shared a demo of the feature with TOI.

According to the platform, the new feature will empower those who do not feel comfortable using a keyboard because of several factors, including unfamiliarity. “Everyone does not know how to use the English keyboard, so they hesitate to share their thoughts. This will be a game changer for those people,” Koo co-founder

Mayank Bidawatka

told TOI.

“Our mission at Koo is to connect India and enable a billion Indian voices to express themselves freely in their mother tongue. We will keep simplifying expressions for anybody who wants to connect with their audiences. We are the first social platform in the world to launch such a feature. You won’t find this on any global platform,” Bidawatka added.

Co-founder Aprameya Radhakrishna added that the feature will enable users to share their thoughts in a seamless way. “India language speakers can now speak their mind and the words will show up on the screen magically! For those who found it difficult to type in local languages, this feature removes all that pain. We will keep adding value to Indians by enabling the easiest localized forms of expression and present their thoughts to India in a seamless way,” he said.