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Troubleshooting Your Ava Mic

Having issues with your microphone? This article will help you unblock your microphone!

Updated over a month ago

While using Ava for real-time speech-to-text transcription you may encounter situations where the microphone is being occupied by another application. This can make it difficult for Ava to transcribe or caption what is being said in real-time.

In this help article, we will explain how to close applications that are using the microphone so that you can use Ava without any interruptions.


🍎 iOS

  1. In the top left-hand corner, click on the orange microphone icon. This will open the application that uses the microphone.

  2. Once you've identified the application, return to your home page.

  3. Slide your finger upwards, pausing in the center of your screen.

  4. Find the application identified by your microphone and slide up to close it.

  5. Return to Ava and start the real-time captioning again. It should now be able to access the microphone.


🤖 Android

  1. Tap on the ⚙️ Settings icon

  2. Find the 🎙️ Microphone Settings

  3. Choose the Microphone you wish to use for captions

To Enable Ava to use your Microphone

The first time you use Ava, there will be a prompt to enable Ava to use your microphone. If you tap "No", but change your mind, here is how you can allow Ava to use your microphone to caption

  1. Go to your Android Settings and find Ava's App Settings (note this is different in each Android phone, so if you have questions, please reach out)

  2. Go to your Microphone Permissions

  3. Toggle ON your Microphone permission


🖥️ Desktop

  1. Identify which application is using the microphone
    The first step is to identify which application is using the microphone. You can do this by opening the Windows Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Escape) or the Mac Activity Monitor (Command + Option + Esc). Look for the application that is using the microphone and make a note of its name.

  2. Close the application
    Once you have identified the application that is using the microphone, you can close it. On Windows, you can right-click on the application in the Task Manager and select "End task" to close it. On a Mac, you can click on the application in the Activity Monitor, then click on the blue "force quit" button and confirm by clicking on the blue "force quit" button again.

  3. Restart Ava
    After you have closed the application that was using the microphone, you may need to restart Ava. It should now be able to access the microphone and transcribe or caption what is being said in real-time.

If you encounter a situation where the microphone is being occupied by another application, you can follow these simple steps so Ava is undisrupted and can provide fast and accurate transcription in real-time for digital accessibility.

❓ For further assistance, feel free to contact Ava’s help desk.

🎤 To increase sound for enhanced accessibility needs, check out devices available at Ava’s hardware store.

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