Frequently asked questions

Is Ukti really free? What is the catch?

Yes, entirely free, with no account and no ads. It costs nothing to run, because the heavy work is Chrome’s: speech recognition is Chrome’s Web Speech, and translation is Chrome’s own translator. Ukti has no server to pay for. So there is nothing to charge for, and no reason to make money from your data.

Does it work on phones?

No. Ukti works only in Chrome on a computer, version 138 or newer. Chrome on Android does not run extensions, and the translation system Ukti uses is not on phones either.

Edge, Brave or other browsers?

Ukti is built and tested in Google Chrome only. It may or may not work in other browsers, and we make no promise that it will.

Is Ukti always listening?

No. Only after you press the mic, for as long as the button is red. Stopping, pressing Esc, closing the tab or leaving the page all stop it.

Do my words go anywhere?

Dictated speech goes to Google, because that is how Chrome’s speech recognition works; the same thing happens when you press the mic in Google Search. Translation and Banglish to Bangla never leave your computer. Ukti has no server and no analytics of its own. The full account is in the privacy policy.

Why does Chrome say Ukti can “read and change all your data on all websites”?

Because Ukti has to bring the mic to any box on any site, and for that a small part of it has to be present on every page. That is how Chrome describes the permission, and it is accurate: Chrome allows that much. What Ukti actually reads is the text of the box you are speaking into or pressing one of its buttons in, the kind of box (to recognise password fields), and the site’s name. And nothing it reads is sent anywhere. That is the cost of working everywhere.

Does it work offline?

Dictation does not, because recognition happens on Google’s servers. Banglish to Bangla and English translation do.

How accurate is it?

Recognition is Google’s, and is good with clear, ordinary speech. It is better in a quiet room, and with your accent chosen (Bangladesh or West Bengal). Banglish to Bangla is not perfect: about two in three words that are not in its dictionary come out right. Teach it the words that keep coming out wrong.

How do I move my word list to another computer?

From the words page, Save to a file, then on the other computer, Load from a file. See Teaching it a word.

How do I remove Ukti?

Open chrome://extensions in Chrome and press Remove under Ukti. Chrome deletes everything Ukti stored, settings and word list included. To keep the list, save it to a file first.

Who made it? Can I see the code?

Md Rashadul Islam made it. See About. Ukti is open source under the MIT licence, and the whole code is on GitHub.