V/S Simple Voice
Calculator
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Voice calculator for cooking

Kitchen math is mostly multiplication: a recipe for four scaled up to seven, a cake halved for two, baker’s percentages for bread dough. Simple Voice Calculator lets you say the numbers out loud and keep your hands on the food.

Updated · Vito Software, maker of Simple Voice Calculator

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Simple Voice Calculator listening for a calculation
One tap to start. Say “stop” when you’re done.

Why a voice calculator suits the kitchen

Recipe math is easy but finicky: 1.75 cups times 1.5, or 250 grams divided by 4 and then times 7. A phone calculator needs clean, dry fingers, and in the middle of cooking you rarely have them. Saying the numbers out loud gets around that, and the equation stays on screen so you can check it before you measure anything out.

I started using this while cooking and now I use it constantly. Just say what you want..no typing no fuss.KavrLreilly2011, App Store review

Kitchen calculations you can say

Double or halve a recipe

1.5 times 2 gives 3 cups. To halve ¾ teaspoon, say 0.75 divided by 2.

Add up ingredients

Say 2 plus 1.5 plus 0.75 as you measure flour into the bowl. The total updates as you speak, so there's no equals button to press.

Baker's percentages

500 times 65 percent gives the water for a 65% hydration dough: 325 grams.

Scale for more guests

Recipe serves 4 but you're feeding 7? 250 times 7 divided by 4 scales any amount.

Two kitchen calculations: 250 times 7 divided by 4 gives 437.5 g of flour, and 500 times 65 percent gives 325 g of water
Scaling a recipe from 4 servings to 7, and the water for a 65% hydration dough.

Using it at the counter

  1. Prop the phone up where you can see it. A stand, or something to lean it against. You only need one tap to start the microphone.
  2. Tap the mic and say the sum. "2.5 plus 1.25." The equation appears as you speak.
  3. Hear the answer. With Announce Total turned on in Settings, the result is read out, so your eyes can stay on the food.
  4. Say "stop" when you're done. "Stop", "end" or "finish recording" ends it without touching the phone.

Tips

  • Speak over the noise. On-device recognition handles moderate background noise well. Pause briefly between numbers if the range hood is loud.
  • Say fractions as decimals. "One point five" for 1½ and "zero point seven five" for ¾ come through every time.
  • Glance before you pour. Check the equation on screen to confirm the app heard you before adding an ingredient.
  • Save recipes you make often. Star calculations you use every week (Pro) and sync them across devices with iCloud.
  • No Wi-Fi in the kitchen? Voice processing happens on your device, so it works offline.

Compared with other kitchen tools

Recipe apps convert units but rarely do general math in the middle of a recipe. Siri can do a quick sum but struggles with long ones and doesn't show its work (more on that in using Siri as a calculator). A voice calculator gives you a visible equation, numbers you can fix one at a time, spoken results, and parentheses and percentages, which is what longer recipe math needs.

See how the apps compare in the voice calculator comparison.

Questions people ask

Can I use a voice calculator app while cooking?

Yes. Tap the mic once, say the calculation, and say “stop” when you’re done. If Announce Total is on, you’ll hear the answer without looking at the screen.

How do I double a recipe with a voice calculator?

Multiply each amount by your scaling factor. Say “1.5 times 2” for 1.5 cups doubled, or build a full equation like “open bracket 2 plus 1.5 close bracket times 2”.

Does it work with flour-covered hands?

Yes. You touch the screen once, to start. Everything after that is spoken, so a knuckle on the mic button is all it takes.

Simple Voice Calculator
for iPhone.

Free on the App Store, with no ads. Works on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. Rated 4.6 out of 5 by more than 200 people.

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