iOS Critical Bug Fixes #

• CRITICAL FIX: Resolved iOS app crashes when starting speech recognition
• Audio Format Fix: Fixed iOS audio format compatibility issues that caused crashes on iOS devices and simulator
• Swift Compilation Fix: Fixed Swift compiler errors related to immutable value passing
• iOS Audio Engine: Improved iOS audio engine setup with proper error handling and native format support
• Audio Resampling: Added proper audio resampling logic for iOS to ensure 16kHz compatibility
• Device Compatibility: Enhanced iOS device and simulator compatibility

Improvements #

• Enhanced Error Handling: Added comprehensive error handling for iOS audio session and engine setup
• Better Audio Processing: Improved audio buffer processing with proper format conversion
• iOS Simulator Support: Added proper iOS simulator detection and handling
• Cross-Platform Stability: Improved overall plugin stability across iOS and Android platforms

Major Architecture Change: gRPC Streaming Implementation #

• BREAKING CHANGE: Replaced Rest API streaming with native gRPC streaming API
• Implemented Google Cloud Speech-to-Text gRPC streaming API for optimal performance
• Added custom protobuf message definitions for direct Google Cloud API communication
• Real-time bidirectional streaming with immediate results
• Eliminated intermediate WebSocket layer for improved efficiency

Enhanced Features #

• Native gRPC Communication: Direct protobuf-based communication with Google Cloud Speech-to-Text
• Improved Performance: Reduced latency and improved throughput with native gRPC protocol
• Better Error Handling: Enhanced error reporting and connection management
• Streamlined Architecture: Simplified codebase with direct API communication
• Production Ready: Removed all debug logging for production deployment

Technical Details #

• Updated to gRPC ^4.1.0 and protobuf ^4.1.1 for latest features
• Custom protobuf message classes for Google Cloud Speech-to-Text API
• Bidirectional streaming with StreamController for audio data
• Proper authentication with Google Cloud access tokens
• Cross-platform audio capture with gRPC streaming backend
• Cleaned up unused protobuf generation files and dependencies

Dependencies #

• grpc: ^4.1.0
• protobuf: ^4.1.1
• plugin_platform_interface: ^2.1.8

Code Quality #

• Removed all debug logging statements
• Cleaned up unused files and dependencies
• Optimized for production deployment
• Improved code maintainability

Major Improvement: Streaming Speech Recognition #

• BREAKING CHANGE: Replaced chunked REST API with real-time WebSocket streaming
• Implemented Google Cloud Speech-to-Text Streaming API for continuous audio transcription
• Added WebSocket connections for both Android (OkHttp) and iOS (URLSessionWebSocketTask)
• Real-time interim results with immediate user feedback
• Improved transcription quality and reduced latency for continuous speech

Added #

• Production Release: First stable release of Flutter Google Speech-to-Text plugin
• Real-time speech recognition using Google Cloud Speech-to-Text REST API
• Cross-platform support for Android (Kotlin) and iOS (Swift)
• Google Cloud API key authentication support
• Microphone permission handling with native platform requests
• Configurable language codes and audio settings (16kHz PCM audio)
• Clean, production-ready codebase with proper error handling
• Comprehensive API documentation and examples
• Full test coverage with unit and integration tests

Changed #

• Package Name: Updated to com.guptan404.flutter_google_stt
• API Implementation: Uses REST API instead of gRPC for better compatibility
• Error Handling: Improved error reporting with specific error codes
• Code Quality: Removed debug logs and optimized for production use

Technical Details #

• Android implementation using AudioRecord and OkHttp3
• iOS implementation using AVAudioEngine and URLSession
• Method channel communication between Dart and native platforms
• Support for interim and final transcription results
• Automatic audio chunking and processing

Added #

• Initial development release
• Basic speech recognition functionality
• Example app for testing
• Full API documentation and setup instructions

Features #

• initialize() method for setting up Google Cloud credentials
• startListening() method with real-time transcript callbacks
• stopListening() method for ending speech recognition
• isListening property to check current state
• hasMicrophonePermission and requestMicrophonePermission for permission management
• Support for interim and final transcription results
• Error handling with detailed error messages

Technical Details #

• Android: Uses AudioRecord for audio capture and Google Cloud Speech gRPC client
• iOS: Uses AVAudioEngine for audio capture and REST API calls
• Proper audio session management on iOS
• Privacy manifest support for iOS App Store requirements
• Gradle dependencies management for Android
• CocoaPods integration for iOS

Documentation #

• Comprehensive README with setup instructions
• API reference documentation
• Example usage code
• Google Cloud setup guide
• Platform-specific configuration instructions