How to transcribe audio on iPhone

What kinds of audio can you transcribe?

Almost anything with speech. Voice memos you recorded earlier, interviews captured in another app, audio files someone sent you, lecture recordings, podcast clips saved to your Files app — all of these work.

Noter AI accepts audio files imported directly from your iPhone's storage or shared from another app via iOS's built-in Share sheet. You can also record new audio live inside the app if you want everything in one place.

The result is the same regardless of source: a full text transcript with speaker labels and timestamps, plus an AI summary.

Method 1 — Import from the Share extension

This is the fastest route if the audio already exists somewhere on your iPhone. The Share extension works from Voice Memos, the Files app, and most third-party recording apps.

1. 1Open the app that contains your audio — for example, Voice Memos.
2. 2Find the recording you want to transcribe and tap the three-dot menu or the Share button.
3. 3In the share sheet that appears, scroll through the app options and tap Noter AI.
4. 4The file imports into Noter AI automatically and transcription begins. You'll see a progress indicator.
5. 5When it's done, your transcript appears with timestamps. Tap any line to hear the audio at that moment.
6. 6An AI summary and action items are generated alongside the transcript.

Method 2 — Import from inside the app

If your audio file is in the Files app or iCloud Drive, you can import it directly from within Noter AI without leaving the app.

1. 1Open Noter AI on your iPhone or iPad.
2. 2Tap the + button or New Note.
3. 3Select Import Audio (or Import from Files).
4. 4Browse to your audio file in the Files picker — this includes iCloud Drive, On My iPhone, or any connected cloud storage.
5. 5Tap the file to import it. Transcription starts automatically.
6. 6The finished note appears in your list with the full transcript, summary, and action items.

Method 3 — Record new audio directly

If you haven't recorded yet, you can capture audio and transcribe it without leaving the app.

Tap New Note then Start Recording. The recording runs in the background — you can lock your screen without stopping it. When you're done, tap Stop and transcription begins automatically.

For faster access, add the Control Center widget to your iPhone settings. That lets you start a new recording with a single tap from anywhere, even the lock screen, without opening the app.

What the transcript includes

Every transcription produces more than plain text. Here's what you get with each note:

• Full transcript with timestamps on every segment
• Speaker labels — when there are multiple voices, the AI tags each speaker separately
• Synced playback — tap any line in the transcript to jump to that moment in the audio
• Executive summary — a short overview of what was said
• Action items — tasks and commitments pulled automatically from the conversation
• AI Chat — ask questions about the content, or ask across multiple notes at once

Exporting and sharing your transcript

Once transcribed, you can export the note in whatever format works for your workflow. PDF is good for sharing in email or saving as a record. Word (.docx) works if you need to edit or paste into a document. Plain text is the simplest option for pasting anywhere.

There's also a rich-text copy button for copying a formatted version straight to your clipboard — useful for dropping into Notion, an email, or a team chat.

Notes sync across all your devices, so a transcript you create on iPhone shows up on your iPad automatically.

Supported languages

Noter AI transcribes audio in 18 languages: Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Dutch, English, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Turkish, and Vietnamese.

Once transcribed, you can also translate the transcript into any of those same languages — handy if the audio is in one language but your team reads in another.