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How to Transcribe a Voice Memo on iPhone

Your iPhone can show a basic transcript of a voice memo. Here's how to use it, and how to get speaker labels, timestamps and subtitles when you need more.

October 24, 2026 · 4 min read

If you have an iPhone 12 or later, Voice Memos already transcribes your recordings. For a quick look at what was said, that is all you need. When you need to know who said what, find a moment in the audio, or send someone a proper document, upload the memo to AudioTranscribr. Both ways take a couple of minutes.

Option 1: Use the transcript Voice Memos already makes

1. Open Voice Memos (it's in the Utilities folder).
2. Tap the recording, then tap the More Actions button.
3. Choose View Transcript to read it and copy part of it, or Copy Transcript to copy all of it.
4. Paste the text into Notes, Mail or a document.

Apple's transcription works on iPhone 12 or later, in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, German, Japanese, Korean and Chinese, and not in every country (Apple's guide). Apple describes copying the text. It doesn't mention speaker labels, timestamps in the copied text, or subtitle files.

Option 2: Get speakers, timestamps and files with AudioTranscribr

Step 1: Save the memo to Files. The upload page can only see recordings that are in the Files app, and voice memos aren't there until you save them.

1. In Voice Memos, tap the recording, tap More Actions, then Share.
2. Tap Options and choose Rendered, which makes one .m4a file with any layers mixed in (Apple's guide).
3. Tap Save to Files, choose iCloud Drive or On My iPhone, and tap Save.

Step 2: Upload it.

1. Open audiotranscribr.com/app in Safari or Chrome and enter your email. We send a code; there is no password. Your first transcription is free, whatever its length.
2. On the Transcriptions tab, tap choose a file, then Choose File, and pick the memo.
3. Keep the screen on until it says Uploaded. iPhones pause uploads when you switch apps.

Step 3: Download what you need. A few minutes later the transcript is ready in five formats: a text file with speaker labels and timestamps, a PDF, SRT and VTT subtitles, and JSON. Each one starts with a short summary, written in the language of the recording.

Here is a short exchange from a real result, from a public-domain Supreme Court recording (full sample):

[00:55:23] Speaker 1: Did I understand you in response to a question from justice Thomas to say that Chevron doesn't apply to constitutional questions?

[00:55:31] Speaker 6: Yes. It's only a a doctrine that applies in the context of statutory interpretation.

Which one should you use?

Tips for a cleaner transcript

• Keep the phone close to whoever is speaking, and away from fans and traffic.
• Ask people not to talk over each other. Speaker labels are most accurate when one person speaks at a time.
• Long memos are fine: uploads can be up to 5 GB. For a very large video, save it to Files first, or upload from a computer (why).

Frequently asked questions

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