How can I transcribe a meeting privately, without uploading the audio?
Use an app that transcribes on the device, such as Transcribe. It records through your iPhone's microphone, shows the transcript live, and does not upload the recording or the text to a server. The trade-off is that it does not label who said what, and it cannot join a video call as a bot.
Download Transcribe on the App Store
How the options compare
- Cloud meeting assistants such as Otter: They add features Transcribe lacks, such as speaker name identification, which Otter lists on its features page. Otter's privacy policy says audio recordings you provide are collected, that it relies on cloud providers including Amazon Web Services, and that it trains its AI on de-identified audio recordings and transcriptions. Read the policy against your company's rules.
- Voice Memos (built in): Free, on your phone and able to show a transcript on iPhone 12 or later in the languages Apple lists. It has no meeting tools such as checklists or summaries.
- A human note-taker: Best for sensitive judgment calls and speaker attribution. Slower and not searchable.
Where Transcribe fits
Transcribe uses Apple's on-device speech models and, for summaries, Apple's on-device Foundation Models. There is no account and no server for your recordings. After a one-time language download it works offline, which also makes it usable in rooms where Wi-Fi is not allowed.
During a meeting you get a live transcript, the Coverage Checklist for agenda items, Name Ping to see when your name came up, and a Time Box for the target length. In Pro, Mark flags a decision to jump back to. On an Apple Intelligence iPhone, Pro adds a summary with key points and action items.
Practical points: tell attendees you are recording and follow your organisation's rules. Transcribe records the room through the microphone, so it works for in-person meetings, and it cannot record phone calls, because iOS does not allow that for any App Store app.
What it costs
Transcribe is free to download. Unlimited recordings, with no time limit, and full on-device transcription are free. Pro adds export, encrypted backup, marking moments, more transcription languages and, on Apple Intelligence devices, AI summaries, action items and Ask AI. Plans and prices are shown in the app and on the App Store page, and vary by region. Prices from the US App Store, checked 2026-11-04; they vary by region.
Quick answers
Does Transcribe upload meeting audio?
No. It does not upload recordings or transcripts to a server, and there is no account.
Does it need internet?
Only once per language, to download Apple's speech model. After that it works offline.
Can it record a call or a Zoom meeting?
It listens through the microphone. It cannot record phone calls, and it does not join online meetings.
Does it say who spoke?
No. It produces a single transcript without speaker labels.
More questions about Transcribe
- How do I transcribe a lecture on my iPhone, even without Wi-Fi?
- What is the best way to turn voice memos into text on an iPhone?
- What is the best way to record and transcribe an interview on iPhone?
- Is there an iPhone app that summarizes meetings and lists the to-dos?
- How do I transcribe the audio of a video on my iPhone?
- Is there a transcription app that never uploads my audio and works offline?
Full details: Transcribe app page · all answers