You recorded the thought — a meeting debrief on the walk to the car, an idea at a red light, a conversation you didn't want to lose. Now it's trapped in a voice memo, and you need it as text. Here are the three ways to get it there, and when each one is the right call.
Option 1: The iPhone's built-in transcript
If you have a recent iPhone, Voice Memos can transcribe for you. Per Apple's guide, transcription is available on iPhone 12 or later, in English (all variants), Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, German, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese (Simplified and Traditional) — though not in every country or region.
To see it: open Voice Memos, start or open a recording, and tap the transcription button (you can watch the transcript appear live while recording, or view it afterward). From there you can copy the text and search across your recordings' transcripts. Recordings made in an earlier version of Voice Memos (iOS 17 or earlier) are transcribed automatically when you open them, if they contain speech.
Where it ends: Apple's guide describes viewing, copying, and searching the transcript on the device. If what you need is speaker labels for a two-person conversation, a subtitle file, or your transcripts organized somewhere other than your phone, you'll be reaching for Option 3.
Option 2: Android — it depends on your phone
Android's story is split. On Google Pixel phones, Google's Recorder app transcribes recordings and, on Pixel 6 and later, can detect which language is being spoken. If you're on a Pixel, record in Recorder and transcription is built in.
On many other Android phones, the pre-installed voice recorder doesn't transcribe at all. No need to re-record anything — recorder apps generally include a share option for the audio file, which takes you straight to Option 3.
Option 3: Upload it to a transcription tool
This is the route that doesn't depend on which phone you have or which language the memo is in (we support 18) — and it turns the memo into something you can use outside the phone: a document with speaker labels, files up to 10 hours on the paid plan.
Step 1 — get the file. On iPhone: open Voice Memos, pick the recording, and share it — AirDrop to your computer, saving to Files, or emailing it to yourself are common routes. iPhone memos are typically M4A files, which AudioScribe accepts directly (more on M4A transcription here). On Android: recorder apps generally include a share option that works the same way.
Step 2 — upload it. Drop the file into our voice memo to text tool. The first 5 minutes of any file are free with no signup at all — if your memo is under 5 minutes, that's the whole recording. A free account covers 3 files a day at up to 25 minutes each.
Step 3 — use the transcript. You get a speaker-labeled transcript (so a recorded conversation isn't one wall of text), you can fix speaker names, get an AI summary, ask questions in the built-in chat, and export to TXT, SRT, or VTT. Long memos beyond the free tier — interviews, lectures, meeting recordings up to 10 hours — are covered by the paid plan ($19.99/month or $120/year).
Which option should you use?
| Your situation | Best option |
|---|---|
| Quick personal note, recent iPhone, supported language | Built-in Voice Memos transcript |
| You're on a Pixel | Recorder app |
| More than one person talking | Transcription tool (speaker labels) |
| You need a file — TXT or SRT/VTT subtitles | Transcription tool |
| Older iPhone, unsupported language/region, or non-Pixel Android | Transcription tool |
| Many recordings you want searchable in one place | Transcription tool |
The honest summary: the built-in options are genuinely good at what they're for — a readable transcript of a solo note on the phone that recorded it. The moment a memo has multiple voices, needs to leave your phone as a document, or joins a growing set of recordings you want searchable in one place, uploading it wins.
Frequently asked questions
Can my iPhone transcribe voice memos by itself? On recent iPhones, yes. Apple's Voice Memos app can transcribe recordings on iPhone 12 or later, in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, German, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese (Simplified and Traditional) — though not in every country or region. You can view the transcript live while recording or afterward, copy the text, and search across recordings. Recordings made in an earlier version of Voice Memos (iOS 17 or earlier) are transcribed automatically when you open them, if they contain speech.
How do I transcribe a voice memo on Android? It depends on your phone. On Google Pixel phones, Google's Recorder app transcribes recordings and can even detect the language being spoken (Pixel 6 and later). On many other Android phones, the built-in voice recorder doesn't transcribe at all — in that case, share the audio file from your recorder app and upload it to a transcription tool.
How do I get a voice memo off my iPhone? Open Voice Memos, select the recording, and use the share option — AirDrop to a computer, saving to the Files app, or emailing it to yourself are common routes. Voice memos are typically saved as M4A audio files, which AudioScribe accepts directly with no conversion needed.
Can I transcribe a voice memo online for free? Yes. AudioScribe's free voice-memo-to-text tool transcribes the first 5 minutes of any recording with no signup, and a free account covers 3 files per day at up to 25 minutes each — with speaker labels, AI summaries, and built-in chat included — all without paying anything.
What's the advantage of a transcription tool over the built-in transcript? The built-in transcripts are great for quick reference on the phone that made them. A dedicated tool helps when the memo has more than one voice (speaker labels), when you need the transcript as a file (TXT, or SRT/VTT subtitles), when your phone or language isn't supported, or when you want full-text search and an AI chat for pulling quotes across your transcripts in one place.