How to transcribe audio to text on iPhone

Updated July 2026 · 3 min read

Not just WhatsApp voice notes: the meeting recording you need to review, the lecture to study from, the voice memo recorded in the car, the interview to write up. On iPhone you can turn any audio file into text — without uploading anything to web services and without paying per-minute transcription fees.

Transcribe an audio file in 4 steps

  1. Open Matt on your iPhone;
  2. Tap Import file and pick the audio (from Files, voice memos or other apps);
  3. Matt transcribes it entirely on-device, even offline;
  4. Read, copy, save — or tap Summary for the key points.

Alternatively, share the audio with Matt straight from any app's Share menu, exactly like a WhatsApp voice note.

AI summary of a long audio recording transcribed to text on iPhone

Typical use cases

🔒 Privacy: unlike online transcription services, your audio is never uploaded to a server: Apple speech recognition runs on your iPhone. Ideal for confidential work content.
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Download Matt and transcribe your first audio file. ★ 4.9 on the App Store.

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Frequently asked questions

Which formats can I import?

The most common audio formats (recordings, memos, audio exported from other apps), plus .txt and .pdf documents for summary or translation.

How long can the audio be?

Matt is built for long audio like meetings and lectures: on-device transcription and AI summaries with key points.