How to transcribe voice notes offline, without the cloud
Speech-to-text used to need a big server. Today’s phones can do it themselves, so a voice note can become text without the recording ever leaving your phone. Here’s how to find tools that work offline, and how to get good transcripts from them.
In short
- On-device transcription keeps your audio on your phone.
- A one-time language or model download is a good sign an app works offline.
- Test any app in Airplane Mode.
- Record close to the phone, somewhere quiet, and check names and numbers.
Why transcribe offline?
Voice notes are personal: ideas, reminders, health details, the names of family and colleagues. Many transcription services upload your audio to their servers to turn it into text. Transcribing on the phone means the recording stays with you. It also works anywhere: on a plane, somewhere with no signal, or without using mobile data.
Built-in options on iPhone
- Voice Memos and Notes. On recent iPhones with a recent version of iOS, Voice Memos and Notes can show a transcript of a recording. Open a recording and look for the transcript option. Availability depends on your iPhone model and language.
- Dictation. Tap the microphone on the keyboard to type by voice in any app. On recent iPhones, dictation in many languages is processed on the device.
Built-in options on Android
- Recorder on Google Pixel. Google’s Recorder app transcribes as you record, on the phone, and works without an internet connection. Supported languages depend on your Pixel model.
- Samsung Voice Recorder. On Galaxy phones with Galaxy AI, Voice Recorder can transcribe recordings. To keep that processing on the phone, turn on Process data only on device in the Galaxy AI settings. Some features may not work with it on.
- Voice typing. Gboard and Samsung Keyboard can type by voice. In the keyboard’s voice typing settings, look for an option to download your language for offline use.
Menu names change between phone models and updates, so if a setting isn’t where described, search for it in your phone’s Settings app.
How to check whether an app really transcribes offline
- Look for a model or language download. On-device speech recognition needs a speech model stored on your phone, so offline apps usually ask you to download one first.
- Use Airplane Mode. After any downloads, turn on Airplane Mode, record a short note and transcribe it. If text appears, the work happens on your phone.
- Read the privacy label and policy. Look for phrases like “audio is sent to our servers”, “processed in the cloud” or “used to improve our services”.
- Notice whether it wants an account. Cloud transcription services usually need one. An app without accounts is more likely to work on the phone, though it’s not proof.
Get more accurate transcripts
- Hold the phone close to your mouth, or use a headset microphone.
- Record somewhere quiet. Wind, running water and music make mistakes more likely.
- Speak at a normal pace, in full sentences, and pause between topics.
- Choose the language you’re speaking, rather than relying on automatic detection.
- If the app offers several speech models, larger ones are usually more accurate but slower and need more storage. A smaller model is fine for quick notes.
- Check names, numbers and dates, and fix them in the text.
- Keep the audio until you’ve checked the transcript.
For long recordings on a computer, open-source speech models such as Whisper can transcribe audio files offline, without uploading them.
Recording other people
Ask before you record a conversation, a meeting or a class, and follow your workplace’s or school’s rules. It’s respectful, and people speak more freely when they know.
A private voice notes app: SayMark
We’re building SayMark, a voice notes app that records and transcribes on your phone. After a one-time download of its speech and AI models, recording, transcription and finding tasks all work without an internet connection. You choose the fastest speech model, or a more accurate one on recent phones. An AI model on your phone picks out the tasks, appointments and dates you mention, as suggestions you decide on. There’s no account, your recordings are never sent to us, and you can delete a recording’s audio and keep its text.
SayMark is in development and coming to iPhone and Android. Learn more about SayMark
Questions
Is offline transcription as accurate as cloud transcription?
For clear speech it can be very good, especially with a larger speech model. Cloud services may do better with noisy audio, many speakers or unusual words. Try both on a few of your own recordings.
Does offline transcription need a lot of storage?
The speech model is stored on your phone, so it takes some space. Small models are fine on most phones, while the most accurate ones are larger and work best on recent phones.