Transcribing Voice Memos on iPhone: Can Siri Do It?

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Voice memos are a convenient way to quickly capture thoughts, ideas, and important information on the go. Whether you're brainstorming for a project, recording a lecture, or conducting an interview, the iPhone's built-in Voice Memos app makes it easy to record high-quality audio with just a few taps.

But what happens when you want to convert those voice recordings into written text? Can Siri, Apple's intelligent assistant, transcribe your voice memos for you?

And if not, what are some of the best alternative apps and methods for transcribing audio on iPhone?

In this post, we'll explore these questions in depth and provide actionable tips to help you get the most out of your voice memos. Let's dive in!

Can Siri Transcribe Voice Memos?

The short answer is no, Siri cannot directly transcribe voice memos that you've previously recorded in the Voice Memos app. While Siri has some powerful speech-to-text capabilities for dictation, it's not currently designed to convert existing audio files into text.

However, there is a work around that allows you to use Siri to transcribe voice memos in a more roundabout way:

Open the Voice Memos app and start playing the recording you want to transcribe;

While it's playing, activate Siri and say "Siri, transcribe this.";

Siri will begin transcribing the audio that's currently playing out loud, and you'll see the text appear in real-time;

When the recording is finished, you can copy the transcribed text and paste it into your desired app.

While this method works, it has some obvious drawbacks. You have to play the entire voice memo out loud, which isn't always practical or private. And if your recording is long, you'll need to keep Siri active the whole time.

Fortunately, there are several excellent apps that are purpose-built for transcribing voice memos and other audio recordings on iPhone. Let's take a look at some of the best options.

Voicenotes: AI-Powered Voice Notes & Transcription

Voicenotes is an innovative app that's designed to make capturing and transcribing voice notes as seamless as possible.

With a beautifully simple interface and powerful AI features, it's a compelling choice for anyone who regularly works with voice memos. Key features of Voicenotes include:

✅ Instant transcription: Voicenotes uses advanced speech recognition to automatically transcribe your voice recordings into searchable text;

✅ AI-powered enhancements: The app's AI can help you clean up and edit your transcriptions, as well as provide suggestions for turning your voice notes into other formats like blog posts or to-do lists;

✅ Easy categorization: You can organize your notes into custom folders and tag them for quick retrieval later;

✅ Effortless sharing: Export your voice notes and transcriptions to other apps or share them with collaborators;

One of the standout features of Voicenotes is its ability to not just transcribe, but help you repurpose and build on your voice notes in intelligent ways.

It's like having an AI writing assistant that works alongside your recordings. Voicenotes offers a free tier that includes basic recording and transcription. Paid plans unlock higher usage limits and advanced AI features.

Otter: Transcribe Voice Notes & Meetings

Otter is another powerful option for transcribing voice memos and audio recordings on iPhone. Designed with meetings and interviews in mind, it packs in a ton of useful features for collaborating and drawing insights from your voice conversations. Some of Otter's key features include:

✅ Real-time transcription: Otter can transcribe your recordings live as you speak, so you can read along and highlight key points in the moment.

✅ Speaker identification: The app can detect different speakers in a recording and automatically label them in the transcript.

✅ Conversation insights: Otter provides summary keywords, action items, and other useful analytics to help you derive key points from a discussion.

✅ Collaborative editing: You can share transcripts with others, allowing them to edit, comment, and add notes.

✅ Cross-conversation search: Otter lets you search for terms across all your recordings and transcriptions, making it a powerful tool for surfacing information later.

Otter offers a free basic plan that includes 600 minutes of transcription per month. Paid plans provide more minutes, advanced export options, and extra features geared toward teams and enterprises.

Rev: Human-Powered Transcription Service

For situations that demand the highest level of transcription accuracy, such as legal depositions or media interviews, Rev is worth considering. Unlike most transcription apps that rely solely on AI, Rev uses a network of human transcriptionists to convert your audio to text.

Here's how it works:

✅ You upload your voice memo or audio file through the Rev iOS app or website.

✅ One of Rev's 50,000+ transcriptionists claims the job and begins working on it.

✅ You receive the finished transcript, typically within 12 hours for files under 30 minutes.

Rev guarantees 99%+ accuracy on all transcriptions, and offers a range of turnaround options, from 12 hours to 5 days. For an extra fee, you can even get your file transcribed in as little as 3 hours. Of course, this human-powered approach comes at a significantly higher price than AI-based apps. Rev charges $1.25 per audio minute, which can add up quickly for longer recordings. But if you need publication-quality transcripts, it may be worth the investment.

Just Press Record: All-in-One Voice Recorder & Transcriber

For a simple, streamlined experience, check out Just Press Record. This well-designed iOS app combines a full-featured voice recorder with an automatic transcription engine, letting you capture and convert voice memos in just a few taps. Just Press Record's key features include:

✅ One-tap recording: Start a new recording with a single tap from the app, Notification Center widget, or Apple Watch.

✅ Background recording: The app can record audio in the background while you use other apps.

✅ Instant transcription: After you finish recording, your audio is automatically transcribed using offline, on-device processing for privacy.

✅ iCloud sync: All your recordings and transcriptions are synced across your iOS devices via iCloud.

✅ Easy sharing: Export your audio and text to a variety of apps and formats, including Dropbox, Evernote, and PDF.

Just Press Record is a paid app, currently priced at $4.99. But for its elegant design and useful feature set, it may be worth the one-time cost for frequent voice memo users.

Wrapping Up

While Siri may not be able to transcribe your existing voice memos directly, there are plenty of excellent apps that can get the job done.

Whether you opt for an AI-powered option like Voicenotes or Otter, a human-based service like Rev, or a streamlined tool like Just Press Record, converting your voice recordings to text has never been easier. The key is to choose an app that fits your specific needs and workflow.

Consider factors like accuracy, turnaround time, privacy, and price when making your decision. And don't be afraid to experiment with a few different options to find the best fit. Whichever app you choose, transcribing your voice memos can be a game-changer for productivity and organization.

By unlocking the content of your recordings in a searchable, shareable, and reusable format, you'll be able to get more mileage out of every audio note you capture. So the next time you're in the middle of a brilliant brainstorm or an insightful interview, rest assured that getting those valuable words down on paper (or pixels) is just a few taps away.

Happy transcribing!