Who is allowed to take the Phone recorder file?
Usually the host or the organiser of the meeting. If the download button is not there for you, the recording is not yours to take and the host has to do it.
Lecture
Lecture recording to text
Lecture recording to text: upload the recording of the lecture and get the text of it with a timecode on every segment, the speakers on request, and TXT, SRT, VTT, CSV or DOCX out. Free $0, 3 files a day.
3 files a day up to 30 minutes, free99+ languagesSpeaker separation and timestamps
In short
The file of Phone recorder is all the service needs: our own transcription engine turns it into a text with a timecode on every segment. One file may be up to 30 minutes, and the speakers are told apart on request.
How to get the file and turn it into text
- 1
Record the room
A lecture is recorded with the Voice Memos app of a phone, with the Recorder app, or with a meeting platform.
- 2
Find the file
The recording of the Recorder app is in the Files app of the phone.
- 3
Mind the length
The Recorder app records up to 18 hours, so one lecture can be a very long file.
- 4
Wait for the transcript
Our own measurement on a short file was 0.84 s. A long recording goes through a queue and is saved to your account, so the text is there when you come back for it.
- 5
Read the first lines before you share them
The engine keeps the time of every segment, so a correction in the editor does not move anything else. Read the beginning and the names before the file goes out.
What comes back from the engine
- TXT
One segment per line, the way a person wrote it down. It is the format to paste into a ticket, a chat or a document.
- TXT, CSV
The start and the end time of every segment, and the speakers named separately when you ask for it.
- SRT, VTT
SRT and VTT with the time of every line, so the recording can carry its own subtitles.
- Markdown, DOCX
The transcript is edited through the API and exported as Markdown for a wiki, or as DOCX for a review.
What Phone recorder keeps, and what it gives
| What | What the platform says |
|---|---|
| Where the file is | A lecture is recorded the way the room is recorded: with the Voice Memos app of a phone, with the Recorder app, or with a meeting platform. |
| Where the file is kept | The recording of the Recorder app is kept in the Files app of the phone. |
| What the file is | The Recorder app of a phone labels the sounds of the recording and makes a transcript of it. |
| What can go wrong | The Recorder app records up to 18 hours, so one lecture can be a very long file. |
| Length of one file | up to 30 minutes on the free plan, no minute limit on Pro |
| Free plan | $0: 3 files a day, up to 30 minutes per file, no card |
| Pro plan | $10 a month when you pay yearly ($120 a year), or $20 a month |
The case
What the recording does not give you
Two things are worth knowing before you start. First, the service takes a file and not the address of a page: the recording of the lecture has to reach the disk first, and the steps above say how. Second, a transcript is only as good as the sound, and a headset microphone and the microphone of a room give two very different texts out of the same engine.
Tips
Take CSV when the text of the Phone recorder file has to go into a spreadsheet.
A headset microphone gives a cleaner text than the one of the room.
The limit is 30 minutes on the free plan, and the Pro plan has no minute limit.
Name the file after the meeting, not after the day.
Questions about Phone recorder files
Can I send the video of the Phone recorder recording?
Yes, a video file is read as well and the audio inside it is enough. If you want the file small, take the audio track of the same recording instead.
What if the Phone recorder file records somebody else?
Then it is the rule of any conversation: the people in the room have to know that it is being recorded. Nothing in this service changes that duty.
What size may the Phone recorder file be?
up to 30 minutes, on every plan. A longer Phone recorder recording has to be cut into parts before it is sent here.
Related pages
- Interview recording to textInterview recording to text: where Phone recorder keeps it, and what the engine does with it.
- Voice memo to textVoice memo to text: where iPhone keeps it, and what the engine does with it.
- Dictaphone recording to textDictaphone recording to text: where Olympus dictaphone keeps it, and what the engine does with it.
- Transcribe a lectureA room, a microphone and a text that can be read the next morning.
Sources
- SiPhone user guide: make a recording (read 2026-10-24)support.apple.com · checked
- SGoogle Pixel help: the Recorder app (read 2026-10-24)support.google.com · checked
Reading: 4 minutesUpdated 
Transcribsi editorial team
Drop a recording — the text arrives in a minute
Speakers by name, a time on every line, export to TXT, SRT, VTT, CSV and Markdown.
3 files a day up to 30 minutes, free99+ languagesSpeaker separation and timestamps