AI Transcribe

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How to transcribe a video to text on iPhone

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You have a video — a recorded meeting, a lecture video, a screen recording, an interview clip — and you need what was said as text. You don't need to extract the audio yourself; a transcription app does it for you.

Short answer: Import the video directly into AI Transcribe: tap Import, choose Video File, pick the video, and the audio track is extracted and transcribed automatically. Videos up to 3 hours are supported, in any common format.

Step by step

  1. Get the video onto your iPhone — Photos, Files, or a download from Zoom/Teams/your LMS.
  2. Open AI Transcribe, tap Import → Video File, and select it. (For audio files like .m4a, .mp3 or .opus, choose Audio File — same flow.)
  3. The audio track is extracted on your device and transcribed with timestamps and speaker labels. Keep the app open while it processes.
  4. Use Summarize, Create meeting notes or any AI tool on the result, or export the transcript as text or PDF.

No separate converter apps, no "video to mp3" web tools.

What kinds of video work?

  • Recorded meetings (Zoom, Meet, Teams downloads) — speaker labels keep who-said-what readable.
  • Lecture and course videos — see the full lecture workflow.
  • Screen recordings with narration — great for turning a walkthrough into documentation.
  • Interview footage — transcribe first, edit later; quotes become searchable.

Any format your phone can store generally works: the app converts internally, so .mp4, .mov and friends are all fine.

Frequently asked questions

Can I transcribe a YouTube video? Transcribe videos you have rights to — your own uploads, course material you're licensed to download, recordings shared with you. Download the file, then import it.

How long can the video be? Up to 3 hours per file. A feature-length recording transcribes in minutes, not hours.

Does video quality matter? Only the audio matters. A blurry video with clear audio transcribes perfectly; a 4K video of a windy outdoor speech doesn't.

What languages are supported? 32 languages with automatic detection, and the transcript can be translated afterwards with the built-in AI tools.

Do I need to convert m4a to text some other way? No — .m4a (the iPhone's default audio format) imports directly as an audio file.