How to transcribe a video to text on iPhone
Turn a video on your iPhone or Mac (screen recording, lecture, meeting recording) into a text transcript, in common formats like MP4 or MOV, up to 3 hours.
On this page
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. AI Transcribe is our app.
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 with speaker labels and timestamps. Videos up to 3 hours are supported, in common formats such as MP4 or MOV. On a Mac, drag the file into the window.
Step by step on iPhone
- Get the video onto your iPhone, in Photos or Files, for example a download from Zoom, Teams or your LMS.
- Open AI Transcribe, tap Import → Video File, and select it. (For audio files like
.m4a,.mp3or.opus, choose Audio File: same flow.) - The audio track is extracted on your device and transcribed in the cloud, with timestamps and speaker labels. Keep the app open while it processes.
- Use Summarize, Create meeting notes or any of the 20+ AI tools on the result, or export the transcript.
No separate converter apps, no "video to mp3" web tools.
On a Mac: drag the file into the window
If the video is already on your Mac, such as a Zoom recording in Downloads, the Mac app is the shorter route. Drag the audio or video file anywhere into the AI Transcribe window, or choose Import Audio or Video… (⌘I). The same 3-hour limit per file applies, and you get the same transcript with speakers and the same AI tools. The Mac app needs macOS 15 or later, and one Pro subscription covers iPhone and Mac.
Sign in with the same email on both devices and the transcript syncs to your iPhone and to the web library in your browser.
Export formats
| iPhone | Mac | |
|---|---|---|
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Yes | Yes | |
| Word (DOCX) | Yes | Yes |
| Subtitles (SRT) | Yes | Yes |
| Subtitles (VTT) | No | Yes |
| Markdown | No | Yes |
SRT and VTT are handy if you want to turn the transcript into captions for the video. The web library can also download text, Markdown, SRT or VTT.
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, useful for turning a walkthrough into documentation.
- Interview footage: transcribe first, edit later; quotes become searchable. More in the interview guide.
Common formats such as MP4 or MOV work; the app converts internally.
AI Transcribe is free to download. Pro, weekly or annual, starts with a 3-day free trial that you can begin on iPhone or Mac, and one subscription covers both apps (the trial is once per Apple ID). Before you start it, you can try two imports or AI tool runs and one chat answer, and on iPhone you can keep recording and transcribing without subscribing.
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, on iPhone and Mac. Split longer recordings into two files first.
Does video quality matter? Only the audio matters. A blurry video with clear audio transcribes well; 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 into 46 languages afterwards.
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.