Transcribe Without the Cloud

Not everyone wants their voice recordings traveling through the internet. Maybe you're transcribing a personal journal entry, a confidential meeting, or notes for a project you're not ready to share.

With cloud-based transcription, your audio gets uploaded, processed on someone else's servers, and stored according to their policies. You're trusting that nothing goes wrong.

Offline transcription removes that variable. The AI runs on your device. Your audio never leaves. There's nothing to trust because there's nowhere for the data to go.

It also works everywhere. On planes. In areas with poor connectivity. In offices that restrict network access. No internet means no dependencies.

When you download Whisper Notes, a 3GB AI model installs on your device. This is Whisper Large-V3-Turbo, one of the most capable speech recognition models available.

The workflow is simple:

1. Open the app and tap record—or use the lock screen widget to start without unlocking
2. Speak naturally
3. Stop recording
4. Text appears

You can also import existing audio files. Drag in a meeting recording, an interview, a lecture—any audio format works. Processing happens locally, so there's no upload time and no waiting for servers.

Results are stored in the app. Export to Notes, share via Messages, copy to clipboard—your transcripts go wherever you need them.

Lock screen recording. Tap the widget without unlocking your phone. Useful for capturing thoughts while walking or driving.

Audio file import. Already have recordings? Import them. No file size limits.

100+ languages. The Whisper model handles most major languages and can auto-detect what you're speaking.

Custom vocabulary. Add names, technical terms, or jargon that the model might otherwise miss.

Bulk export. Select multiple transcripts and export them all at once.

Timestamps. Each paragraph gets a timestamp you can click to jump to that moment in the audio.

Offline processing has real advantages, but it's not free. Here's what you're trading:

Storage. The AI model takes about 3GB. If your device is tight on space, this matters.

First launch. The model downloads once after you buy the app. This takes a few minutes on a typical connection.

Platform. iPhone and Mac only. No Android version exists.

Speed. Transcription runs at roughly real-time speed on recent devices. An hour of audio takes about an hour to process. Newer chips are faster.

For many people, these trade-offs are worth it. For others, cloud transcription makes more sense. Both approaches have their place.

Offline transcription works well if:

• You care about keeping recordings private
• You work in places without reliable internet
• You're tired of subscription fees ($10-50/month adds up)
• You transcribe sensitive conversations for work
• You want a tool that just works without account setup

It's less necessary if you're transcribing public content, have unlimited data, and don't mind cloud processing. In that case, there are good free options available.

Price: $4.99 once. Includes both iOS and Mac versions. No subscriptions, no usage limits.

Model: Whisper Large-V3-Turbo from OpenAI, running locally via Apple's Core ML.

Privacy: The app makes no network requests during transcription. You can verify this yourself with a network monitor.

Updates: Free for life. We're actively developing new features.