Works wherever you record
Every voice memo app. One transcript flow.
Voice memos look different on every phone. Typist handles every file they produce, without asking you to convert, rename, or re-record.
iPhone & iPad Voice Memos
Apple's default app records in M4A. Share via AirDrop, Files, or iCloud Drive. Drag into Typist. That's the whole workflow.
Google Recorder (Pixel)
Pixel Recorder saves to M4A and syncs to your Google account. Share the file, drop it into Typist, and keep the timestamps that matter.
Samsung Voice Recorder
Samsung's stock recorder exports M4A or MP3. The same goes for OnePlus, Xiaomi, and almost every Android OEM voice app. Typist reads them all.
WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal
Voice messages from messaging apps save as OGG or M4A when you export them. Forward to yourself, save the file, and let Typist do the rest.
If this is you
Your voice memo library is a graveyard of good ideas.
Recording is easy. Going back and listening is not. That is where everything gets lost.
You have 200 memos. You've played back 10.
The rest sit in your library labeled 'New Recording 43'. You know there is gold in there, but the cost of finding it is too high, so you never look.
Scrubbing for one sentence takes forever.
You remember the idea. You remember roughly when you said it. But playing back a 45-minute memo on 2x speed is still a 22-minute chore, and you always miss the quote on the first pass.
Built-in transcription only covers one device.
iOS 18 added Voice Memo transcription, but only in English-first locales, only on newer iPhones, and only inside the Voice Memos app. If you switch phones, change languages, or record elsewhere, you are back to square one.
Exporting a memo is its own puzzle.
AirDrop, share sheet, Files, iCloud, email, Google Drive, sync folder. Every platform hides the export differently, and you just want the words inside, not a tutorial on file management.
The whole workflow
Three steps from memo to readable note.
Works with any voice memo file, from any app, on any phone. No converter. No desktop install.
Get the memo off your phone
Share the voice memo to yourself (AirDrop, email, Files, Drive, or the built-in share sheet). Drop the file into Typist from your browser. Works from phone or laptop.
Typist transcribes the whole thing
Roughly 30 seconds for a 1-hour memo. No format conversion needed. Accurate with accents, jargon, half-mumbled ideas, background noise, and code-switching between languages.
Read, search, and send the text
Copy straight into Notes, Notion, or Obsidian. Export as TXT, DOCX, Markdown, or JSON on Free. Pro adds PDF, SRT, and WebVTT for captions.
See it in action
Real voice memos. Real text.
A shower-thought idea, a car dictation, a field interview, a walking journal. Press play to hear what the input sounds like, then watch the timestamped transcript keep up.
Okay so I just had this idea, what if we just make the pricing page one toggle and one button. Not three plans. Not a slider. Just 'free' or 'pro' and literally nothing else on the page. I bet the conversion goes up, not down, because right now the page is basically a cognitive tax. Remind me to ship this on Tuesday before I talk myself out of it.
Why voice memo users pick Typist
Built for backlogs, not single files.
Chew through your whole library. Up to 200x faster than real-time. A 1-hour memo finishes in under a minute. A backlog of 50 memos finishes in one sitting.
Any memo from any app. M4A, MP3, OGG, WAV, FLAC, plus MP4, MOV, and WebM. Whatever your phone or messaging app spits out, Typist reads it directly.
Drag and drop audio/video file
MP3, WAV, MP4, MOV, M4A and more...
99+ languages, including code-switching. Bilingual memo that flips mid-sentence? Handled. Heavy accent? Handled. Field recording with background chatter? Typist keeps up.
Straight into your note system. TXT, DOCX, Markdown, JSON on Free. PDF, SRT, WebVTT on Pro. Paste into Apple Notes, Notion, Obsidian, Google Docs, or your clipboard in one click.
Who lives in their voice memos app
Writers, reporters, builders, people who think out loud.
Anyone whose best ideas arrive mid-walk, mid-drive, or mid-shower, and who wants them in text before they evaporate.
"I talk out every chapter on my evening walk. Before Typist, the memos just piled up. Now every walk ends with searchable notes in my draft folder. My editor thinks I drafted twice as much."
"I file from the road. Voice Memo, AirDrop to laptop, Typist, export to Markdown, paste into my CMS. Five minutes from interview end to quote on the page."
"I dictate property walkthroughs on my Samsung. Typist turns a 20-minute tour into a clean listing description and agent notes. I do not lose the details anymore."
"Between meetings I talk to my phone. Typist turns the drive home into a project brief. The team has stopped asking me to write docs."
"Sixty hours of interviews, recorded on a Pixel, all M4A. Every other tool wanted me to convert. Typist chewed through the whole set in an afternoon, with accurate accents."
"My clients prefer 4-minute WhatsApp voices over email. Save the file, upload to Typist, and I finally have a record of what was actually promised in the rush."
How we compare
Typist vs the built-in options and the incumbents.
Built-in phone transcription is locked to one device and one language. Typist covers every phone, every app, every language.
| Tool | Speed | Max upload | Languages | Free tier | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Typist | 1hr in ~30s | 5 GB | 99+ | 3 free, no card | $20/mo unlimited |
iOS 18 Voice Memos | Real-time only | Device storage | English-first | Free on newer iPhones | iPhone only, no export |
Google Recorder (Pixel) | Real-time | Device storage | ~10 | Free, Pixel only | No Pixel, no feature |
Otter.ai | Real-time | ~3 GB | 3 | 300 min/mo | $16.99/mo (Pro) |
TurboScribe | 1hr in ~3 min | 5 GB | 98+ | 3/day (30 min) | $10/mo |
Whisper (local) | Hours on your laptop | Unlimited (local) | 99+ | Free (install pain) | Your CPU, your fan |
Pricing
Start free. No card. No catch.
3 memos free. Enough to finally clear a stale backlog.
3 free transcriptions
No card required
Files up to 100 MB
Perfect for 1-2 hour audio
Turbo model
Fast and accurate
TXT, DOCX, MD, JSON
Paste or export anywhere
1 AI Insight Pack
TL;DR + chapters
7-day file retention
Auto-deletes after a week
Unlimited memos. 5 GB files. Every export format. Priority queue on busy days.
Unlimited transcriptions
No daily or monthly caps
Up to 5 GB per file
Long recordings, full sessions
Turbo + Pro models
World's fastest + highest accuracy
Every export format
TXT, DOCX, PDF, SRT, MD, WebVTT, JSON
Unlimited AI Insights
TL;DR, chapters, quotes, actions
Public share links
Password, expiry, SEO-ready
Unlimited retention
Your library, forever
Questions
Everything about voice memo transcription.
Your memos are full of ideas you forgot. Go dig them up.
Drop a voice memo from any phone, any app, any language. Get a timestamped transcript in the time it takes to make a coffee.
No credit card. 3 memos free. Up to 100 MB each.