KeepScribe

Offline transcription for iPhone

Your recordings and transcripts stay on your iPhone

KeepScribe turns recordings into transcripts with speaker labels, entirely on device. Nothing is uploaded and no internet is needed, so it works in airplane mode. Transcription is free with no time limit.

Coming soon to the App Store iPhone · iOS 26

The app is in Simplified Chinese and transcribes Mandarin, including Mandarin mixed with English.

  • No account
  • No server
  • No data collected
A Mandarin transcript, made in airplane mode. The app’s interface is in Chinese; translations are in grey.

Where your recordings go

From recording to notes, everything happens on this iPhone

Client meetings, medical visits, therapy sessions, job interviews, press interviews: recordings like these shouldn’t end up on someone else’s server. KeepScribe has no server, so there is nowhere to upload them to.

Your iPhone

  1. RecordM4A at 48 kHz, written to disk as you go, so it survives the app being closed
  2. TranscribeSpeech recognition built into iOS turns Mandarin into text on device
  3. OrganizeSpeaker labels, highlights, summaries and notes, all on device
  4. KeepRecordings and text stay on this phone, behind Face ID if you like
ServerThis step doesn’t exist. No upload and no account

When you share a file, it goes through the iOS share sheet (AirDrop, Mail, Messages) to whoever you choose. Before the first transcription, iOS downloads the speech model from Apple once. That is a download only; nothing is uploaded.

Recording screen: timer at 00:00:16, live waveform, a marker at 00:11, and buttons to add a marker, pause and finish
本机录音 · 不联网 Recording on device, offline
标记 Marker · 暂停 Pause · 完成 Done

Record

Start in one tap. Nothing gets lost.

  • Start from the Lock Screen, Dynamic Island, Action button or Control Center
  • Drop markers and notes while you record, then jump straight to them
  • Audio is written as you go, so it survives the app being closed
  • Pauses for phone calls and resumes when they end
  • Warns you right away if it’s too loud, too quiet or low on space

Transcripts

Accurate, quick to fix, easy to find

Mandarin speech recognition

Mandarin, and Mandarin mixed with English. Punctuation and paragraphs are added for you, and it keeps going with the phone locked.

Speaker labelsLifetime

Paragraphs are split by speaker. Rename a speaker once and the whole transcript follows; move a paragraph to someone else if it’s wrong.

Your vocabulary

Add names, companies and terms of art, and words that sound alike are corrected after transcription. Common legal and medical mix-ups are fixed too.

Tap to play from there

Tap any sentence to play from that point. Skip silence and change the speed.

Highlight and edit

Highlight what matters, fix words, find and replace. Every step can be undone.

Search every sentence

Search titles, transcripts, marker notes and summaries across all recordings, then jump to the sentence.

On-device AILifetime

Notes in the format your profession uses

The AI reads the whole recording on this phone. Ask it questions, get a summary or a mind map, or use one of the templates below. Every point is linked to the moment it was said, so you can play it back and check.

Lawyers

Client meeting notes当事人会谈要点

Parties · timeline of facts · claims · evidence · issues in dispute · the lawyer’s advice, verbatim · to-dos

Doctors

Outpatient record门诊记录

Chief complaint · present illness · past history · allergies · medication · tests · diagnosis, verbatim · orders

Counselors

Session notes咨询记录

Client’s concerns · topics this session · interventions · homework · next session · statements to watch

HR

Interview record面试记录

Position · questions and answers · key experience · claims to verify · the candidate’s own questions

Journalists and researchers

Interview notes访谈整理

Against your outline (optional) · key Q&A · quotable lines · topics outside the outline

It only extracts what was said in the recording. It doesn’t diagnose, advise or judge anyone. AI features need an iPhone with Apple Intelligence, or an iPhone with enough memory to download the on-device model.

Export and backup

Export in the format you hand in

A Word memo for a client, SRT subtitles for a video, a CSV to check in a spreadsheet, all from the same transcript.

  • New phone: export every recording and transcript, then restore them as they were
  • Face ID lock hides titles on the Lock Screen, widgets and notifications
  • Deleted recordings stay in Recently Deleted for 30 days

Free

TXTPlain text
M4AOriginal audio

Lifetime

DOCXWord
PDFPDF
SRTSubtitles
CSVSpreadsheet
XMINDMind map

Price

Transcription is free, with no time limit

Transcription runs on your phone, so there are no server costs and nothing to charge by the minute. The tools for working with recordings are a one-time purchase. No subscription.

Free

Always free, no time limit

  • Record and transcribe offline
  • Markers, highlights, edits, find and replace
  • Search all recordings
  • Copy text, export TXT and the original audio
  • Face ID lock, backup and restore

Lifetime

Pay once. It never renews

  • Speaker labels
  • Word, PDF, SRT subtitle and CSV export
  • Questions, summaries and mind maps
  • Professional notes for lawyers, doctors, counselors, HR and research

The price is shown in the App Store. Restore the purchase on a new phone with the same Apple ID.

Questions

Before you start

Does transcription need the internet?

No. Before the first transcription, iOS downloads the speech model from Apple once (this needs the internet; nothing is uploaded). After that it works in airplane mode.

Which languages are supported?

Mandarin, including Mandarin mixed with English words. The app’s interface is in Simplified Chinese.

How long can a recording be? How long does transcription take?

There’s no time limit. Speed depends on your iPhone and the length of the recording; the transcription card shows an estimate. You can lock the phone or switch apps, and you’ll get a notification when it’s done.

I changed phones. Do I keep my recordings and the purchase?

iPhone migration or a full backup brings everything across: recordings, transcripts, markers and summaries. You can also export everything on the old phone and restore it from Settings on the new one. For the purchase, use the same Apple ID and tap Restore Purchase in Settings.

More answers in Support

Before the next conversation that matters, press record

Recording and transcription happen on your iPhone, even in airplane mode.

Coming soon to the App Store