What is live transcribe?

Live transcribe means speech turns into text while people are talking, so you can read a conversation as it happens. On phones it’s used by deaf and hard-of-hearing people, students, and anyone in a loud place.

Is there a live transcribe app for iPhone?

Google’s Live Transcribe is Android only. On iPhone you can use the built-in Live Captions (iPhone 11 or later, in selected languages) or an app such as SotiTalk, which runs on both iPhone and Android.

Yes. No subscription, no in-app purchases, no paywall and no account.

Does it work offline?

No. SotiTalk needs an internet connection while it records. Google’s Live Transcribe on Android and some paid apps offer offline modes if you need one.

Is SotiTalk suitable for deaf and hard-of-hearing people?

It helps people follow everyday conversations by reading along, with text up to Huge. It isn’t a certified captioning service, so for courts, hospitals or events, ask for professional captioning.

Which languages does it support?

English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hindi and Arabic. You don’t pick one: the language is detected automatically, also when people switch mid-conversation.

How long can I record?

Up to 90 minutes per recording and 5 hours per day. When one recording ends, start the next right away.

Can I make the text bigger?

Yes. Tap the text button on the recording screen to choose Normal, Large, Extra large or Huge, and set a default in Settings.

Can it tell who is speaking?

No. Everything ends up in one text, with new paragraphs at pauses. If you need names next to each line, an app with speaker labels suits you better.

Where do my transcripts go, and is the audio kept?

Transcripts are saved on your phone in the Recordings list, where you can copy, share or delete them. The audio is never stored, and without an account nothing is linked to you.

Live transcribe app for iPhone and Android

What live transcription is

Live transcription turns speech into text while someone is still talking. You hold up your phone, people speak, and you read their words on the screen a moment later. A live transcribe app for iPhone or Android helps when you can’t hear well, can’t hear over the noise, or want a written record of what was said.

If you’re looking for a live transcribe app for iPhone: Google’s Live Transcribe is Android only, but the iPhone has its own built-in Live Captions, and several apps work on both systems, including SotiTalk.

Live transcribe app for iPhone or Android: your options

You have three kinds of options: the features built into your phone, Google’s Android app, and apps from the App Store or Google Play.

Live Captions on iPhone

Since Live Captions comes with iOS, there’s nothing to install. It works on iPhone 11 or later: go to Settings > Accessibility > Live Captions and turn it on. For a conversation in the room, tap the Live Captions window, then Microphone. Under Appearance you can change the text size and color, and you can copy the captions into another app.

The limits: captions show in a small window (you can make it full screen), and there’s no list of past conversations. Live Captions isn’t available in every language and region; Apple lists English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Mandarin and Cantonese. Apple also says its accuracy “shouldn’t be relied upon in high-risk or emergency situations”, which is fair advice for any live transcription.

Live Transcribe on Android

Google’s Live Transcribe & Notification comes preinstalled on Pixel phones and some other Android phones, and the rest can download it from Google Play. It covers over 80 languages and dialects, works offline for downloaded languages, lets you pinch to resize the text, and can alert you to sounds like a doorbell. It keeps your transcripts for up to three days. It isn’t available for iPhone.

Android also has Live Caption, which captions videos, podcasts and calls playing on the phone. It doesn’t transcribe people talking in the room, so for a conversation you want Live Transcribe.

Apps from the app stores

Search the App Store for “live transcribe” and you’ll find dozens of apps. The established ones offer speaker colors, offline mode or audio file import. The top results are free to download and then ask for a subscription after a trial or a few minutes of use. Check the price page before you rely on one at an appointment.

SotiTalk

SotiTalk is a free app for iPhone and Android with no subscription, no in-app purchases and no account. What sets it apart:

The same app on iPhone and Android. Families with both kinds of phones can use one app.
Four text sizes, one tap apart. Normal, Large, Extra large and Huge, switched on the recording screen.
Clean text. Filler words, stutters and false starts disappear, and punctuation and capitals are fixed as you go.
13 languages, detected automatically, also when a conversation switches language.
Transcripts saved on your phone, ready to copy or share.

How to transcribe a conversation live with SotiTalk

From download to finished transcript takes seven steps:

Install SotiTalk from the App Store or Google Play. There’s no sign-up, so the app is ready when it opens.
Tap the record button on the Home screen. The first time, allow microphone access.
Put the phone where the voices are. Lay it flat between you and the people speaking, screen facing the person who reads.
Read along. The words appear while people talk, and a new paragraph starts at each natural pause. Filler words and self-corrections are cleaned up as you go, so “let’s meet at 9, no, at 10” ends up as “let’s meet at 10”.
Change the text size. Tap the text button at the top of the recording screen to step through Normal, Large, Extra large and Huge. To start every recording at the same size, set a default in Settings.
Stop when you’re done. Tap the stop button. If the screen is locked, stop from the lock screen on iPhone (iOS 17 and later) or from the notification on Android.
Find the transcript later in the Recordings tab. Open it to copy the text, share it to any app, or delete it.

Tips for a good live transcript

Each tip below matches a step in the walkthrough:

Keep the microphone free (step 3). A phone in the middle of the table hears everyone better than one in a pocket, a bag or someone’s hand. Don’t cover the bottom edge with your fingers.
One speaker at a time (step 4). SotiTalk writes everything it hears into one text without names, so people talking over each other turns into one mixed line. A short pause between speakers keeps paragraphs apart.
Pick the quieter seat (step 3). Background music is fine, but a coffee machine right next to the phone isn’t. Sitting a little away from the noise helps more than talking louder.
Set the size for the reader, not the owner (step 5). If you hand the phone to someone else, pick the size they can read from where they sit. Huge fits fewer words on the screen, so they’ll scroll more, which is fine.
Locking the screen is fine (step 6). SotiTalk keeps recording with the screen locked or while you use another app. That suits a lecture you’ll read afterwards; for reading along live, keep the screen on.

When live transcription helps

Live transcription is useful wherever a conversation is hard to follow by ear:

Family dinner with a hard-of-hearing grandparent. Put the phone next to their plate on Huge and everyone can keep talking as usual. The Huge size exists because someone asked for bigger text to talk with a 99-year-old.
A doctor’s appointment. Read what the doctor says as they say it, and keep the transcript to look up the details at home. Double-check anything important, like a dose, with the practice.
A lecture or talk. Put the phone near the speaker and read along, or lock the screen and read the transcript afterwards.
A meeting. Get a clean written record without anyone taking notes, then share it with the team.
A loud café or restaurant. When you can’t hear over the noise, the screen shows what your friend just said.
A conversation in another language. SotiTalk detects 13 languages and follows when the conversation switches. It writes down what’s said in the spoken language; it doesn’t translate.

Limits of live transcription with SotiTalk

SotiTalk is a free app, and it has limits you should know before an important conversation:

It needs an internet connection while recording. Without a connection, on a plane for example, it can’t transcribe.
One recording runs up to 90 minutes, with up to 5 hours per day in total.
It has no speaker labels: everything it hears ends up in one text.
It works live only. You can’t import audio files or voice memos.
It doesn’t type into other apps. You copy or share the text where you need it.
It isn’t a replacement for professional captioning at events or in legal and medical settings.

Live transcribe app for iPhone