Apple added basic transcription to Voice Memos in iOS 18, but it's limited to newer iPhones, a handful of languages, and gives you one unlabeled block of text. Import your memos into Wave instead and get a speaker-labeled transcript, an AI summary, and search across everything you've recorded.
Voice Memos transcription arrived in iOS 18 and only runs on iPhone 12 and later, in a limited set of languages, and it isn't available in every country. If you're on an older iPhone or an unsupported language, the feature simply isn't there. Wave transcribes any voice memo you import, regardless of which phone recorded it.
Even when Apple's transcription works, it's one undifferentiated block — no idea who said what in a two-person recording, no timestamps you can act on, and no summary. Wave labels each speaker automatically and adds timestamps so the transcript reads like a document.
A Voice Memos transcript lives inside that one recording — you can't search across all your memos, there's no summary, and pulling out the one detail you need means scrolling. Wave keeps every transcript in a searchable library with an AI summary attached.
Export a recording from Voice Memos as an audio file — they save as M4A — and drop it into Wave. Wave also handles MP3, WAV, AAC, and more, so old memos, new memos, and anything in between all transcribe the same way.
Wave identifies each voice and labels every line, so an interview or a two-person conversation becomes readable instead of a guessing game. Name a speaker once and Wave remembers their voice in future recordings.
Wave reads the transcript and pulls out the key points, decisions, and action items. Skim the summary in ten seconds instead of replaying a twenty-minute memo you recorded on a walk.
Chat with any voice memo. Ask 'what did I decide about the budget?' and Wave answers with the exact quote from the transcript — no scrubbing back and forth to find it.
Every transcribed memo lands in one searchable library. Find any word from any recording — even one you made months ago — by typing a keyword instead of hunting through 'New Recording 47.'
Instead of importing after the fact, record directly in Wave with one tap — including from your Apple Watch or with the screen off — and the transcript and summary are ready the moment you stop.
The complete guide to recording with Wave — iPhone, Android, Apple Watch, Desktop, Chrome Extension, Meeting Bots, Phone Calls, Web App, and Import. Every way to capture, transcribe, and summarize your conversations.
Voice ID creates a mathematical fingerprint of each speaker’s voice, then automatically identifies them in every future recording — making transcripts and summaries more useful without any manual labeling.
Replace Voice Memos with Wave — an iPhone audio recorder that transcribes and summarizes every recording. Background recording, speaker labels, search. Try free.
Wave is a voice memo app for Android that records, transcribes, and summarizes everything. Background recording, speaker labels, and search. Download free.
Convert speech to text automatically with Wave. Record or import audio, get AI transcription with speaker labels. iPhone, Android, Mac, Windows. Try free.
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