This Apple Intelligence Feature Saves Me $200+ a Year
▼ Summary
– Apple Intelligence offers free transcription of voice memos, providing an alternative to paid services like Otter.ai.
– The transcription feature is accurate, easy to access natively on iOS 18.0 or later, and requires no file exports.
– Otter.ai’s free tier limits users to three lifetime imports, 300 monthly minutes, and archives conversations beyond the 25 most recent.
– To access older recordings or export audio on Otter.ai, users must upgrade to the $17 per month Pro plan.
– Apple’s Voice Memos transcription lacks some Otter.ai tools like highlighting but allows copying and pasting content into other apps.
For professionals and students who regularly record meetings, interviews, or lectures, Apple’s new transcription feature in Voice Memos offers a powerful and cost-free alternative to paid services. This built-in tool delivers accurate, easily accessible transcriptions without requiring a subscription, making it a practical and money-saving addition for iPhone users.
As someone who frequently conducts interviews, I’ve long depended on transcription services to streamline my workflow. For years, I used Otter.ai, a popular platform that offers AI-generated transcriptions. While it performed well, the free version came with frustrating limitations, most notably, a cap on storage and monthly usage. Once you exceed those limits, older recordings become locked away unless you upgrade to a paid plan.
The breaking point arrived when I discovered that Otter.ai archives conversations beyond the most recent 25, making them completely inaccessible on the free tier. Even recordings made within the app couldn’t be exported without a subscription, which costs $17 per month. For anyone who needs to reference older material, whether for work, research, or study, this paywall becomes a significant obstacle.
That’s when I turned to Apple’s Voice Memos app, which now includes a transcription feature powered by Apple Intelligence. Since I already use an iPhone for recording, the transition was seamless. The transcriptions are impressively accurate and, best of all, completely free. There are no hidden limits or archived files, everything remains accessible at any time.
To use the feature, you’ll need an iPhone 12 or later running iOS 18. While some Apple Intelligence capabilities require newer hardware, this particular function is widely available. During recording, a small quotation mark icon appears; tapping it displays a live transcript. You can also review the text afterward. Clicking any section of the transcript plays the corresponding audio, which is perfect for verifying accuracy or filling in any gaps.
Although it doesn’t include advanced editing tools like highlighting or inline comments, you can easily copy sections or the entire transcript into another app for further refinement. I often paste mine into Google Docs to organize and annotate as needed. The peace of mind that comes with knowing your recordings won’t suddenly be locked behind a subscription is invaluable.
This feature underscores an important idea: sometimes the most useful AI tools are the simplest ones. By integrating transcription directly into a native app, Apple has created a solution that is both functional and financially smart, saving users more than $200 a year compared to premium alternatives. For iPhone owners who record audio regularly, it’s a game-changer.
(Source: ZDNET)
