The Fastest Way to Transcribe Something from Your iPhone—For Free

Dictating text to your iPhone is one of my favorite ways to save time and save my thoughts, especially when I’m on the go.

Whether you’re sending a message, writing an email, or drafting a blog post (like this one), it’s incredibly convenient to speak and have the words just appear on screen. Unfortunately, two problems typically occur: 1. Siri doesn’t quite nail it, so words get lost, and if you live overseas like I do, Siri might struggle with foreign languages or words; or 2. The dictation times out and just stops recording the words.

So, I found a workaround that (mostly) eliminates these two issues.

By using the built-in Voice Memos app on iOS, your phone auto-generates a transcript, and you’ll also have the recording as a backup, in case something gets missed or misunderstood.

But here’s the real magic trick: I run my transcript through ChatGPT for cleanup and formatting. It’s like having an endlessly patient, always-ready editor on standby to fix grammar, cut the “ums” and “ahs,” and even adjust the tone.

More than once, I’ve been pleasantly surprised when ChatGPT not only tidied up my phrasing but also made my tone sound a whole lot warmer than it came off my lips. So here’s the quick and easy guide for you, with a bonus shortcut to make the process even faster.

⸻

Step-by-Step Guide to Transcribe and Clean Up Your Voice Memo

  1. Open the Voice Memos app.
  2. Record your voice memo, then hit stop when you’re done.
  3. Tap the three dots to the right of the memo and tap “Copy Transcript.”
  4. Paste the transcript into ChatGPT (or your AI robot of choice) and ask it to clean it up with specific instructions (see below)
  5. Enjoy your polished, ready-to-send message. No extra tweaks required!

For Step 4, here’s the magic editing spell I use:

Instructions for ChatGPT:

  1. Clean up this transcript: Correct any grammar mistakes, awkward phrasing, or missing words.
  2. Organize the text into paragraphs: Break up the text into clear, flowing sections.
  3. Fix punctuation: Make sure punctuation is on point for readability.
  4. Suggest better words: If a word feels off or simply wrong, replace it with the intended word that better fits the context.
  5. Condense any unnecessarily wordy parts while keeping the meaning and tone intact.
  6. Keep my voice: Make sure the final text still sounds like me—natural, casual, and clear.
  7. Don’t explain yourself: Just give me the cleaned-up text, no need to explain what you did so that I can easily paste the result elsewhere without explainers.

I’ve also created an iOS shortcut to streamline this process even more. After you record your voice memo and copy the transcript, simply hit the shortcut button. In seconds, you’ll have your cleaned-up result ready to copy, review, and send. Here’s a link to the iOS shortcut.

Cheers to faster (free!) text production using just your voice—and having polished, ready-to-go messages with no extra effort.