# How to Transcribe a Video to Text on iPhone

Updated: November 12, 2026

Aiko: Price: $24, one-time purchase for all platforms. Platforms: macOS, iOS, visionOS. Get it from: [App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1672085276). Free trial: [TestFlight](https://testflight.apple.com/join/P1qnhHCC). Requires macOS, iOS, or visionOS 26.6 or later. Free older versions for macOS 15, 14, and 13: [download](https://sindresorhus.com/aiko#older-versions).

URL: https://sindresorhus.com/guides/transcribe-video-iphone

In [Aiko](https://sindresorhus.com/aiko), tap the add button, choose “Import Video from Photo Library…”, and choose the video. Aiko writes what is said in the video as text, in about 100 languages, on your iPhone. Without an app, Live Captions shows the words of a video while it plays, in some languages.

## With Aiko

1. Open [Aiko](https://sindresorhus.com/aiko), and tap the add button.
1. Choose “Import Video from Photo Library…”, and choose the video. For a video in the Files app, choose “Import File…”.
1. Keep Aiko open until it is done, as iPhone cannot transcribe in the background. A long video takes some minutes.
1. Tap the copy button to copy the text, or the export button to save it as text or subtitles, like “SRT (Subtitles)”.

Aiko finds the language itself. If it picks the wrong one, choose it in “Audio language” in the settings. The transcription runs on your iPhone, so your video is never uploaded.

Aiko cannot get a video from a website, like [YouTube](https://sindresorhus.com/aiko#how-can-i-transcribe-a-youtube-video). The video must be a file on your iPhone.

## Without an app

Live Captions writes the words of any audio that plays on the iPhone:

1. Open “Settings › Accessibility › Live Captions”, and turn on “Live Captions”.
1. Play the video. If no words show, tap “Live Captions”, and tap “iPhone Audio”.
1. To keep the text, use “Copy Captions” in the Live Captions window.

It needs iPhone 11 or later, and it is not in all languages, countries, or regions. [Apple’s instructions.](https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/iphe0990f7bb/ios) It is good to follow a video without sound. But you must play all of the video, and you get only the text. Aiko transcribes the file without playing it, and it can save subtitles with times.