How to choose a transcription app (and what HiText does)

A good transcription app should handle your language, accept the files you actually have, cope with long recordings, say clearly what happens to your audio and let you try it before paying. HiText transcribes 13 languages with auto-detection, takes audio and video up to 2 GB, deletes the audio after transcribing and gives you 30 free minutes on iPhone, Android and the web.

Try it with 30 free minutes

Use it in your browser

Weekly team call

Oct 14 · 41:20

SummaryTranscriptQuiz

Summary of the weekly team call:

Topic: Q4 launch calendar
Decided: Beta goes out on the 28th.
To do: Mia updates the release notes.

41:20

41 min transcribed

How to test a transcription app in 10 minutes

1
Use one of your own recordings
Not the demo. Pick a real file: a voice note, a class or a call, ideally with some background noise and the language you use most.
2
Check the text, not just the speed
Read a couple of minutes against the audio: names, numbers and technical words are where apps differ the most.
3
Look at what comes after
Can you copy it, share it, translate it or get a summary? Check how you cancel before you subscribe.

Six things to check (and HiText's answer)

Languages: HiText transcribes 13 languages and detects the language by itself; you can read the result translated into 15
Length and size: audio and video files up to 2 GB in the app (1 GB in the browser), so an hour-long meeting fits easily
Formats: MP3, M4A and WAV, video (MP4, MOV, MKV…) and, shared from other apps, OPUS and OGG voice notes. See MP3 to text and video to text
Privacy: the audio is deleted from our servers after transcribing and your content isn't used to train AI models
Price: 30 free minutes with no card, then a Pro subscription with the price shown before you pay
Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Android and the browser

What HiText doesn't do (so you don't find out later)

It doesn't transcribe live while you talk and it doesn't join your Zoom, Meet or Teams calls as a bot: it transcribes the recording once you have it. The standard app gives you the full text and a summary, but it doesn't label each speaker or export subtitles (SRT). If you need interviews by speaker or meeting minutes in Word, that's HiText Business.

Who it suits

Students who record classes and want a summary, a quiz and flashcards to study (lecture to text)
People who receive long voice notes or audio in another language (translate audio to text)
Anyone with meetings, interviews or podcasts to turn into text (interviews and meetings)

Frequently asked questions

How much does HiText cost?

You start with 30 free minutes of transcription, no card needed. To keep transcribing you can subscribe to Pro inside the app; you see the price before paying and can cancel any time from your App Store or Google Play subscription settings.

Is there a limit on how long a recording can be?

The limit is the file size: up to 2 GB in the app and 1 GB in the browser. An hour of audio, or video at normal quality, fits comfortably; long files just take a bit longer.

What happens to my recordings?

Your audio is used only to transcribe it and is deleted from our servers when it's done (at most within 7 days if something fails). The transcript and summary are kept on your device and on our servers until you delete them in the app. We don't use your content to train AI models. Details in our privacy policy.

Can I use it on a computer?

Yes. Besides iPhone, iPad and Android, you can upload files or paste a YouTube link in your browser at app.trytiro.app, with the same account. Recording directly in the browser isn't available yet.

Does it identify who is speaking?

Not in the standard app: you get the full text and a summary of who took part and what was decided. Transcripts labelled by speaker are part of HiText Business.

More tools

Test it with your own audio

Download HiText and transcribe your first 30 minutes for free.