M4A to text your iPhone recording, no converting first.
To turn an M4A into text, pick the file here, create your free account and upload the same M4A, without converting it to MP3. We transcribe it word by word, with who spoke and a timestamp on every line, and you download TXT, PDF or SRT. It works for Voice Memos, Mac recordings and course downloads.
Free on the 3-day trial- M4A from iPhone or Mac, no converting to MP3
- Word-by-word transcript with timestamps
- Speakers separated in meetings and interviews
- TXT, PDF and SRT downloads
- Cancel anytime in the app, no fee
You create the account and upload this file in the next step. The trial lasts 3 days or 1 hour of media.
How to convert an M4A to text
- 01
Pick the .m4a
A Voice Memos recording from your iPhone, audio recorded in QuickTime on a Mac or a downloaded lesson. We show its name and length.
- 02
Sign up and upload
Upload the file as it came off the device. No need to convert it to MP3 or rename the extension.
- 03
Review and download
Click a sentence to hear that moment, fix names and download TXT, PDF or SRT.
Where an M4A file comes from
M4A is the audio format of Apple devices. Voice Memos on the iPhone saves every recording as M4A, QuickTime on the Mac does too, and GarageBand exports to it. Outside Apple, many courses and podcasts offer their audio downloads as M4A, and some audio saved from WhatsApp on an iPhone arrives with that extension.
So an M4A is usually a work or study recording: the meeting taped with a phone on the table, the street interview, the lecture captured from the front row, the call with a thesis supervisor.
| Where it came from | What it usually is |
|---|---|
| iPhone Voice Memos | Meeting, lecture, interview, quick idea |
| QuickTime on a Mac | Voice-over, call, testimonial |
| GarageBand | Narration and podcast episodes |
| Course or podcast download | Full lessons and episodes |
| WhatsApp on iPhone | Some audio saved from the app |
How to get the recording off your iPhone without losing quality
In Voice Memos, tap the recording, open the share sheet and choose Save to Files, or AirDrop it to your Mac. That way the .m4a leaves exactly as it was recorded. Avoid re-recording the sound with another app or sending it as a voice message, because each of those steps can compress it again.
Voice Memos settings include an audio quality option: compressed or lossless. Lossless makes a much bigger file. Both work for transcription, and what matters most is still the distance between the phone and the speaker.
- Phone close to the speaker, screen facing up.
- Away from air conditioning, fans and windows open to the street.
- In a meeting, in the middle of the table, not at the end.
M4A, AAC or MP3: does it matter for transcription?
M4A is a container, and inside it there is almost always AAC audio, the same as a .aac file. Sometimes it holds Apple Lossless instead. For transcription, what counts is the voice inside, not the extension.
Converting the M4A to MP3 before uploading does not help: the file is compressed once more and loses a little. Many people convert because another service asked for MP3. Here you don't need to.
| File | What's inside | Convert first? |
|---|---|---|
| Voice Memos M4A | AAC | No |
| Lossless M4A | Apple Lossless | No |
| .aac | AAC without the container | No |
| MP3 | MP3 | No |
Long iPhone recordings: meetings, lectures, services
A phone records for hours without complaint, and there is no length limit per file. What counts is your trial hour or your plan's hours. A two-hour meeting goes past the 1 hour of the trial, so set the range you need before processing: only that part counts.
When the recording has several voices, we separate speakers on every plan. Each line shows the speaker and the timestamp, and you can filter to read one person only.
More than M4A to text. The recording becomes working material.
See also
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert an M4A to text?
Pick the M4A on this page, create a free account and upload the file. We transcribe it with speakers and a timestamp on every line, and you download TXT, PDF or SRT. The trial covers 3 days or 1 hour of audio.
Do I need to convert the M4A to MP3 first?
No. The M4A goes in as it is. Converting to MP3 only compresses the audio one more time and does not improve the text.
How do I move a Voice Memos recording to my computer?
Tap the recording, open the share sheet and choose Save to Files, or AirDrop it to a Mac. The file comes out as .m4a, exactly as recorded, ready to upload.
Doesn't the iPhone transcribe recordings already?
On recent iOS versions and in some languages, Voice Memos shows a transcript. It is handy for a quick read. When you need separate speakers, a timestamp on every line, a PDF to send or an SRT for captions, upload the M4A to FilmScribe.
Does a 2-hour meeting recorded on an iPhone fit in the trial?
Not all of it: the trial has 1 hour of media. Set the most important range before processing, and only that counts. Plans have 10, 20 or 35 hours a month, from R$ 59 (BRL).
Does an M4A from a course or podcast download work too?
Yes. Any M4A with speech goes in the same way, from Apple or anywhere else. The language is detected for you, among 90+ languages.
Your iPhone recording, as text. Nothing to convert first.
Upload the M4A as it came off the device. We transcribe it with speakers and timestamps, and you download TXT, PDF or SRT.
See the result on your own recording before adding a card.