No transcription available for some phone call recordings and will not complete transcribing

Question

Level 2

281 points

No transcription available for some phone call recordings and will not complete transcribing

I have used phone call recording a few times. The first couple (about one or two minutes long) generate a transcript quickly in Notes. However others that range from about 30 to 70 minutes do not generate any transcript - either automatically or manually, after the recording has finished.

I have tried (many times) to manually initiate a transcript for a recording that is one hour and 10 minutes long. Initially it says "No Transcript - Transcription will begin soon." Eventually it (may) say “Transcribing…” with a spinning icon above that (but no progress bar). I have left it to work on this over one hour recording for several hours, each time I tried. It never moves beyond saying “Transcribing…”. I am guessing it will never complete.

I would like to know why this recording (or another that is about 30 minutes long) do not have an automatically generated transcript or will not compete transcribing.

I would also like to know approximately how long it should take for each minute of audio recording to be transcribed on my device (or if this should be happening in real time).

iPhone 12 mini

Posted on Oct 30, 2024 4:00 PM

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Answer 1

jillsuz7

Level 1

14 points

Apr 2, 2025 8:46 AM in response to GabeMcClintock

I wasn’t able to upload the Notes file and drop it into Voice Memo. What did work for me was playing the notes file on one device (my ipad) and using another device (my iphone) to record the audio on Voice Memo. I then was able to quickly see the transcript from Voice Memo. It required an additional step but it worked

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Answer 2

IM3210

Level 1

26 points

Nov 29, 2024 10:38 AM in response to Kiwi Moa

I'm not sure if this is the official answer, but I've ran into the same issue. I took the file from notes and dropped it in voice memos. From there, I was able to get a transcript immediately.

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Answer 3

Kiwi Moa Author

Level 2

281 points

Dec 11, 2024 2:35 PM in response to davecullen

iOS - I don't have any option to share the call recording to Voice Memos in the share sheet. I also can't add Voice Memos as a sharing destination either.

macOS - I can't drop the Call Recording into Voice Memos on my version of macOS. So these possible workarounds are not accessible to me.

Apple told me that they have received numerous similar complaints and their engineers are supposedly working to fix this issue in a future update (unable to transcribe longer call recordings of around one hour).

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Answer 4

Apr 2, 2025 2:02 PM in response to jillsuz7

Same. There was some sound degradation, though, so the transcription was worse than usual.

To minimize it, I connected speakers to my mac that are far superior to the tiny built-in out, and then made a mini recording studio on my bed:

I set the speakers on the mattress facing each other, just far enough apart to slide my iphone between them. I built a pillow wall around them, and a sheet and comforter over the top. Then I reached in to start the recorder, and last, started the outgoing recording to play on my laptop.

I got a much better transcript than my first try, just mac to iphone sitting on the desk.

What a pain, though. I had a 3.5-hour interview, so I kept setting a timer to restart a new recording every 30 minutes, so those weren't also too long. Then keep track of exactly where all the 7 files began and ended, with no gaps was a big exercise.

This took most of a day. So much for apple's productivity tool!

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Answer 5

Kiwi Moa Author

Level 2

281 points

Feb 6, 2025 4:35 PM in response to vir81

Interesting. With iOS 18.0, small versus large audio file sizes seemed to be a consistent distinction as to whether automatic or manual transcription would succeed or not, consistent with other reports. Any recording over about 30-45 minutes would fail to transcribe but less than that seemed to consistently transcribe automatically.

However now with iOS 18.3 the situation seems to be worse and more random, matching what you reported. Today I had a successful automatic and fast transcription of a 20 minute phone call recording. Yet, a 5 minute recording today failed to transcribe automatically. Yes as you said, there is an option to manually initiate a transcription if one is not already there. However, this option has not successfully transcribed any call recording for me today either (from a few minutes to 30 minutes), no matter how long I wait. It stays on a screen which says “No Transcript - Transcription will begin soon” but there is no progress at all all. Summary - this transcription issue seems to be worse and more hit or miss with iOS 18.3. I will continue to monitor.

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Answer 6

Dec 11, 2024 9:09 AM in response to Kiwi Moa

Same. I'm on iphone 15, and latest IOS 18.1.1

Sometimes I get a transcript, sometimes not. Seems to fail on the longer interviews--like over an hour.

It did let me share it to voice memos, which produced an instant transcript, but without the speakers' names--a big problem. (And not sure about accuracy.)

This seems to be a major buggy rollout.

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Answer 7

Kiwi Moa Author

Level 2

281 points

Jan 18, 2025 12:43 PM in response to Kiwi Moa

I did post this as a separate issue but it seems to be related. The problem seems to arise from relatively larger audio files (associated with call recordings of 45-60 minutes or longer) - they cannot be transcribed and cannot be saved, shared or copied either...

Unable to save, share or copy an audio file from phone call recording in Notes

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Answer 8

Feb 2, 2025 9:41 AM in response to Kiwi Moa

I've had the same issue, but after not getting a transcript on larger files, those larger files then disappeared. The notes are still there, but the call recording file that's embedded in them does not have a usable play button anymore. There was never any option to save to a voice memo. I was on the phone for hours with Apple Support people over the span of a few weeks who said the engineers were working on this issue, and that it would likely get resolved through future updates. But I've now had several updates and I still can't access the files. Anyone having luck recuperating long call recordings or their transcripts yet?

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Answer 9

BigJob80

Level 1

8 points

Mar 31, 2025 5:24 PM in response to Kiwi Moa

The fact that I have to come to a forum, to learn to export the recording to another app, to get the software to actually do what it’s supposed to, is sad.

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Answer 10

Kiwi Moa Author

Level 2

281 points

Jan 17, 2025 12:20 PM in response to Kiwi Moa

I thought that if I was able to upload the audio file to a different transcription service, then that could be a work around. Unfortunately, I have discovered that sharing the audio file from a phone call recording in Notes from my iPhone or iPad does not work. There are options there to save the audio file to “Files” or to share the audio file to an app or device or to copy the audio file. However, after multiple attempts at all of these methods to save, share or a copy the audio file from a phone call recording in Notes, none of the my attempts have succeeded. It does show that it is “processing” the audio file, preparing it to share or save, but after that nothing happens, there is no result. So unfortunately, I have not found a work around using another transcription method. I might post this as a separate issue.

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Answer 11

vir81

Level 1

8 points

Feb 6, 2025 1:30 PM in response to Kiwi Moa

I am having the same issue but also with short calls of less than 1 minute. I have tried on two iphones of iPhone 16 plus, and they both having issues. The other phone does not even do at all trancript, while this other phone does have the icon but always just downloading, or state “Transcription will begin soon” and nothing happens ever, or just disappears. iPhones lately have a lot of buggys, issues, and software updates does not fix them. You fix them, by waiting 1 year, upgrade for a new iPhone, and you deal now with a different issue. Is just different issues. And many people just are okay with that. I am just thinking to leave apple, because it is causing lot of issues.

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Answer 12

Feb 24, 2025 9:23 AM in response to Kiwi Moa

I agree the transcription problem has gotten worse with the latest updates. And even worse when you call Apple to try to get some help the customer service people are absolutely clueless about what to do.

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