How to Transcribe a Phone Call

To transcribe a phone call, start with the phone in your hand. An iPhone on iOS 18 or later can record a call and write the transcript in Notes. A Pixel 9 or later does it with Call Notes, and many Samsung Galaxy phones do it with Transcript assist.

All three come with the phone at no extra charge. If yours has no built-in transcript, or doesn't cover your language, save the recording and upload it to a transcription app. On every route, tell the other person first.

Lena manages an office in Chicago. A landlord calls about a lease renewal with two rent figures and a move-out date. She asks to record so she gets the numbers right, he says yes, and she taps Call Recording. Minutes later the call is text in her Notes app. (Lena is an illustration, not a real customer.)

This guide shows how to transcribe a phone call on each kind of phone, and how to check the text afterward. Every menu path comes from Apple's, Google's or Samsung's help pages, checked on November 9, 2026.

Which way to transcribe a phone call on your phone

No phone in that table charges extra for its built-in route, and each one tells the other person in some way.

How to transcribe a phone call on iPhone

Apple's iPhone User Guide says this works when you're talking to one other person, and its support article says it starts in iOS 18:

1. Open the Phone app and make or answer the call.
2. During the call, tap the More button, then Call Recording. You'll both hear a notice.
3. To stop, tap Stop or hang up.
4. Open Notes, go to the Call Recordings folder, tap the note, then tap the recording.

The transcript sits there, with each speaker identified, though it may take a moment. To get the text out, tap the More button and choose Copy Transcript or Add Transcript to Note. Do that before you tidy up, because deleting the audio also deletes the transcript.

Our guide to recording phone calls on iPhone has the country list and what to do when the button is missing. Apple says the Phone app on iPad and Mac can record too, starting in iPadOS 26 and macOS Tahoe.

Which languages get an iPhone call transcript

Apple's feature availability page lists far more languages for recording, such as German, French and Hindi, than for transcription. Transcription covers only these, as of November 9, 2026:

• English (Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Singapore, UK, US)
• Spanish (Mexico, US) and Portuguese (Brazil)
• Japanese and Korean
• Mandarin Chinese (China mainland, Taiwan) and Cantonese (Hong Kong)

So a call in French gives you audio and no text. A summary needs Apple Intelligence as well, on an iPhone 15 Pro or an iPhone 16 model or later.

Anna, a recruiter in Toronto, gets English transcripts but only audio from her French calls with Montreal candidates. She shares those files to ParrotNotes, which transcribes 99+ languages on its Pro plan. (Anna is an illustration.)

A transcript with no saved audio: Live Captions

Live Captions, on iPhone 11 or later, shows spoken words as text during a call, and one setting decides whether you can keep them:

1. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Live Captions and turn it on.
2. Tap Keep Call Captions, then choose 1 Hour.
3. After the call, within that hour, open the menu in the captions window, tap Copy Captions, and paste the text into a note.

With 1 Minute, captions clear when the call ends and you can't copy them. With 1 Hour, everyone hears "This call is being transcribed" at the start. Apple says accuracy may vary, so treat this as a quick record.

How to transcribe a phone call on Android

Android depends on who made your phone. Our guide to recording a phone call on Android covers the recording side.

Pixel 9 and later: Call Notes

Call Notes records the call and writes a transcript and summary, stored on your device.

1. Open the Phone app, tap More, then Settings.
2. Tap Call Notes and turn it on. You may need to download extra components.
3. During a call, tap Call Assist, then Call Notes. Participants are notified.
4. Find the summary next to the call in your call log, with the full transcript and recording.

Beyond the models and languages in the table, Google limits it to Australia, Canada, Ireland, the UK, the US and Japan, plus India on the Pixel 10 series. You need a local SIM card, and summaries are English only.

Samsung Galaxy: Transcript assist

Recording and transcribing are two switches on a Galaxy. Per Samsung's US help page, go to Phone > three dots > Settings > Record calls > Transcript assist, turn on Auto transcribe recorded calls, pick a language, and download its language pack.

Then tap Record during the call. Everyone hears an audio notification. Afterward, open the call in Recents and tap View recording and transcript.

You'll need One UI 7 or later, a Samsung account and an internet connection. Samsung lists about 20 languages, including German, French, Hindi and Spanish, though some regions may not be supported. Its basic Galaxy AI features are free, while enhanced ones may have fees.

The catch: the Galaxy A56, A36, A26 and A17 5G don't get transcripts or summaries. Our Samsung call recording guide has the country differences.

Other Android phones

Google's Phone app can record on many phones running Android 9 or later, but its help page doesn't describe a transcript. Tap Record, stop when you're done, then Share the file and upload it, as below.

Android's Live Caption captions calls on Pixel and selected phones, but it won't leave you a transcript: Google says captions are "never stored."

Upload a saved recording to get a transcript

This route works with any phone that gives you the audio file. Get it off the phone first:

• iPhone: in the Call Recordings note, tap the recording, then the More button, then Share Audio or Save Audio Files.
• Google Phone app: tap the caller, tap Play, then Share.
• Samsung: open Recorded calls under Record calls, press and hold the recording, then tap Share.

Where to upload a call recording

What each one offers, as of November 2026:

To be clear: ParrotNotes doesn't record a phone call on the phone that's making it. Your phone's recorder captures the audio, and ParrotNotes writes the transcript, summary and action items.

Devon sells commercial roofing from Tulsa on a Galaxy A36, one of the models without Transcript assist. After a long call with a property manager, he shares the recording to ParrotNotes from Recorded calls. Before his next stop, he has the transcript and a draft follow-up email. (Devon is an illustration.) To do the same, download ParrotNotes and try it on your next saved recording.

No recording option on your phone?

Your country or model may block recording, or it may be a group call. Put the call on speaker, tell everyone, and record the room on a tablet, laptop or second phone. The sound will be rougher, so stay somewhere quiet. Then transcribe the file the way our guide to transcribing a voice memo describes.

Check a call transcript before you rely on it

Apple's own advice is to "verify the accuracy of a transcription before relying on it." Automatic transcripts can get the most important words wrong while the sentence still reads fine. Listen back to the audio for these six things:

1. Numbers: prices, quantities, order numbers and phone numbers. "Fifteen" and "fifty" are easy to confuse.
2. Dates and times: especially "next Tuesday," which needs a real date beside it.
3. Names: people, companies and street names are often spelled by guesswork.
4. Who said it: check the speaker on any promise, price or decision, since speaker labels can slip.
5. Negatives: a dropped "not" or "can't" flips the meaning.
6. Overlaps: when you both talked at once, words are usually missing, so replay those spots.

Keep the audio until you've done this.

Is it legal to transcribe a phone call?

It depends on where you and the other person are, and this section is general information, not legal advice. The practical answer: get agreement first, and never record or transcribe anyone secretly.

Text alone doesn't obviously take you outside the rules. US federal law defines "intercept" as the "aural or other acquisition" of a call's contents through a device, so don't assume a live transcript is safer because no audio is kept.

The federal rule lets a person who's part of the call do this, unless it's for a criminal or wrongful purpose. Some states require everyone's consent. Our guide to one-party consent states lists each state's rule.

Outside the US, check your own country's law. In Germany, for example, Section 201 of the Criminal Code makes it an offense to record someone's private spoken words without authorization.

Three habits cover most of this:

• Ask out loud at the start, and let the yes be the first thing on the recording. A phone's notice isn't the same as consent everywhere.
• Check your employer's policy before you upload work calls to any outside service.
• Keep patient details out. Don't use ParrotNotes for calls that include them.

Conclusion

Here's how to transcribe a phone call, in short:

• iPhone: tap Call Recording, then read the transcript in Notes.
• Pixel 9 or later: use Call Notes.
• Samsung Galaxy: turn on Transcript assist.
• Everything else: share the audio and upload it.
• Always: ask first, and check numbers, dates and names against the audio.

Built-in tools give you the text and, on some phones, a short summary. When you also want action items and a follow-up email from the call, download ParrotNotes free and share your next recording to it.