How do you extract audio from an iPhone video? Export the sound, leave the gigabytes behind.
Copy the video to a Mac and use QuickTime Player's File, Export As, Audio Only, or on the iPhone build a short Shortcut with the Encode Media action set to audio only (available in recent iOS versions). Packs start at $4 for 300 minutes, and credits never expire.
From the camera roll to text
An iPhone records excellent sound and enormous video. Only the sound matters here.
Why the video is so large
Apple's own figures put 1080p at 30 fps around 60 MB a minute and 4K at 30 fps around 170 MB a minute in the High Efficiency format. One hour is roughly 3.6 GB or 10.2 GB, and 4K at 60 fps is far more. A lecture or a long interview passes 5 GB quickly.
On the iPhone: Shortcuts
In the Shortcuts app, make a shortcut that takes a video from Photos, runs Encode Media with Audio Only switched on, and saves the result to Files. Action names and options move between iOS releases, so look for Encode Media if the layout differs. The output is an M4A you can upload from the Files app.
On a computer: QuickTime or ffmpeg
AirDrop or copy the video to a Mac, open it in QuickTime Player and choose File, Export As, Audio Only. On Windows or Linux, ffmpeg -i IMG_0412.MOV -vn -c:a copy lecture.m4a does the same without re-encoding. Either way the clock matches the video.
Upload the audio
Drop the M4A in the box above, or use the upload page for files over 500 MB. Back come a transcript with timestamps, a brief, chapters, the names and numbers spoken and a chat over the text.
Phone videos, before and after
Filming the talk was easy. Getting words out of it is the part that stalls.
✗ Uploading the video
Long iPhone videos are heavy to move over mobile data or slow Wi-Fi.
- About 9 GB for 2.5 hours in 1080p
- Over 25 GB for the same in 4K
- A file the upload limit turns down
- Storage warnings mid-transfer
- An HEVC video some sites cannot read
- Battery gone before the upload ends
✓ Uploading the audio
The sound alone, in a file that moves in moments.
- Under 100 MB for 2.5 hours in most cases
- Exported on the phone or a Mac
- Timestamps that match the video
- About 5 minutes to a transcript
- Packs from $4 for 300 minutes
- Five export formats
Sample
A guest lecture filmed on an iPhone, sent as audio.
Illustrative lines written for this page; no real lecture or speaker. Timestamps match the phone video.
Export
One transcript. Five clean formats.
Every pack exports all five — no format is held back for a higher tier.
Plain text
De-ummed paragraphs. Ready to paste.
SRT captions
Timed to the speech. Every video editor reads this.
WebVTT
HTML5 player + YouTube uploads.
Show notes
Formatted with chapters and pull-quotes.
Machine-readable
Timestamped text for your own tools.
Pricing
Honest pricing, no surprises.
A pack from $4 (300 minutes) opens the full transcript. After that, no subscription and no auto-renew — every tier is a one-time minute pack, and credits never expire. Buy once, use the minutes whenever you need them.
Casual pack
$4/300 min
5 hours of audio — $0.80 an hour. One-time — credits never expire.
- 300 minutes of audio
- All export formats
- AI chat over the whole transcript
- Executive summary & key quote
Best value
$18/3,000 min
50 hours of audio — $0.36 an hour. Credits never expire.
- 3,000 minutes of audio
- Summary, chapters and key quotes
- All export formats
- AI chat over the whole transcript
Bulk pack
$32/6,000 min
100 hours of audio — $0.32 an hour. Credits never expire.
- 6,000 minutes of audio
- Summary, chapters and key quotes
- API access for batch pipelines
- All export formats
FAQ
iPhone video audio, answered.
Can I just upload the iPhone video?
Often, yes. Most files upload as they are, up to 10 hours or 5 GB, with or without a pack. A 20-minute 1080p clip of about 1.2 GB goes up unchanged. Extract the audio when the video is longer, in 4K, or over mobile data.
Why does the file picker not show my video?
Some iPhone videos are MOV files in HEVC, which a browser may convert or refuse when picked from Photos. Exporting the audio sidesteps that; if the upload refuses a video, convert it to MP4 or extract the audio first.
Does the audio export lower quality?
No. QuickTime's Audio Only export and ffmpeg's -c:a copy keep the AAC sound exactly as the phone recorded it. Only the picture is left out.
What does a term of filmed lectures cost?
Packs start at $4 for 300 minutes, and credits never expire. One lecture alone is 150 minutes of the $4 pack. The opening minutes are a free preview.
I used the Voice Memos app instead. Same steps?
No extraction needed: Voice Memos already saves audio as M4A. Share it to Files and upload it directly.
Languages, exports and privacy?
99 languages are detected automatically. Exports: TXT, DOCX, SRT, VTT and JSON. Recordings are transcribed on our own servers and are never used for training.
Related
Related pages
Export the sound, upload the M4A. The opening minutes of the lecture are free.
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