Turn rambling voice memos into tidy notes and a to-do list
Talk into your phone while walking or driving, then let AI turn the transcript into organized notes, a to-do list and any drafts you mentioned.
Seen on Hacker News · YouTube ×2 · GitHub
What the bot does
- Takes the transcript of your voice memo.
- Groups your thoughts by topic and removes the “ums” and repeats.
- Pulls out to-dos, dates and people to contact.
- Drafts any message or note you said you needed to write.
What you end up with
Clean notes and a task list from ideas you'd otherwise forget.
Copy-paste prompt
Fill in the [brackets]. Then paste it into any tool below.
Here's a transcript of a voice memo I recorded: [paste]. Turn it into: 1) a short summary, 2) notes grouped by topic, 3) a to-do list with any dates I mentioned, 4) drafts of any messages I said I'd send. Keep my wording where you can. Mark anything you're guessing with (?).
New to this? How to build an AI agent without coding, or set up a bot in 5 plain steps →
Setup
- Record a memo in your phone's recorder app. Many recorder apps now show a transcript; otherwise upload the audio to an AI app that accepts audio files.
- Copy the transcript.
- Paste it with the prompt into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini.
- Move the to-dos into your task app or calendar.
Tools that can do it today
- chatChatGPTFree plan; paid plans add more
- chatClaudeFree plan; paid plans add more
- chatGeminiFree plan; paid plans add more
Plans and limits change; check each tool's page.
Watch out
- Transcripts mishear names and numbers. Check phone numbers, amounts and dates before acting on them.
- Don't record other people without their permission.
- Delete memos with private details once you've saved the notes.
What this costs to run
In a chat app it runs inside your plan. If you run it as a bot on an AI API, the bill depends on how often it runs and how much it reads.
Estimate it in the cost calculator →
Tip: Use a small AI model for simple jobs, a big one for hard ones. More in Run your bots for less and how much an AI agent costs.
Questions people ask
Which AI tools can do this?
ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini can do this today. Paste the copy-paste prompt on this page into any of them and fill in the [brackets].
How hard is it to set up?
It's rated Easy. Start with the steps under “What the bot does”.
What should I watch out for?
Transcripts mishear names and numbers. Check phone numbers, amounts and dates before acting on them.
Sources
- YouTubeYouTube: “Your iPhone's Secret AI Note Taker — No Code!” by Creator Magic 448,942 views · from YouTube search results, measured Oct 24, 2026
- YouTubeYouTube: “Nobody uses Voice Memos like this on iPhone & Mac (AI Workflow)” by Shortcut Micha 20,458 views · from YouTube search results, measured Oct 24, 2026
- Hacker NewsHacker News: “Show HN: Local Transcription and Summarization of Voice Memos for iOS and Mac” 10 points · 1 comments · measured Oct 24, 2026
- GitHubGitHub: Thimm/transcribe_apple_voice_memos (local transcription and summaries of Apple Voice Memos) 10 stars · measured Oct 24, 2026
Last checked Oct 24, 2026. Self-reported results from posts are the poster's own claims.