Convert M4A recordings to text.

Where M4A files come from

M4A is one of the most common audio formats today, mainly because Apple uses it everywhere. You probably have M4A files if you record with iPhone Voice Memos, use QuickTime or GarageBand on a Mac, save audio-only recordings from Zoom, export audio from many Android recorder apps, or download podcasts and lectures that use AAC audio.

Common M4A transcription jobs

Lectures and classes

Students often record lectures on a phone. Place it close to the lecturer, then search the transcript for terms and click timestamps to revisit explanations. The lecture transcription page has study-focused tips.

Interviews

A phone on the table between two people is often good enough for a usable interview transcript. Rename speakers, correct names and check every passage you plan to quote. See the interview transcription guide.

Ideas and dictation

Voice memos are a quick way to capture ideas, drafts and to-do lists. Transcribe them in batches and paste the text into your notes app.

M4A quality and accuracy

M4A with AAC compression is efficient: speech stays clear even at modest bitrates. Accuracy depends much more on distance from the microphone, background noise and overlapping speech than on the file format. Converting M4A to WAV does not add detail, so upload the original file.

Privacy for personal recordings

Voice memos can be personal. Media2Text processes the uploaded audio for transcription and retains it according to the published privacy policy. Delete transcripts and recordings you no longer need.

Sharing M4A files from your phone

On an iPhone, open the recording in Voice Memos, tap the share button and save it to Files, send it by AirDrop or open Media2Text in Safari and upload it directly. On a Mac, recordings from Voice Memos can be dragged out of the app into any folder. Android recorder apps usually have a Share option that saves to Drive or Files. Keep the original file name or rename it with the date and topic so the transcript is easy to find later.

Reviewing the transcript before you use it

Automatic transcription gives you a fast, timed draft. Before you publish, quote or share it, spend a few minutes on the parts that matter most. Rename the speaker labels so every export shows real names. Use find and replace for names, brands and technical terms that appear more than once. Then click the timestamps for the passages you will actually quote and listen to them: overlapping voices, background music and fast speech are where errors cluster. The editor keeps the text and the audio together, so checking a line takes seconds instead of scrubbing through the whole recording.

Exports and plans

Export TXT, Markdown, DOCX, PDF, CSV, TSV, JSON, SRT or VTT from the same reviewed transcript. The free trial includes up to 2 lifetime transcription tasks sharing 75 minutes in total, with no credit card. Paid plans have unlimited uploads and accept files up to 5 hours 15 minutes long.

With an account, the workspace can also create an AI summary of a long recording, with source references that link each point back to the transcript, and anyone can create a translated transcript track that keeps the original timestamps. These are useful for long lectures and meetings recorded on a phone, but always check important names and figures in the transcript itself.