Curious about how Audio Transcription works in Goodnotes? We're excited to introduce you to this empowering feature that makes capturing and transcribing your thoughts a breeze! It's available to all GoodNotes 6 users at no extra cost. Dive in to discover more!
General Questions
What are the requirements for audio transcription?
Goodnotes offers two transcription methods:
- On-device Transcription works right on your device without sending audio to the internet. This gives better privacy but uses more battery. You need a newer device, must download language packages, and have fewer language options.
- Cloud Transcription sends your audio to secure servers for processing. This uses less battery and works on all compatible devices with all supported languages. No downloads are needed, though your audio does travel to the cloud with privacy protections in place.
For devices and subscription plans that support both methods, Cloud Transcription automatically activates when you're online, while On-device Transcription takes over when you're offline.
| Feature | On-device Transcription | Cloud Transcription |
|---|---|---|
| Privacy | Audio stays on device | Audio processed in secure cloud |
| Battery usage | Higher consumption | Lower consumption |
| Internet requirement | Only for initial model download | Requires active internet connection |
| Language support | Limited languages (see next question) | 99 languages (see next question) |
| Setup | Requires downloading language model | No download required |
| AI Credit usage | None | Continuous usage throughout session |
| Device requirements |
- iPad / iPhone: A15 chip or M1 and newer, iOS / iPadOS 17 or later. - Mac: Apple Silicon M1 or newer, macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later. |
Works on all compatible devices |
| Subscription requirements |
Free: 20-min recording cap, 3-document cap Essential: No caps. Essential in China is treated as Pro |
Pro, AI Pass, CN-Essential, CN-Special Edition |
Learn how to identify your iPhone model or iPad model.
Which languages are supported for transcription?
Supported languages for on-device transcription:
- Deutsch - German
- Español - Spanish
- Français - French
- Nederlands - Dutch
- Italiàno - Italian
- Português - Portuguese
- 日本語 - Japanese
- 한국어 - Korean
- ภาษาไทย - Thai
Supported languages for cloud transcription:
Afrikaans, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Assamese, Asturian, Azerbaijani, Belarusian, Bengali, Bosnian,
Bulgarian, Burmese, Cantonese, Catalan, Cebuano, Chichewa, Chinese (Simplified/Traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch,
English, Estonian, Filipino, Finnish, French, Fulah, Galician, Ganda, Georgian, German,
Greek, Gujarati, Hausa, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Igbo, Indonesian, Irish,
Italian, Japanese, Javanese, Kabuverdianu, Kannada, Kazakh, Khmer, Korean, Kurdish, Kyrgyz,
Lao, Latvian, Lingala, Lithuanian, Luo, Luxembourgish, Macedonian, Malay, Malayalam, Maltese,
Mandarin Chinese*, Māori, Marathi, Mongolian, Nepali, Northern Sotho, Norwegian, Occitan, Odia, Pashto,
Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Shona, Sindhi, Slovak,
Slovenian, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tamil, Tajik, Telugu, Thai, Turkish,
Ukrainian, Umbundu, Urdu, Uzbek, Vietnamese, Welsh, Wolof, Xhosa, Zulu.
Do I need to pay to use Audio Transcription?
On-device Audio Transcription is available to all devices meeting requirements. Cloud transcription requires a subscription. See "Device requirements" and "Subscription requirements" in What are the requirements for audio transcription?
Can I transcribe existing recordings or external audio files?
This feature is not currently available, but we are actively developing it for future release.
How can I give feedback on Audio Transcription?
Upon receiving a transcription, you have the option to provide feedback or suggestions. Any feedback submitted will be logged for future reference. For further information on feedback, please see below.
Why can I not use Audio Transcription?
First, check that your device meets the requirements. If it does, try force-closing the app and relaunching it, or restarting your device.
Will the audio transcript be shared when I share my notebook?
Being able to share notes is an important part of working as a team. You can export documents with Audio Recordings and transcripts as .goodnotes files to share with other users. When sharing via collaboration links, audio recordings are not accessible to collaborators. For sharing audio content, we recommend exporting the document as a .goodnotes file instead.
Legal and Privacy Questions
Does Goodnotes use personal data, such as recordings or transcripts, to train its AI features?
Goodnotes does not access or collect data from your Notebooks to train its AI features. Users may voluntarily submit data through the ‘Feature Feedback’ option as set out in our terms and conditions under section 3.7.1. or by giving their feedback on the AI features. Goodnotes may utilize this information to enhance its services exclusively voluntarily. Our proprietary machine-learning model powers Audio Transcription and operates entirely on the device. This feature functions solely on the device. The recorded and transcribed data remains local, preventing access, including by Goodnotes. Consequently, no data is transmitted, and neither Goodnotes nor any third party can access it unless you consent to provide this as set out above.
For comprehensive details on Goodnotes’ data handling practices, please refer to our Privacy Policy here.
What happens to my outputs and data processed when I use Audio Transcription?
The data created using the Audio Transcription feature is only processed within the user's Goodnotes application. This data is essential to the user's note-taking content and is treated as such.
User data, including information generated by Audio Transcription, is kept highly confidential. Goodnotes does not access or store user note content unless explicit permission is given or such access is necessary for troubleshooting during customer support interactions.
Goodnotes strictly follows data protection standards to protect user information. User data, including that generated by Audio Transcription, is not shared or disclosed to third parties.
Learn more on how to use this feature: Audio Transcription