Live Transcribe for iPhone: it doesn’t exist — here’s what to use instead
Google never brought its famous captioning app to iPhone. The good news: in 2026, you can get more than it ever offered.
By Lilly Seay · Updated July 6, 2026
There is no Live Transcribe for iPhone. Google’s Live Transcribe — the live-captioning app with over a billion downloads, developed with Gallaudet University — runs only on Android, and Google has never released or announced an iOS version. The app named “Live Transcribe” in Apple’s App Store is a different, unaffiliated app from Mighty Fine Apps LLC that costs $80–$1,600 a year after a one-hour trial. But iPhone owners aren’t missing out anymore: Hearing Buddy captions conversations free and unlimited, entirely on your iPhone — and adds things Google’s app never had, like live translation, free group caption rooms, and Apple Watch alerts.
Before you search the App Store: two very different apps share this name
This trips up almost everyone, so let’s clear it up first. If you search “Live Transcribe” on your iPhone, the app you find is not the one your Android friends use.
Google’s Live Transcribe (Android only)
The famous one: free, developed with Gallaudet University, preinstalled on Pixel phones, distributed only through Google Play. Its full name there is “Live Transcribe & Notification.” It has never been on the iOS App Store.
“Live Transcribe” by Mighty Fine Apps (the iOS one)
A separate subscription app from Mighty Fine Apps LLC, a San Francisco company — their own listing states they’re not affiliated with Google. It’s a capable app (more below), but it’s not free: a 1-hour trial, then $80–$1,600 a year. Watch for soundalikes too: “Live Transcribe +” and “Live Transcribe - Speech Text” are from other unrelated developers.
Why there’s no iPhone version — and why waiting isn’t a plan
Google hasn’t published a reason, but the pattern has held since the app launched. Three things explain it:
It’s part of Android itself
Live Transcribe isn’t really a standalone app — it ships preinstalled on Pixel and select Android phones, lives inside Android’s accessibility settings, and requires Android 8 or newer. Platform accessibility features don’t tend to move to a competitor’s platform.
Apple builds its own equivalents
On iPhone, system-level captioning comes from Apple: Live Captions and Sound Recognition are built into iOS. That leaves Google little room — and little incentive — to maintain a system-style accessibility app on a rival’s platform.
Years of silence
In all the years since launch, Google has distributed Live Transcribe only through Google Play, its support pages describe Android setups exclusively, and no iOS version has ever been announced. If you’re holding out for a port, nothing suggests one is coming.
What to use instead on iPhone
Four real options, each with its honest catch. Yes, we make the first one — which is exactly why we listed everyone else too.
Hearing Buddy
The closest thing to Google’s app on iPhone — and in several ways, more. Real-time captions are unlimited and free with no meters or session caps, and everything is processed on your iPhone: no audio leaves your phone, and captions work offline anywhere. Two differences from the original worth knowing: Google’s app keeps transcripts for at most 3 days before auto-deleting them, while Hearing Buddy saves them on your phone until you delete them. And Google gates multi-language offline use to Pixels and select Android 12+ phones — Hearing Buddy is on-device for everyone, always.
Then there’s what Google’s app never had: live translation into 10 reading languages, free Buddy Mode group rooms where nearby iPhones caption a conversation together with each person’s words shown by name in their color, and Apple Watch taps when someone says your name or asks you a question (that one’s part of Buddy+, $59.99/year — captions themselves are never paywalled).
The honest catch: it requires iOS 26 or later, so older iPhones can’t install it; it captions 8 languages (far fewer than cloud engines); and like every mic app, it can’t caption phone calls.
Download free
Apple Live Captions
Before installing anything, check what your iPhone already does: Live Captions lives in Settings → Accessibility. It runs on-device (like Hearing Buddy) and it’s the only option on this list that can caption phone calls, FaceTime, and audio from other apps — something no mic-based app can do, ours included.
The honest catch: captions are a fleeting overlay — there’s no saved transcript history, so when the window closes, the conversation is gone. No group rooms, no translation of captions, no alerts. Many people run it for calls and use a captioning app for everything else.
Live Transcribe by Mighty Fine Apps
The name-twin, and credit where due: its cloud-powered Pro and Ultra modes are genuinely excellent at distance and in noisy rooms, it covers 145+ languages, and it supports iPhones back to iOS 15 — including older phones Hearing Buddy can’t run on. It holds about 4.6 stars across roughly 7,300 US ratings.
The honest catch: the price. There’s no ongoing free tier — the trial is exactly 1 hour of use spread over 3 days, and after that every mode requires a subscription: $80/year (Starter, with 10 metered “Pro hours” a month) up to $1,600/year for unlimited, with extra hours at $1.49 each (per Mighty Fine’s own plan table, July 2026). Affordability is a recurring theme in its recent reviews.
See our full Live Transcribe app comparison, with the complete plan table →
NALscribe
A genuinely admirable free option from a government hearing-research lab: no cost, no usage limits, no data collection at all, and downloadable offline language packs covering 13 languages. If you want the simplest possible no-strings captioning, it delivers exactly that.
The honest catch: it’s deliberately bare — captions can auto-erase from the screen after 20 or 60 seconds by design, and there’s no transcript library, group mode, translation, or alerts. Its US App Store rating is modest (3.6 stars from only about 14 ratings), and NAL notes offline accuracy runs slightly lower.
Also worth knowing: BeAware Deaf Assistant (free, by Saamer Mansoor) pairs captions with sound alerts pushed to an Apple Watch — though its iOS app hasn’t been updated since December 2023.
What you’d get on Android vs what you can get on iPhone
These two apps never run on the same phone, so this isn’t a head-to-head — it’s context. If you’re choosing between a friend’s Android setup and your iPhone, here’s how the pieces line up.
| Feature | Google Live Transcribe on Android |  Hearing Buddy on iPhone |
|---|---|---|
| Runs on iPhone | No — Android 8+ only Preinstalled on Pixel and select Android devices | Yes — iPhone & Apple Watch Requires iOS 26 or later |
| Price | Free | Free — unlimited captions Optional Buddy+ ($59.99/yr) adds extras; captions are never paywalled |
| Transcript history | Kept up to 3 days, then auto-deleted Saving is opt-in; just 24 hours if history is off (Google support, July 2026) | Saved on your phone until you delete it Free — copy and share any conversation |
| Offline captioning | Depends on your device Multiple languages offline on Pixel/select Android 12+ phones; English-only on Android 8–11 | Always — captioning is 100% on-device No audio leaves your phone; basements, flights, and dead zones all work |
| Live translation of captions | Not offered Captions appear in the language being spoken | 10 reading languages, on-device Free in Buddy Mode rooms; Buddy+ for your solo captions |
| Group captions across phones | Not offered One phone listens to the room | Buddy Mode — free iPhones in the same room connect peer-to-peer; everyone’s words appear by name in their color, no internet needed |
| Apple Watch name & question alerts | Not offered | Yes, with Buddy+ A wrist tap when someone says your name or asks you a question |
| Sound notifications (alarms, doorbells) | Yes The “& Notification” half of its Play Store name | Not offered On iPhone, Apple’s built-in Sound Recognition covers this |
| Languages | Broad multilingual coverage Among the widest of any captioning app | 8 caption languages Plus live translation into 10 reading languages, all on-device |
| Built for the deaf & HOH community | Yes Developed with Gallaudet University | Yes It’s the entire mission |
Cross-platform context, not a like-for-like matchup — Google’s Live Transcribe runs only on Android and Hearing Buddy runs only on iPhone. Google Live Transcribe details verified July 6, 2026 from Google’s own support documentation and Google Play listing. Details change — confirm with Google before deciding.
The iPhone answer outgrew the original
For years, “Live Transcribe for iPhone” was a story about what iPhone users were missing. It isn’t anymore — there are things you can do on an iPhone today that Google’s app has never done on Android.
Captions that translate themselves
Google’s Live Transcribe captions the language being spoken — it has never translated. Hearing Buddy translates captions live into 10 reading languages (English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, and both simplified and traditional Chinese), entirely on-device. In a Buddy Mode room it’s free, and each person reads the conversation in their own language — a bilingual family dinner where everyone follows along, no signal required.
And Buddy Mode itself is a shape of captioning Google’s app never attempted: instead of one phone straining to hear a whole room, everyone’s iPhone joins in, connected directly to each other — no internet, no server, no account — and each buddy’s words appear by name in their color.
A buddy on your wrist
With Buddy+, your Apple Watch taps you when someone says your name or asks you a question — so you can stay present in the room instead of staring at a screen, afraid to miss the moment that mattered. Nothing like it exists in Google’s app, or anywhere else in the category.
And your conversations stay yours: Google’s app auto-deletes transcripts after at most 3 days. Hearing Buddy saves them on your phone, free, until you decide otherwise — the doctor’s instructions from last month are still there when you need them.
What we’d tell you straight
We’d rather you end up with the right tool than with our app. The honest fine print:
On Android? Just use Google’s.
If you or the person you’re helping has an Android phone, Google’s Live Transcribe is free, excellent, and probably already installed. This page exists for iPhone owners — there’s no iPhone version to wait for.
Hearing Buddy needs iOS 26 or later.
Older iPhones can’t install it. On an older iPhone, Apple’s built-in Live Captions or Mighty Fine’s app (iOS 15+) are the realistic options.
No app on this page captions phone calls except Apple’s.
Mic-based apps — Hearing Buddy included — physically can’t access call audio. For calls, use Apple’s Live Captions or a dedicated call-captioning service.
Cloud engines cover more languages.
Hearing Buddy captions 8 languages. Google’s app and Mighty Fine’s 145+ language coverage go much further. If your language isn’t on our list, say so with your feet — and check back.
Buddy Mode is same-room only.
Group rooms connect iPhones near each other — there are no remote participants over the internet, and no Android or web joiners.
No sound notifications, no human-scribe tier.
Google’s app flags alarms and doorbells; Hearing Buddy doesn’t (Apple’s built-in Sound Recognition does that on iPhone). And if you need ADA-grade human captioning for work or school, none of the apps here replaces a professional service.
Trying the iPhone answer takes about a minute
There’s no account to create and no trial clock to race. If you came here looking for Live Transcribe, this is the fastest way to find out whether your iPhone already has you covered.
Download free
No account, no email, no credit card — the App Store is the only signup there is.
Tap the mic
Captions start instantly, unlimited from the first minute — and nothing you say leaves your phone.
Bring your people
Next time the family’s around a table, have them open Buddy Mode — free group captions between the iPhones in the room.
Questions & answers
No. Google’s Live Transcribe is an Android-only app — Google has never released an iPhone version. The app named "Live Transcribe" in Apple’s App Store is an unrelated app from Mighty Fine Apps LLC, which charges a subscription after a 1-hour trial. On iPhone, the closest equivalents are Hearing Buddy (free, unlimited live captions processed entirely on your phone), Apple’s built-in Live Captions feature, and NALscribe (free, from Australia’s national hearing-research lab).
Google has never said why, but the pattern is clear: Live Transcribe ships as part of Android itself — preinstalled on Pixel phones, built into Android’s accessibility settings, and distributed only through Google Play. Apple builds its own equivalents directly into iOS (Live Captions and Sound Recognition), so there’s little room for a platform-level rival there. Since launch, Google’s own support pages have only ever described Android setups, and no iOS version has ever been announced.
It’s a separate app by Mighty Fine Apps LLC, a San Francisco company with no connection to Google — their own App Store description states they are not affiliated with Google. It’s well rated (about 4.6 stars across roughly 7,300 US ratings as of July 2026) and its cloud captioning is genuinely accurate in noise, but there’s no ongoing free tier: after a 1-hour trial spread over 3 days, plans run from $80 to $1,600 per year with the most accurate captions metered by the hour. You may also see soundalike apps like "Live Transcribe +" and "Live Transcribe - Speech Text" in search results — those are from other unrelated developers.
Hearing Buddy is the closest free equivalent: unlimited real-time captions with no meters or session caps, processed 100% on your iPhone so they work offline anywhere — plus free Buddy Mode group captioning between iPhones in the same room. It requires iOS 26 or later. Apple’s built-in Live Captions feature is also free and can caption phone calls and other apps’ audio, though captions vanish rather than being saved. NALscribe, from the National Acoustic Laboratories (the research division of Hearing Australia), is a third free option with downloadable offline language packs.
Only briefly. Per Google’s own support documentation (checked July 2026), saving transcription history is opt-in, and even saved history is kept for up to 3 days before being automatically deleted — or just 24 hours if history is turned off. Hearing Buddy takes the opposite approach: transcripts are saved on your iPhone, free, and stay there until you delete them.
Yes. Hearing Buddy’s captioning is 100% on-device, so offline is the default — basements, flights, dead zones all work, on every iPhone that can run it. For context, Google’s Android app gates offline use by device: multiple languages offline require a Pixel or selected Android 12+ phones, while devices on Android 8–11 can only download English. NALscribe on iPhone also offers free downloadable offline language packs.
Not everything — Google’s app also flags household sounds like alarms and doorbells (on iPhone, Apple’s built-in Sound Recognition covers that), and it captions in far more languages than Hearing Buddy’s 8. But Hearing Buddy also does things Google’s app has never offered: live translation of captions into 10 reading languages, free Buddy Mode group caption rooms between nearby iPhones, Apple Watch name and question alerts, and transcripts that stay on your phone instead of auto-deleting after up to 3 days.
Keep exploring
Live Transcribe App vs Hearing Buddy
The full head-to-head with Mighty Fine’s iOS app, including its complete plan table
Best Live Captioning Apps for iPhone
Every real option in 2026, compared fairly in one place
Apple Live Captions vs Hearing Buddy
What your iPhone’s built-in captions do well — and what they can’t
Stop searching. Start reading the room.
Unlimited free captions, saved transcripts, group rooms, live translation, and a buddy on your wrist — no account, no meter, no audio ever leaving your phone.
Free on iPhone & Apple Watch · Requires iOS 26 or later
Live Transcribe is a trademark of Google LLC; Google’s Live Transcribe app is available only for Android. This page also references “Live Transcribe,” the separate iOS app published by Mighty Fine Apps LLC (whose own listing notes it is not affiliated with Google); Live Captions and Sound Recognition, features of iOS from Apple Inc.; NALscribe, published by the National Acoustic Laboratories, the research division of Hearing Australia; and BeAware Deaf Assistant by Saamer Mansoor. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Hearing Buddy is independently made and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Google LLC, Mighty Fine Apps LLC, Apple Inc., the National Acoustic Laboratories, or any other company named here. All facts on this page — including Google’s transcript-retention and offline-support details and all pricing — were verified on July 6, 2026 against each company’s own published documentation and app store listings. Things change; if something here is out of date, tell us and we’ll fix it. This page reflects our honest assessment — and yes, we tell you when another app is the better choice.