Follow in-person meetings, presentations, and workplace conversations with real-time captions on your iPhone.
Live Transcribe by Mighty Fine Apps provides real-time captions so Deaf and hard-of-hearing professionals can follow in-person meetings, one-on-ones, presentations, and everyday workplace conversations. It’s built for people who need to catch every decision, deadline, and detail at work, without depending on a colleague to fill in the gaps afterward.
At work, missing words has a professional cost. A misheard deadline, a decision you didn’t catch, a question directed at you that you didn’t realize was a question. Video calls often have built-in captions now, but most of the workday still happens in person: conference rooms, hallway conversations, client meetings, site visits. Live Transcribe covers those moments by turning live speech into readable captions on your iPhone as people speak. Your hearing changed. Your ability to deliver didn’t, and the captions make sure everyone around you knows it.
Why workplaces are difficult listening environments
Even a normal office day stacks up listening challenges:
- Conference rooms put speakers at varying distances, often around a long table
- Multiple colleagues contribute in quick succession, sometimes talking over each other
- HVAC hum, open-office noise, and hard conference room surfaces muddy speech
- Presenters face the screen instead of the room, which removes any chance of lip reading
- Hearing aids help, but a soft-spoken colleague at the far end of the table can still be lost
Live Transcribe addresses this by captioning what’s said in the room in real time. Color-coded speaker separation helps you track who said what during multi-person discussions, and large, adjustable text means you can glance at the captions without losing the thread of the meeting.
How to use Live Transcribe at work
Before the meeting
- Open Live Transcribe on your iPhone
- Set your preferred text size and display settings
- Place the phone toward the center of the table, or closer to the main presenter
During the meeting
- Read captions in real time while participating normally
- Catch names, numbers, dates, and action items as they’re spoken
- Use name alerts so you notice when someone addresses you directly
After the meeting
- Review or save the transcript to confirm decisions and action items
- Share or summarize the conversation if that’s useful for your follow-up
A note on privacy: workplace conversations can be sensitive, and it’s good practice (and in some places legally required) to let colleagues know you’re using a captioning app. Most teams are glad to accommodate, and captioning for accessibility is a common and reasonable workplace accommodation. Your transcripts stay under your control, and the privacy policy and in-app settings spell out how each feature handles your data.
What to know about accuracy and limitations
Live Transcribe works best when the iPhone’s microphone can clearly hear each speaker. In a large conference room, placing the phone near the center of the table or closer to the primary speaker improves accuracy. For presentations in big rooms, sitting closer to the presenter helps.
When several people talk at once, captions can become harder to follow, as with any captioning technology. In practice, normal meeting turn-taking captions well.
Live Transcribe is an iOS app for iPhone and iPad, offered as a paid subscription with a free trial. It’s an accessibility tool first, not a meeting-notes product. The transcript features exist to support communication access, with review and sharing as a useful bonus.
Real examples
From an App Store reviewer with otosclerosis:
“As an administrator, I was unable to be actively engaged in meetings that took place in larger conference rooms. This app saved my career!”
Another reviewer, a Deaf control systems engineer, wrote:
“I use this in a loud environment where I am employed. I leave this app running for long and extended periods of time to catch radio calls, as well as to hold conversations and meetings.”
Frequently asked questions
Can Live Transcribe caption an in-person meeting?
Yes. Live Transcribe provides real-time captions for in-person meetings, presentations, and workplace conversations. Accuracy depends on microphone placement and room audio, so positioning the phone near the speakers helps.
How is this different from captions on Zoom or Teams?
Video platforms caption their own calls. Live Transcribe captions the physical room: conference tables, hallway conversations, client visits, and any in-person discussion where built-in captions don’t exist.
Does Live Transcribe work in a large conference room?
Yes, with the caveat that distance matters. The closer the phone is to the person speaking, the more accurate the captions. For large rooms, place the phone centrally or near the presenter.
Does it require internet access?
No. Live Transcribe includes offline transcription, so it works in basements, secure buildings, and anywhere connectivity is unreliable.
Is Live Transcribe the same as Google’s Android app?
No. Live Transcribe by Mighty Fine Apps is an independent iOS app for iPhone and iPad. Google Live Transcribe is a separate Android app from Google.
Live Transcribe is free to try on the App Store. Start your trial and use it in your next real work conversation.
The team behind Live Transcribe.
