# Offline AI note taker for iPhone: what works without internet > Which iPhone note takers transcribe and summarize with no connection, how to test any app in airplane mode, and what Aurora still sends online. PRODUCT · OFFLINE MEETING NOTES Which iPhone note takers transcribe and summarize with no connection, how to test any app in airplane mode, and what Aurora still sends online. Leandro Piccione Published 5 November 2026 · Updated 6 November 2026 ## Can an AI note taker work on an iPhone without internet? Yes, if transcription and summaries run on the phone itself. A cloud note taker needs a connection to turn audio into text; an on-device app installs its models first. Aurora's documented speech pipeline covers recording, transcription, speaker separation and summaries on the iPhone, with all required models installed. It suits conversations with no signal, not rapid processing of large archives. Offline is not the same as never online: below are vendor descriptions, an airplane-mode test, the offline evidence limit and Aurora's separate network flows. ## What "offline" has to cover A note taker does four jobs: it records, turns speech into text, works out who said what, and writes a summary. An app can do the first job offline and still need a server for the other three. That is the common case: the recording is saved on the phone, and the transcript arrives later, once you are back online. So when a page says "works offline", ask which of the four jobs it means. For offline meeting notes with speaker labels and summaries, look for all four jobs on the device, repeated the next time with no connection. A transcription-only app may intentionally do fewer jobs. ## Test any app in airplane mode You do not have to take a vendor's word for it, ours included. This takes about five minutes: 1. Install the app and open it once while you are online, so it can download whatever it needs. Wait until it says it is ready. 2. Turn on airplane mode, and check that Wi-Fi is off too. 3. Record two minutes of two people talking. 4. Stop. Check that a transcript appears, that the two voices are kept apart, and that a summary is written. 5. Close the app fully, open it again, still offline, and make a second recording. 6. Turn the connection back on and note anything the app asks for or catches up on. If the transcript at step 4 shows "waiting for connection", the app records offline but transcribes online. Check the transcript, speaker labels and summary separately: an app can provide one offline while another needs a connection. ## How the apps describe offline use Offline capabilities described by each vendor, read 5 November 2026 | App | What its own page says about offline use | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Aurora | Works offline once the models are installed. Transcription runs on your iPhone. | [Aurora for iPhone](https://auroraisyours.com/iphone/), [Privacy Notice](https://auroraisyours.com/privacy/) | | Apple Voice Memos | Shows a live transcript on iPhone 12 or later in listed languages. The guide does not say whether transcription needs a connection, so run the test above. | [Apple Support](https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/view-a-transcription-iph00953a982/ios) | | Lyonesse | "Works in airplane mode. The speech and AI models download once, after that nothing needs a connection." | [Lyonesse offline features](https://lyonesse.app/) | | LoNotes | "After the one-time model download you can switch to Airplane Mode and the app works identically." | [LoNotes offline features](https://loming.com/notes) | | Whisper Notes | Its default speech model "is built into the app, so it works offline from the first launch." | [Whisper Notes offline transcription](https://whispernotes.app/offline-speech-to-text) | | Plaud | The recorder stores audio locally by default; audio is sent to AI service providers when you ask for a transcript or summary. | [Plaud AI data policy](https://www.plaud.ai/pages/ai-data-usage-transparency-policy) | | Granola | Passes your audio to its transcription provider. Its help page describes no offline mode. | [Granola transcription help](https://docs.granola.ai/help-center/taking-notes/transcription) | | Otter | Can keep recording offline, but live transcription pauses. It uploads and processes the audio after reconnecting. | [Otter offline recording help](https://help.otter.ai/hc/en-us/articles/44008744581271-Record-with-Otter-offline-or-without-an-internet-connection) | We have not tested the other apps; the middle column is how each describes itself on pages read on 5 November 2026. Whisper Notes describes offline transcription here, not an offline summary feature. ## What Aurora does with no connection Recording, transcription, speaker separation and summaries run on the iPhone, with all required speech and language models installed for offline use. The second pass that refines a finished transcript runs on the phone too. On the one device we measured (an iPhone 15 Pro, 26 August 2026), a 97.432-second recording completed end-to-end refinement in 7.858 seconds, or 12.4 times realtime. At that rate, one hour would take roughly five minutes. That is an extrapolation, not a measured one-hour run. The figures are in [what on-device transcription costs](https://auroraisyours.com/blog/on-device-transcription-cost). This single-fixture result is provisional. Thermal state and Low Power Mode were not recorded, and model choice changes throughput. The [public refinement results](https://auroraisyours.com/evidence/refinement-throughput-2026-08-26.json) carry the run details and limitations. The condition matters: offline works once every required model is on the phone, not just one of them. If a model is missing, Aurora fetches it the next time it is online. On 6 November 2026, Aurora's owner [confirmed that internet is needed during setup for the first-run model download, and the speech workflow works fully offline afterwards](https://github.com/ComicBit/aurora-website/issues/102#issuecomment-6685875528). This is owner confirmation, not a published physical-device test run. ## What Aurora still uses the network for Aurora is local-first, not network-free. The automatic setup, entitlement and usage requests below carry no conversation content. Conversation sync and a report you send can carry text: - **Model download.** Once at setup, and when a model changes. Over cellular, anything above 100 MB waits for your OK, except the live speaker-separation model, which is fetched either way. - **Update check.** An install from TestFlight asks this website which build is current. - **Subscription and free minutes.** When the main screen opens, Aurora asks RevenueCat whether you have a subscription. If you use Aurora without a subscription, the minutes you record are counted against your free allowance; the count carries no audio, transcript or title. - **Setup estimates and preparation profiles.** Automatic requests for aggregate setup timings, with no conversation content. - **Anonymous usage and preparation counts**, which you can refuse. - **An onboarding question**, which you can skip. It is sent only when you press Send. - **Diagnostic routing lookup.** An automatic request at app start for where to send a report and the recipient key, even if no report is waiting. - **Settings in your iCloud.** This is always on and has no switch. It carries no audio, no transcript and no title, and no server of ours is involved. - **Conversation sync**, off by default: the text of your conversations through your own iCloud, never the audio. Turning sync on also registers for Apple push notifications used by sync. - **A diagnostic report**, only when you send one. Your typed description is always sent. Session details start on and can include the transcript, summary, chat and images; the recording has a separate switch that starts off. - **Exports and links you open.** A plain-text export goes to the destination you choose, and a link opens in its handling app. The full list, with what each request carries, is on [the privacy page](https://auroraisyours.com/privacy/#app-egress). ## Limits - Battery cost per hour is not measured yet. - On-device processing fits badly if you need large archives processed quickly, where a server-based transcription service suits better. - It hears what the phone hears. It cannot hear a call playing in your headphones, and it cannot record a meeting you skipped. - Aurora is an iPhone beta (iOS 18 or newer), by invitation. The Mac app is not released. - Audio is deleted from the phone once more than seven days old, unless it is awaiting refinement. That audio is kept until refinement finishes. The transcript stays. ## FAQ ### Does Voice Memos transcribe offline? Apple's guide does not say. Run the airplane-mode test above on your own iPhone; that answers it for your model and language. ### Do I need to download anything before going offline? With on-device apps, yes. Aurora downloads its speech and language models at setup, and again when a model changes. Over cellular, anything above 100 MB waits for your OK, except the live speaker-separation model, which is fetched either way. ### Can an offline app tell speakers apart? Some can. Aurora separates speakers on the iPhone, live, with no connection needed once its models are installed. Our [speaker attribution measurements](https://auroraisyours.com/blog/speaker-attribution-measured) show how often it gets a word's speaker wrong. ### Does offline mean nothing ever leaves the phone? Not with Aurora, and we won't tell you that nothing ever leaves your phone. The list above names what goes online. Conversation sync is off by default; a report you send has session details on by default, while its recording switch starts off. Your own exports can also carry text to the destination you choose. ### Can I record a long lecture offline? Yes, after setup downloads all required speech and language models. No maximum recording duration exists in the app. See [Aurora for lectures](https://auroraisyours.com/use/lectures-students/). ## Where can I learn more? [Aurora for iPhone](https://auroraisyours.com/iphone/) covers setup and the beta. [What happens to your audio](https://auroraisyours.com/blog/what-happens-to-your-audio) follows a recording through the local pipeline. The [Apple Notes / Voice Memos comparison](https://auroraisyours.com/compare/apple-notes-voice-memos-alternative/) and [best AI note takers comparison](https://auroraisyours.com/compare/best-ai-note-takers/) cover the alternatives. [Join the waitlist](https://auroraisyours.com/beta/) for an invitation to the private TestFlight beta.