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M4A to text

Apple’s audio format — from iPhone Voice Memos, Zoom audio and Mac apps — straight to text.

Drop an M4A file .m4a

First 2 minutes free, any lengthLanguage detected automaticallyUp to 100 MB

Longer than 2 minutes?You get the first 2 minutes here. Kalpa transcribes the rest — free to start on iPhone Get the app ›

How do you convert M4A to text?

To convert M4A to text, drop the .m4a file above — no need to convert it to MP3 first. M4A is the format iPhone Voice Memos and Zoom’s audio-only recordings use. Kalpa returns text with timestamps in seconds. The first 2 minutes of any file are free here; the rest is in Kalpa.

Short ones here, long ones in Kalpa

First 2 min · free heremeeting-notes.m4a1:15English · detected

0:00: Three decisions from today, so I have them written down.
0:12: One, we move the launch to the first week of March.
0:31: Two, Sam owns the onboarding emails.
0:52: Three, we review the budget again at the end of the month.

Keep it, search it, ask about it laterSave to Kalpa ›

How to transcribe an M4A file

Find the .m4a
Voice Memos, Zoom folder, or Files.
Drop it above
No conversion needed.
Get the text
Timestamps included.
Keep it
Download, or keep it in Kalpa.

Faster in the app

From Voice Memos and Zoom to words you can use

M4A is where your iPhone memos and Zoom call audio end up. Turn those files into text you can skim, quote and paste into notes — without converting to MP3 first.

Download on the App Store

Good to know

If Zoom saved an audio-only .m4a of your call, that’s the quickest file to transcribe.
M4A files are smaller than WAV, so they upload faster.
The first 2 minutes of any M4A are free here; the rest is in Kalpa.

Where M4A files come from

iPhone Voice Memos

Your recorded ideas and notes.

Zoom recordings

The audio-only file Zoom saves.

Recorder apps

Many phone recorder apps save M4A.

When the free tool is enough — and when you need Kalpa

	Free web tool	Kalpa app
Length	First 2 minutes of any recording	The whole recording, no limit
Summary, quotes and topics	—	Yes
Search everything you saved	—	Ask in chat, jump to the moment
Your own recordings	Upload a file	Record on iPhone or Apple Watch, transcribed on device
Languages	25, detected automatically	25, detected automatically

Questions and answers

Do I need to convert M4A to MP3 first?

No, the M4A to text tool transcribes .m4a files as they are, without converting to MP3.

Where do M4A files usually come from?

M4A is Apple’s common audio format, so most M4A files come from iPhone Voice Memos, Zoom audio-only recordings and Mac apps.

How large can an M4A file be?

The M4A to text tool accepts files up to 100 MB.

Is a long M4A recording free to transcribe?

Kalpa transcribes the first 2 minutes of any M4A file for free; the rest of a longer recording is in the Kalpa app, which is free to start.

Voice memo to text Zoom recording to text MP3 to text Audio to text Phone call recording to text WAV to text

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Everything you hear and say, remembered

Kalpa keeps what you watch, say and think in one place you can talk to. Free to start on iPhone and Apple Watch.