# Private AI Note Taker: Basil — Meeting Notes & Voice Recorder > On-device AI for private meeting notes, transcriptions, and summaries, all offline. (iPhone/iPad app by Michael Stajer.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/private-ai-note-taker-basil/id6749776500 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Michael Stajer](https://appshunter.io/developer/1802743112) - Category: Productivity, Business - Price: Free with in-app purchases - Rating: 5.00/5 from 24 App Store ratings · 26 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 26.0 · 22 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2025-09-15 - Data updated: 2026-10-11 - Monetization: freemium - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/private-ai-note-taker-basil/id6749776500/reviews.md ## What is Private AI Note Taker? Basil is a private AI note taker for meetings. Recording, transcription and summaries all run on your device. Nothing is uploaded, and there is no server holding your conversations. WHY ON-DEVICE MATTERS Most AI note takers send your audio to a cloud service to be transcribed and summarized. Basil doesn't. Transcription runs on the Neural Engine, and summaries are generated locally by Apple Intelligence. There is no account to create, no subprocessor list, and no server to subpoena. RECORD ANY MEETING • In Person — capture the room with your microphone. • Computer (Mac) — capture both sides of a Zoom, Teams or Meet call without putting a bot in the meeting. Nothing joins your call, and nothing leaves your Mac. • Import existing audio or video files. Basil extracts the audio locally. TRANSCRIPTS AND SUMMARIES • A fast live transcript while you record, then a refined, higher-accuracy pass right after the session. • Transcripts include speakers names and are fully exportable. • Summaries, action items, decisions and follow-ups, generated on device. • 60+ languages. • Full-text search across everything you have recorded. BASIL FOR LAW A legal edition for attorneys and firms: • Privilege attestation — an on-device provenance record documenting that a recording was captured and processed locally. • Consent log — a timestamped attestation, built to the strictest all-party-consent standard so one workflow works in every state. • Matters and clients — organize by matter rather than by date. • Privileged & Confidential labeling on recordings, transcripts and exports. These are record-keeping tools for legal professionals. They are not legal services or legal advice, and no software can guarantee a privilege outcome. Basil's contribution is architectural: your client conversations never leave your device. ACROSS YOUR DEVICES A universal app for iPhone, iPad and Mac. Your library syncs through your own iCloud account — your iCloud, not our servers. EXPORT Send notes to Apple Notes, Calendar, Reminders and Files. SUBSCRIPTIONS Basil Pro unlocks unlimited recording. Basil for Law adds the legal feature set above. Free trials are available on both. Current pricing and trial length are shown on the subscription screen in the app. - [Privacy Policy](https://basilai.app/privacy) - [Terms of Use](https://basilai.app/terms) ## Key features - On-device secure and private note-taking - Offline meeting recording and transcription - Automatic AI-generated summaries - Searchable transcripts and export options - Hands-free recording with Siri Shortcuts - Support for over 60 languages - Choice of transcription models (Apple/WhisperKit) ## Pricing and in-app purchases Base price: Free. **Subscriptions** | Subscription | Price | Period | | --- | --- | --- | | Basil for Law Monthly | $19.99 | per month | | Basil for Law Yearly | $199.99 | per year | | Basil AI Pro Monthly | $9.99 | per month | | Basil AI Pro Yearly (Save 17%) | $99.99 | per year | | Basil AI Pro Weekly | $4.99 | per 7 days | **One-time purchases** | Purchase | Price | Type | | --- | --- | --- | | Basil AI Pro Lifetime | $199.00 | one-time | ## Recent user reviews (10 of 26) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/private-ai-note-taker-basil/id6749776500/reviews.md ### 5/5 — Great app!! *2026-10-07, version 2.2.8* Perfect app with a clean design and excellent performance. Definitely worth trying. ### 5/5 — Great app *2026-10-03, version 2.2.8* I use it every day for meeting, helpful app ### 5/5 — Great App! *2026-10-03, version 2.2.6* Makes life easy for me! ### 3/5 — Fails to record *2026-09-30, version 2.2.6* When the app actually starts to record, which is about two out of 10 attempts, it does quite a good job at transcribing, creating action items, etc. I have found that I have to restart my phone in order to get it to work properly. And that’s pretty much every time I wanna use it. If it would open and function regularly, without having to worry about restarting my phone, I would give it five stars. ### 5/5 — awesome *2026-09-19, version 2.2.1* great apps.. amazing ### 4/5 — Good Transcription App *2026-09-17, version 2.2.1* I’ve been using this app for a little bit now and I can say it’s pretty good but definitely has room for improvement. Off the bat it is actually recording the audio which is super helpful and great to go back and listen to. However, you can scroll through the audio when playing back in the app. You have to listen to the whole thing. I like that out of the box you get a summary, the transcript, and action items. The summary and action items can be a little wonky. For example, one says, “Just, yeah.” I think with some tweaks and QOL improvements it can be great! ### 5/5 — Great app *2026-09-16, version 2.2.1* The app is easy to use has great features ### 5/5 — Great app! *2026-09-16, version 2.2.1* This app keeps getting better. Really love the MacOS app for zoom calls! ### 5/5 — Local notes *2026-09-16, version 2.2.1* Works well, really like that notes are all stored and processed locally. ### 5/5 — Handy note take with on device transcribing *2026-09-15, version 2.2.1* The big pull for this is the on device transcribing. When in meetings the narrator detections is invaluable and helps when replaying back for minute taking and even remember what and who said action points. ## Frequently asked questions about Private AI Note Taker ### What is Basil Private AI Note Taker? Basil Private AI Note Taker is an on-device AI application designed for private meeting notes, transcriptions, and summaries. It operates entirely offline, ensuring your conversations remain secure and are never shared with cloud services or used for AI model training. ### How does Basil Private AI Note Taker ensure privacy? Basil is 100% private by design, with no uploads, sharing, or cloud AI. All processing, including recording, transcription, and summarization, happens directly on your device, making it GDPR compliant and ideal for sensitive information. ### Can I use Basil Private AI Note Taker offline? Yes, Basil is an offline meeting recorder. You can capture voice, calls, and conversations without an internet connection. This feature allows for fast, accurate AI processing even in airplane mode. ### What languages does Basil Private AI Note Taker support? Basil supports over 60 languages, including English, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, and many more. The app uses your device's language by default but can be changed manually. ### What are the subscription options for Basil Private AI Note Taker? Basil offers weekly, monthly, and yearly subscription plans. The monthly plan includes a 3-day free trial, and the yearly plan offers a discount with a 7-day free trial. Pricing starts at $4.99/week. ### Does Basil Private AI Note Taker have ads? No, Basil Private AI Note Taker does not contain advertisements. As a freemium app with optional subscriptions for advanced features, it provides an ad-free experience. ### What devices is Basil Private AI Note Taker compatible with? Basil Private AI Note Taker is compatible with iPhone and iPad devices. It supports hands-free recording through Siri Shortcuts and Action Button integration. ### How often is Basil Private AI Note Taker updated? The latest version of Basil Private AI Note Taker is 1.8.2, and it was last updated on May 4, 2026. This indicates a commitment to regular updates and improvements. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 2.2.8 — 2026-10-02 Processing continues after you leave Basil. Transcription and speaker labels keep running in the background, and a Live Activity shows the progress. Basil tells you when the transcript is ready, and the summary finishes when you open the app. While you record, the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island show the timer and a Stop button. Tap Stop to save the meeting without opening Basil. Better meeting notes. Each summary starts with a one-line overview, then topics that say who said what. Action items name the person who will do each one. ### 2.2.6 — 2026-09-24 Fixed a crash at launch on iPhone. Basil could close a few seconds after opening when your library had long meetings. It now opens normally. Recordings that survive a crash. If Basil is closed unexpectedly while it records, your recording is kept in full and processed the next time you open the app. Recordings that were cut off before this update can now be recovered too. Processing picks up where it stopped. If processing is interrupted, Basil continues from that point instead of starting again. Progress bars no longer freeze, and the screen stays on while Basil works. Lighter iCloud sync. Audio now syncs through iCloud Drive and downloads to another device only when you play it. New recordings also use half the storage. ### 2.2.3 — 2026-09-21 What’s New in 2.2.3 • Recover and reprocess recordings interrupted by an app closure. • See clearer error messages when processing cannot start. • Enjoy improved layouts for landscape, larger text, and iPhone Duo. • Keep your recording timer running correctly when the screen layout changes. ### 2.2.1 — 2026-09-03 2.2.1 - bug fixes related to language detection ### 2.2.0 — 2026-08-28 What's New since 2.1.6 Transcription reliability, and a processing screen that tells you what is happening. FIXED — imported files could stick at "Transcribing audio 10%" and never finish. On a device missing Apple's on-device speech assets, the older recogniser accepted the file and then answered with nothing at all: no result, no error. Basil now gives it 15 seconds to prove it is working and moves to the next engine if it does not. This affected a fresh install on iPhone and iPad, and any Mac that had not downloaded the speech model. FIXED — on Mac, the speech model could never download, so transcription was stuck on an engine that could not always do the job. Imported files now transcribe on the Mac the same way they do on iPhone. FIXED — Computer mode on Mac fell back to microphone-only even when Screen Recording was switched on, so the other people in a call were not recorded. Basil now lets the capture itself decide, and says something useful if it really cannot start. NEW — processing tells you where it is. Transcription shows how far through the file it has reached ("2:10 of 4:28") instead of a percentage that sat still. The one-time speech model download shows how much has arrived, and says it happens once. Both show elapsed time, and a long recording warns you it takes a few minutes. All processing still runs entirely on your device. No audio and no transcript ever leaves it. 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User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-10-11.*