Comparison

Whisper Notes vs PDF Viewer

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Whisper Notes

This app provides accurate, on-device transcription of audio and video files in over 100 languages. It offers a secure, offline experience with no subscriptions or cloud uploads. Easily record or import files and export transcripts with timestamps.

Highlights
  • 100% offline transcription
  • Record voice or import audio/video
  • Supports 100+ languages
  • Export transcripts with timestamps
  • Lock screen widget for quick capture
  • Secure, on-device data storage
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Maybe the best offline transcription app — 70,000+ journalists, researchers, and professionals seem to think so. Turn meetings, lectures, and voice memos into accurate text with speaker labels — fast, 100% offline, on your device. No subscription. One purchase, yours forever. ■ Core Features - Record voice memos and capture ideas instantly—from the Lock Screen, widgets, Action Button, or just say "Hey Siri" - Import audio and video from any app (WhatsApp, Photos, Voice Memos, etc.)—even extract subtitles - Turn meetings, lectures, and interviews into transcripts with speaker labels—see who said what, rename speakers, no length limits - 101 languages, auto-detected (optimized for English)—three models (Parakeet, Whisper, SenseVoice), switch freely - Export as SRT, VTT, or TXT—timestamps and speaker labels included ■ Privacy & Speed Because everything runs on your device, there is nothing to upload—and nothing to leak. Turn on airplane mode before you record and leave it on: Whisper Notes works exactly the same. That matters when the recording is an interview, a client meeting, or something you would never put on someone else's server. Transcribing 5 minutes of audio on iPhone 15: ~18 seconds with Parakeet, ~1 minute with Whisper. SenseVoice is much faster than Whisper and strongest for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Each model has its strengths—choose freely based on language and use case. Older devices are slower but work fine. ■ Honest Pricing Because transcription runs on your device, we have no server costs—so there is nothing to charge you monthly for. Most similar apps charge $100+/year; we charge once. No subscriptions, no in-app purchases, no ads. Not satisfied? Tap Settings → Request Refund. ■ Common Questions Does it work completely offline? Yes. Your audio never leaves your device. Works on flights, in remote areas, anywhere. Can I transcribe WhatsApp voice messages or videos? Yes. Share or save audio/video from WhatsApp to Whisper Notes and transcribe offline. Perfect for extracting subtitles without uploading to cloud services. Is there a recording time limit? No limit. Record for hours if you want. Longer recordings just take more time to transcribe on your device. Does it support real-time transcription while recording? Not during recording, but yes during transcription—after you finish recording, you'll see the transcript appear in real-time as it's being generated. Do you support speaker labels (diarization)? Yes—fully offline. Tap the speaker icon on any transcript to see who said what, right on your device. We keep improving accuracy and speed. Where is my data stored? Only on your device. We have zero access. Note: If you delete the app, your recordings are deleted too (because we don't keep secret backups). Please export important files regularly. Can I summarize a transcript? Yes — copy it into whichever AI tool you prefer. Whisper Notes itself never uploads anything; your audio and text stay on your device. Why does transcription stop when I switch apps? iOS limits background GPU usage for third-party apps. Just return to the app and tap "Re-transcribe"—it will restart. Which devices are recommended? iPhone 12 and newer. Older devices (iPhone 11, iPhone SE 2nd gen) are not recommended—the app will not function properly on these devices. What languages are supported? English, Español, Français, Deutsch, Português, Italiano, Nederlands, 简体中文, 繁體中文, 日本語, 한국어, Hindi, Arabic, Русский, Türkçe, Polski, Українська, Tiếng Việt, Thai, Tagalog, Bahasa Indonesia, Svenska, Norsk, Dansk, Suomi, Čeština, Greek, Hebrew, Română, Magyar, Persian, Urdu, and 65+ more languages. ■ Contact Questions? Email support@whispernotes.app Learn more: whispernotes.app

About

PDF Viewer

Easily convert various file formats to PDF and back again. This app supports conversions from images, documents, and presentations, allowing you to manage and share your files efficiently. It also offers OCR capabilities to convert photos into editable text.

Highlights
  • Convert JPG, Word, Excel, PPT to PDF
  • Convert PDF to other formats
  • Share and save converted files
  • Access conversion history
  • Pull files from iCloud or gallery
  • Convert Photos to Text (OCR)
Read full description

PDF Viewer makes file conversions easy, fast, and completely free. Convert files like JPG, Word, Excel, PPT, and more to PDF or convert PDFs back to other formats all from your iPhone.  Here’s what you can do with PDF Viewer: ● Convert files from popular formats like JPG, DOC, XLS, PPT, TXT, RTF, EPUB, and many more to PDF ● Convert PDF files back into various formats ● Share or save your converted files directly to iCloud or other apps ● Access and manage your conversion history ● Pull files from iCloud, your photo gallery, or capture a new image for conversion ● Share converted files via iMessage, open them in other apps, print, or save them to your Files app ● Convert Photos to Text ———————————————————— ◆ How to convert files with PDF Viewer ◆ 1. Select the file you want to convert 2. Choose your desired output format (PDF or another) 3. Tap the “Convert” button 4. Your file will be instantly converted (you can then save it, share it, or access it from your history) ———————————————————— PDF Viewer subscription policy: Once you sign up to PDF Viewer Premium, you will have full access to all of PDF Viewer’s features for free for 3 days. You can cancel your subscription any time and you will be sent a reminder before your PDF Viewer subscription begins after your trial. PDF Viewer Premium Subscription: - With a PDF Viewer Premium subscription you have access to all of PDF Viewer’s advanced PDF editing features, and access to all future updates. - PDF Viewer Premium monthly subscription is billed monthly for $4.99, and payment will be charged to iTunes Account after a 3 day free trial. - Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. - Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal. - Subscriptions can be managed by the user and auto-renewal can be turned off by going to the user's iPhone Settings -> Apple ID -> Subscriptions. ———————————————————— Connect with us on X and Instagram: @AndrewLeeReal Have any questions or recommendations? Feel free to reach out to me at: Andrew@AndrewLee.Ventures Privacy Policy: http://andrewlee.ventures/privacy Terms of Use: http://andrewlee.ventures/terms

Screenshots

Whisper Notes4 screens
PDF Viewer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: PDF Viewer at Free against Whisper Notes's $7.99. PDF Viewer also leads on review sentiment (89% vs 66%) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). Whisper Notes's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 3 months). On rating, ratings volume, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

PDF Viewer is free to download; Whisper Notes costs $7.99 up front. PDF Viewer sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whisper Notes asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Whisper Notes against 4.8 for PDF Viewer. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 618 and 235 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 66% of Whisper Notes's written reviews are positive against 89% of PDF Viewer's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Whisper Notes ships an update every 2 weeks, PDF Viewer every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Whisper Notes versus PDF Viewer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWhisper NotesPDF Viewer
Price$7.99Free — better
Rating4.7 (618 ratings)4.8 (235 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.3% of reviews89.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings618 — better235
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFreemium — better
Best chart rank#9 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS18.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size508 MB11 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSmashMelon LLCAndrew Lee

Customer experience

Whisper Notes

All ratings618 ratings
Positive91.1%
Neutral3.7%
Negative5.2%
Written reviews326 reviews
Positive66.3%
Neutral9.5%
Negative24.2%

PDF Viewer

All ratings235 ratings
Positive96.6%
Neutral2.6%
Negative0.9%
Written reviews57 reviews
Positive89.5%
Neutral7.0%
Negative3.5%

User reviews

Whisper Notes

From 618 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fast and accurate transcription
  • 🔒 Offline, private processing
  • 👍 Simple and intuitive interface
  • 💡 Affordable one-time purchase
  • 🚀 Impressive speech recognition accuracy

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes or freezes with longer recordings
  • 🐛 Inconsistent performance on older devices
  • 🐛 Transcription errors or missing punctuation
  • 🐛 Inability to edit transcribed text
  • 🐛 Lack of batch export/import functionality

PDF Viewer

From 235 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy and intuitive to use
  • 🚀 Fast and efficient conversion
  • 💰 Free or affordable pricing
  • 📄 Excellent PDF conversion and merging capabilities
  • 🎨 Clean and simple interface design

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Forced review prompt before app usage
  • ❌ Missing file deletion option
  • 📸 No in-app camera scanning capability
  • ⚙️ No file size customization options
  • 🔄 Inconsistent performance across devices

Bugs and requests

Whisper Notes

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Recordings disappearing after transcription
  • Transcription process getting stuck at 1%
  • Crashes on certain iOS/iPadOS versions
  • Inability to import audio files consistently

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add support for speaker diarization
  • Implement real-time transcription mode
  • Allow customization of hotkey/shortcut
  • Improve integration with Apple Shortcuts
  • Provide option to choose transcription model size

PDF Viewer

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App doesn't function on iPad mini (current model)
  • Forced review requirement blocks app access
  • Document quality issues when converting images to PDF
  • Occasional glitches during operation

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add file deletion functionality
  • Implement in-app camera scanning feature
  • Add page merge and delete options
  • Include file size/quality customization
  • Support for more device types (iPad compatibility)

In-app purchases

None

Whisper Notes

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

PDF Viewer

Subscriptions1
  • PDF Converter: Premium3 Days trial$4.991 Month
One-time1
  • PDF Converter: PremiumFree

Questions

Is Whisper Notes free?
Whisper Notes costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is PDF Viewer free?
PDF Viewer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Whisper Notes or PDF Viewer?
PDF Viewer is rated higher. Whisper Notes averages 4.7 out of 5 from 618 ratings, while PDF Viewer averages 4.8 from 235 ratings.
Do Whisper Notes or PDF Viewer have ads?
Neither Whisper Notes nor PDF Viewer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Whisper Notes or PDF Viewer?
Whisper Notes ships an update every 2 weeks, and PDF Viewer every 3 months. Most recently, Whisper Notes was updated on September 22, 2026 and PDF Viewer on September 8, 2026.

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