AiScriber vs Lightning Notes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side β with what reviewers say about each.
AiScriber
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Transcribe audio and video 100% offline - nothing ever leaves your iPhone or iPad. AiScriber turns lectures, meetings, interviews, podcasts and voice memos into accurate text using on-device AI. No cloud servers. No account. No internet connection required. It works in airplane mode, on a plane, in a basement, or anywhere your recordings need to stay confidential. Perfect for professionals, students, journalists, researchers, content creators, and anyone who needs fast, accurate transcripts on the go. Key Features: β’ 100% Offline & Private: Transcribe audio and video entirely on your device. Your recordings never leave your iPhone or iPad, so confidential material stays confidential. No cloud, no logins, no tracking. β’ Accurate On-Device AI: Advanced local AI delivers high-precision transcripts, even with technical terms and proper names. Supports 40+ languages with automatic language detection. β’ Audio and Video: Import files of any length and any common format, or record directly in the app. AiScriber handles lectures, meetings, interviews, podcasts and video files alike. β’ Subtitles & SRT: Generate subtitle files from any video in a single tap. β’ Highlight & Organize: Mark important moments with multi-color text highlights. Navigate long transcripts and find key quotes at a glance. β’ Export & Share: Export transcripts (with highlights) to PDF or TXT for reading, sharing or editing. β’ No Length Limits: Transcribe long recordings without per-minute quotas or upload waits. β’ Customizable Display: Adjust font size, line spacing and page layout. Switch between Light and Dark modes. β’ Full iPad Support: Optimized layouts and Stage Manager-friendly multitasking for power-user workflows. Common Use Cases: β’ Lectures & classes - capture every word, then highlight key concepts β’ Meetings & standups - turn recordings into searchable notes β’ Interviews & podcasts - produce ready-to-edit transcripts β’ Voice memos - convert quick thoughts into clean text β’ Videos - generate caption / subtitle files in one tap Why AiScriber: β’ 100% on-device processing - no internet required β’ No account, no cloud, no tracking β’ Works in airplane mode and on flights β’ One tool for audio, video, voice memos and live recordings Boost your productivity with a transcription tool that works anywhere, even without internet. AiScriber turns voice into accurate text while keeping your data private and secure on your device. Privacy policy: https://acidanthera.pages.dev/privacy-policy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Lightning Notes
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Record. Transcribe. Summarize. All on your device. Transcription and speaker separation run entirely on your iPhone β no audio ever leaves your device. Stop the recording and on-device AI works out who said what, producing a speaker-labeled transcript. Then choose local AI or Cloud AI to write the meeting notes. Supported by ads, with all core features available without a subscription. ------------------------ Key Features ------------------------ β Accurate Transcription β On-Device Apple's speech recognition engine processes your audio entirely on-device. Meetings, lectures, interviews β transcribed without sending audio anywhere, and reliable even for long recordings. β Automatic Speaker Separation Speaker separation runs automatically on your iPhone once recording stops, identifying who said what across multi-participant conversations. Voice fingerprints are learned over time, so names get assigned automatically in later meetings. Manual editing is always available. β AI Meeting Notes β Your Choice of AI Β· On-device AI: No internet required; nothing leaves your iPhone. Needs 6 GB RAM or more (iPhone 13 Pro and later). Β· Cloud AI: DeepSeek V4-Flash via OpenRouter, streamed in real time. API data is not used for model training, and only Zero Data Retention (ZDR) endpoints are used, so the provider does not store your data to disk. β Per-Speaker Summary (Cloud AI) A breakdown for each participant: role, key points raised, and behavior during the meeting. See who drove decisions and who needs follow-up. β Person Profiles (Cloud AI) Cross-reference up to 30 past meetings featuring a person and generate an AI profile of their role, communication style, and project involvement. β Dictionary Correction (Custom Terms) Register company names, product names, and jargon, and the app fixes where speech recognition misheard them β "Tower Electric" becomes "Towa Electric". Rather than swapping on sound alone, an on-device language model checks the replacement reads naturally in context, so unrelated passages are left alone. English and Japanese supported. Corrections are listed with before/after text, can be reverted one at a time, and apply retroactively to past meetings. β Audio & Video File Import Import external audio or video recordings and run them through the same transcription and speaker separation pipeline. β Share & Export Export as PDF, choosing which sections to include (summary, speaker summaries, transcript). Speaker colors and tables are preserved. Text and audio sharing are also supported. β Privacy-First Architecture Transcription, speaker separation, and local summarization all run on-device. Cloud AI is opt-in β leave it off and no recording content ever leaves your iPhone. β Folder Organization Organize meetings into folders by project, client, or topic. β Full-Text Search Search titles, summaries, and transcripts. Find any meeting by keyword in seconds. β Edit Transcripts Fix recognition errors directly in the app and save an accurate record. β Control From the Lock Screen Elapsed time appears on the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island while recording, with pause, resume, and stop right there. Add the Control Center button to start recording without launching the app. β Backup & Restore Export meetings, transcripts, and speaker data to a file and restore it on another device or after reinstalling. You keep the file; nothing goes to an external server. β Meeting Types Β· Meeting: Multi-participant discussions Β· Lecture / Seminar: One-to-many presentations or classes Β· Interview: One-on-one or small group conversations ------------------------ Requirements ------------------------ Β· Transcription, speaker separation, file import: iPhone 12 or later (A14 chip), or iPad with M1 or later Β· Local AI summarization: 6 GB RAM or more (iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 14 series, iPhone 15 and later) Β· Audio/video formats: WAV, M4A, MP3, MP4, and other common formats --- Take back your meetings. No subscription required.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Lightning Notes at none against AiScriber's 2. Lightning Notes also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 6 weeks). AiScriber's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. AiScriber sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per 7 days. Lightning Notes asks for nothing beyond the download.
AiScriber ships an update every 6 weeks, Lightning Notes daily. The most recent releases landed on September 1, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | AiScriber | Lightning Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Daily β better |
| Ads | No β better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No β better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 26.0 |
| Further details β not scored | ||
| Size | 120 MB | 55 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Kiryl Radabolski | Chihiro Otsuki |
In-app purchases
AiScriber
- Premium week subscription$5.997 Days
- Premium yeat subscription3 Days trial$49.991 Year
Lightning Notes
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is AiScriber free?
Is Lightning Notes free?
Do AiScriber or Lightning Notes have ads?
Which is updated more often, AiScriber or Lightning Notes?
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