Have you ever found yourself sitting through a long meeting, wanting to record it for later? Maybe you want to re-listen to the details or even type up a full transcript.
But let’s be real—going back through an hour or two of audio just to find the key points is a huge pain. And trying to transcribe all of that yourself? It's even worse. So what if you could just turn that meeting audio into text automatically?
This is where an AI meeting note taker comes in handy, turning your audio into text automatically. In this post, I’ll show you how to turn meeting recordings into clean, readable meeting notes—without the copy-paste marathon.
Here are two ways to summarize your meetings.
Method 1 - Get meeting notes with iPhone built-ins + ChatGPT
Here’s how to use your iPhone and ChatGPT to summarize your meeting notes.
Step 1: Get meeting transcripts on iPhone
If you only need the occasional meeting transcript, the iPhone actually gets you pretty far. You've got two main options here.
Voice Memos
First, you can use the Voice Memos app. Just record your meeting, and once you're done, you can open it up and hit the "Transcription" button. You'll see the transcribed text right there.
Notes app
Second, you can use the Notes app. Just start a new note and use the "Record" feature. When you’re finished, tap the audio file and you'll find the same "Transcription" option to turn the audio into text.
Step 2: Summarize meeting transcripts with ChatGPT
Once you have that meeting transcript, just copy the text and paste it into an AI tool like ChatGPT or Gemini. From there, you can ask the AI to do all the heavy lifting for you, like generating a summary or creating an outline of the key points.
I’ll usually add a line like, “Summarize as bullets, then list action items with assignees.”
Is this a good solution?
So, is this a practical way to handle your meeting notes? It's great that you can use tools you already have, like your iPhone and free AI tools. You don't have to spend any extra money.
But honestly, I've run into a few issues with the iPhone's built-in transcription tool:
- Too many manual steps: You have to record, then wait for the transcript, copy and paste it into an AI tool, and then you still have to edit, format, and share it. After a 70-minute meeting, I often find myself spending another 10 to 15 minutes just on this cleanup process. It’s not exactly efficient.
- Messy text in noisy rooms: cafés and open offices add noise. Punctuation drops. Sentences break in odd places. It’s hard to tell who is speaking because the phone does not keep speaker labels across meetings.
- Older phones and long files struggle: Some devices or iOS versions just don't have the right features, or they act a little weird. And a really long recording can take forever to process. I've been there, and it can be frustrating.
So, what if there was a better way?
If you only record a meeting once in a while, the iPhone method is fine. But what if you're like me—in back-to-back meetings all the time or some meeting in noisy places?
All those manual steps really add up. That's why I finally switched to a different setup: a wearable AI meeting note taking device with an app that labels who's speaking, and gives me a ready-to-send summary without all that copying and pasting.
Go-to method - Use Plaud NotePin to automate meeting notes
For me, one-off recordings on my iPhone were okay, but for daily, on-the-go meetings, I needed less friction. That's where my Plaud NotePin comes in. It's a small meeting note-taking device that I just clip onto my collar. I don't have to hold it, so I'm free to focus on the conversation.
After using it myself, I've come to believe the Plaud NotePin is a much better choice for anyone who records meetings regularly.
Here are some features that I think are pretty great.
More convenient than your phone or a voice recorder
You might be asking, "Why would I get another device? Can't I just use a regular voice recorder?" That's a fair question, but here's why the Plaud NotePin is different.
It comes with accessories that let you wear it as a lapel pin, a necklace, or even a bracelet. Your typical voice recorder can't do that, can it?
Because you can wear it, you'll never forget it. I love that I can just clip it on and I'm ready to go. It’s both practical and stylish.
A smarter way to handle your meeting notes
One of the best features is how the Plaud NotePin works with the Plaud App. As soon as you finish a recording, you can access your recordings in the app.
The app’s "Transcription" turns a recording into a full transcript in just a few minutes. It even identifies different speakers and breaks the text into paragraphs.
I found that the app learns to recognize a voice. Once I name a speaker in a meeting, it will automatically apply that name to them in future recordings instead of just labeling them as "Speaker 1."
This is something a normal voice recorder can't do. A regular recording tool just dumps all the sentences together in one big block, which is almost impossible to read.
Then, you can use the "Summary" feature to turn the transcript into key meeting points. It can even list out all the action items for you. It can even create a mind map to give you a clear, structured overview of the conversation. This lets you focus on the meeting and not on taking notes. Everyone can participate fully, which makes meetings more efficient and saves time.
Clear recordings, even in noisy places
Because you can take it anywhere, it's perfect for those impromptu meetings at a coffee shop. In a noisy place like that, the Plaud NotePin uses AI voice enhancement to capture everything accurately.
Automate your meeting notes
The most powerful feature is its AutoFlow function. Once the audio is in the app, AutoFlow automatically generates the transcript and summary, then sends them to a pre-set email address.
So it means, as soon as the meeting wrapped up, you turned the recording off. You walked back to your desk to grab a coffee, and by the time you sat down, an email was already waiting for you. AutoFlow had automatically taken the audio, created a full transcript, and even pulled out a neat summary with all the decisions and action items.
It was all done without you having to do a single thing after the meeting ended. You just quickly reviewed it and sent it to the team. It’s that easy.
For example, you can say, "When a recording with 'management' in the title is synced, automatically transcribe it, summarize the key points, and email it to me."
Tips: You have to set up “AutoFlow” first. Once you create an automation template in the app's settings, you can tell it exactly what to do.
Practical tips from daily use
Besides the main features I've already talked about, there are a few other things I've learned from using the Plaud NotePin that I think are worth mentioning.
Subscription plans
The Plaud device has a limit on how many minutes of audio you can transcribe.
The free plan gives you 300 minutes a month. If you need more, you can upgrade to the Pro plan or the Unlimited plan, which gives you 1,200 minutes or, you guessed it, unlimited minutes.
If you’re in meetings all the time, you probably don’t need the "Unlimited" plan, but the 1,200-minute Pro plan gives you a lot more freedom. I
Here is how I choose based on how often I record and how much post-meeting work I want to avoid.
-
Free — 300 min/month
Good if you record now and then. Try the basics and see if the flow fits your work. -
Pro — 1,200 min/month
Best for daily users. The extra minutes remove anxiety, and you unlock helpful features like “Ask AI,” pro templates, and overview tools. -
Unlimited — for heavy capture
Suited for interviewers, researchers, and podcasters who record most of the day.
Battery and storage
The Plaud NotePin is tiny, but it has a surprisingly good battery. It can record for 20 continuous hours and has a standby time of 40 days. That means you don't have to charge it very often. But, like any gadget, you might forget to charge it and find yourself with a low battery when you need it most. The good news is you can charge it while you're recording.
As for storage, the device has 64GB of space. Once a recording is synced to the app, it's deleted from the Plaud NotePin, so you'll probably never run out of space. You don't have to worry about that at all.
Phone calls
Can you use the Plaud NotePin for phone calls? Yes, you can. You just need to put your call on speakerphone. But if you do a lot of call recordings, I'd actually recommend the Plaud Note. It has a magnetic attachment that sticks to the back of your phone and can record calls without you having to use speakerphone. This avoids those awkward situations where you have to put someone on blast just to record them.
Your privacy and security
I know that some people worry about privacy, especially with important meeting content. The good news is, the Plaud has both SOC 2 and HIPAA certifications, which show how seriously they take security.
SOC 2 is a certification that checks a company's controls for security, availability, data integrity, confidentiality, and privacy. HIPAA is a U.S. law that sets strict rules for protecting sensitive health information—even a huge company like Cloudflare has to meet its standards.
They've even gone a step further and achieved full compliance with the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This means that professionals across Europe can use Plaud's products with complete confidence that their data is private and secure.
Conclusion
Overall, recording meetings and conversations with the Plaud NotePin or Plaud Note is a better experience than using an iPhone. It's not just that they're lighter and easier to carry. With accessories like the necklace, bracelet, and lapel clip, you can record anytime, anywhere.
If you record meetings often or need something more than just basic transcription, I would recommend this type of AI note taker. It keeps everything in one simple flow and delivers results faster.
FAQ
Can I use Plaud NotePin for recording phone calls?
Yes, you can record phone calls by putting your phone on speaker mode. However, for better clarity, we suggest using Plaud Note. It attaches directly to your phone, ensuring a clearer recording without needing to use speakerphone. Just remember to get consent from everyone involved in the call before starting the recording.
How accurate is the transcription in noisy environments?
Plaud NotePin has advanced microphones and built-in noise reduction, which makes it much better at capturing clear audio than a standard phone mic, even in busy or noisy places like cafés or open offices. This means you'll get more accurate transcriptions, even in less-than-ideal environments.
Can Plaud NotePin work with any device?
Plaud NotePin works seamlessly with the Plaud app, which is available for both iOS and Android devices. All you need is the app installed on your phone to start recording and syncing your meeting notes.
