How Transcription Works
- When you stop recording, Cleft transcribes your audio on your device
- You see live progress as your words are transcribed in real time
- The transcript is then processed into your finished note based on your Writing Style
When Your Transcript Does Not Arrive
Cleft keeps the note visible and tries again from the saved recording. This work happens on your device and does not need an internet connection. If Cleft cannot find the recording, the note says Audio file missing and stops retrying. If repeated attempts cannot create a transcript, Cleft keeps the recording for playback or export and explains what happened. Your audio never leaves your device to be transcribed. Only the finished text is sent for summarizing. See Privacy.Choose how Cleft transcribes
In v1.15.0 or later, Settings → Recording holds the language you speak and which engine does the work. Every option keeps your audio and its transcription on your device.
Cleft only offers a download once it has been tested for your device and language, and says so plainly when that combination is not ready yet. If conditions on your device are not right at the moment you record, for example because it is low on memory or running hot, Cleft falls back to Whisper Base. Settings then names the model that ran and explains why, in plain language, on the page where you choose the model.
Quiet pauses do not make Apple Speech switch to another model.
When part of a recording fell back but your model can run by the time you stop, Cleft transcribes the whole recording again with your model before it writes the note. A note that still ended on Whisper Base offers Improve once its model is ready: open the note and tap it to redo the transcript and note with your model. Improve rewrites the note and keeps its title. For a new Watch or CarPlay fallback recording, you can also choose Improve after editing: Cleft asks before replacing your saved transcript and note. Finish saving any edits first. Other fallback notes offer Improve only while their transcript and note are unchanged.
When a Watch or CarPlay recording falls back from a downloaded Whisper model,
it keeps a readable Base transcript on your phone until you open Cleft. Cleft
tries the saved model choice once before creating the cloud note. If that model
cannot finish, Base remains available and an eligible note offers Improve.
Cleft preserves edits you made while it was waiting.
See Settings for the download, verification, and deletion steps.
Editing a Transcript
Transcript not quite right? Edit it directly:- Tap the Transcript toggle to view the raw text
- Edit. Fix names, technical terms, or anything the transcription got wrong
- When you’re done, choose to regenerate:
- Transcript only. Updates the transcript text
- Transcript and summary. Rewrites your note based on the corrected transcript