About
About Hearnote
Last updated October 11, 2026
Hearnote is an iPhone and iPad app that records meetings and lectures, transcribes them on the device and writes structured notes, made by Đào Văn Thương, an independent developer in Vietnam. It transcribes in Vietnamese and English, and its notes include meeting minutes with decisions and action items, lecture outlines with key terms, and other templates. Audio, transcripts and notes stay on the device. Hearnote has no account and no server that receives recordings.
Key facts
- Name
- Hearnote (App Store name: “Hearnote: Meeting Notes”)
- Category
- Productivity — voice recorder, transcription and AI note-taking
- Platforms
- iPhone and iPad with iOS or iPadOS 26 or later. No Android, Mac or web app.
- Languages
- Transcription in Vietnamese and English (the English variants the device supports). The app’s interface is in English and Vietnamese.
- Processing
- On the device. Transcription uses Apple’s speech recognizer; the language model is downloaded from Apple once, the first time a language is used. After that, recording, transcription and notes work offline.
- AI notes
- Summaries and written answers use Apple Intelligence on the device. They need an iPhone 15 Pro or later (or an Apple Intelligence–capable iPad) with Apple Intelligence on and supporting the recording’s language. Without it, the transcript, search and export still work.
- Main features
- Recording that continues with the screen locked; timestamped transcript; 8 note templates plus custom ones; Ask Hearnote (questions across recordings, answers cite timestamps); speaker labels; chapters; action items to Reminders or Calendar; study mode with flashcards and a quiz; on-device translation Vietnamese ⇄ English; custom vocabulary; folders, tags and search; widgets, Siri and the Action button; Face ID lock; export to Word, SRT, Markdown and TXT.
- Account
- None. No sign-up, email or password.
- Pricing model
- Free to start, with in-app purchases. The free tier includes unlimited recording and transcription for 3 recordings and up to 60 minutes a week. Hearnote Pro is a monthly or yearly subscription (the yearly plan has a 7-day free trial) or a one-time lifetime purchase. Prices are shown in the App Store for each region.
- Availability
- Coming soon to the App Store. Not downloadable yet.
Why Hearnote exists
Many meeting note-takers upload recordings to a server for processing. That is a problem for confidential meetings, for people without a reliable connection, and for anyone who would rather keep their voice and their colleagues’ voices on their own phone.
Recent iPhones can run speech recognition and a language model on the device. Hearnote is built on that: everything from transcript to notes is made on the iPhone itself.
Vietnamese is treated as a first-class language, not an afterthought. Hearnote was designed for people who work and study in Vietnamese, in English, or in both.
Hearnote vs. cloud note-takers
A general comparison with the common kind of note-taker that processes audio on its own servers. Individual services differ; read their policies.
| Hearnote | Typical cloud note-taker | |
|---|---|---|
| Where audio is processed | On your iPhone | On the provider’s servers |
| Account required | No | Usually |
| Works without internet | Yes — record, transcribe, summarize | Usually records only; processing waits for a connection |
| Bot joins your call | No — records in the room | Often a bot joins Zoom/Meet |
| Vietnamese | As good as English | Varies, often weaker |
| Your recordings train AI models | Can’t — they never leave the phone | Depends on each app’s policy |
Privacy in short
- Recordings, transcripts, notes and questions to Ask Hearnote do not leave the device.
- There is no account, no advertising and, in the current version, no analytics or crash reporting.
- Purchases are handled by Apple. Nothing purchase-related reaches the developer.
- The only thing the app sends is feedback the user writes and sends with a tap.
Who makes Hearnote
Hearnote is made by Đào Văn Thương (Dao Van Thuong), an independent developer in Vietnam. There is no company or investor behind it, and support email goes to him directly.
He also makes the iPhone apps Lockboxy, Minivid, Linkeeper, Ringsy, Talkzy, Stampzy and Baton.
Other apps by the same developer
Contact
Questions, press or feedback. The developer answers personally.
Questions about Hearnote
What is Hearnote?
Hearnote is an iPhone and iPad app for meeting and lecture notes. Its App Store name is “Hearnote: Meeting Notes”. Everything it does runs on the device, with no account.
What does Hearnote do?
Hearnote records meetings and lectures, transcribes them on the device in Vietnamese and English, and writes structured notes such as meeting minutes with decisions and action items, or a lecture outline with key terms. It also answers questions across recordings, translates Vietnamese ⇄ English and exports to Word, SRT, Markdown and TXT.
Who made Hearnote?
Hearnote is made by Đào Văn Thương (Dao Van Thuong), an independent developer in Vietnam. There is no company or investor behind it. His portfolio is https://vanthuongdao.id.vn.
Does Hearnote work offline?
Yes. Recording, transcription, summaries, Ask Hearnote and translation run on the device. The only download is each language’s speech model from Apple, once, the first time you use that language.
Does Hearnote support Vietnamese?
Yes. Vietnamese and English are both fully supported for transcription, and a recording can be re-transcribed in the other language. Summaries in a language also need Apple Intelligence to support that language.
Is my audio uploaded anywhere?
No. Audio, transcripts and notes stay in the app’s private storage on the device. Hearnote has no server that receives them and no account. They leave the device only when you export or share them yourself.
Which iPhones does Hearnote work on?
Recording and transcription work on any iPhone with iOS 26 or later. AI summaries and Ask Hearnote’s written answers need Apple Intelligence: iPhone 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max or any iPhone 16 or later, with Apple Intelligence turned on.
How much does Hearnote cost?
It is free to start: unlimited recording plus transcription for 3 recordings and up to 60 minutes a week. Hearnote Pro removes the limits and unlocks every template and feature; it is sold as a monthly or yearly subscription (yearly with a 7-day free trial) or a one-time lifetime purchase. Prices are shown in the App Store.