From recording to notes.
Transcribe your lectures.
Turn a recorded lecture into text right on your phone, and read it back instead of listening again. No server, no account: your professor's voice goes nowhere.
iOS is already on the App Store. Android is ready, coming to Google Play — same features, Pro included.
Three steps
From the recording to your notes, without leaving the app.
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Import the recording
Pick the file from your phone: the lecture you recorded in class, an .m4a or an .mp3.
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Choose the language
Italian, English, Spanish or French, handy if you follow courses in another language. Transcription runs in the background: you can keep using the app.
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Edit and share
A notification arrives when it's done. Fix the technical terms, then send the notes to your study group or export them as .txt.
What it does
Everything you need to turn a recorded lecture into notes.
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All on your phone
Transcription runs on the device: no server, no account. The lecturer's voice never leaves your phone.
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Four languages
Italian, English, Spanish and French, great for courses in a foreign language. The app itself reads in all four too.
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Record or import
Record from the microphone, pick a file, or share one straight to Sbobino from WhatsApp or Voice Memos.
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Folders by subject
Put each lecture in its subject and filter the list with the pills at the top. Whatever you haven't filed yet stays in "To organise".
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Correct while listening
The text is split into segments with timestamps: tap a time and the audio jumps there, and the phrase that's playing lights up.
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Share and export
Send the notes to your study group with the system share sheet, by email, or export them as .txt.
Free, or Pro
Try it without paying anything. If you need more, there's Sbobino Pro.
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Free
1 hour a day
One hour of audio a day, plus 3 hours of welcome credit to get started. A longer lecture is still transcribed in full: the extra comes off the following days.
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Semester pass
6 months, no limits
For exam season and the whole semester. It doesn't renew on its own: when it ends you go back to the free version, losing nothing.
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Pro forever
One payment
No limit on hours, for good. For people who use it every year.
Prices are on the App Store and, for Android, on Google Play. The sample audio and regenerations don't count toward the limit.
Frequently asked questions
The short answers, before you download.
Do I need an internet connection?
Only the first time, to download the model. After that transcription happens on your phone: it works in a lecture hall with no signal, on the underground, on a plane.
Do my recordings end up anywhere?
No. There's no server of ours, no account, no API key: the audio and the text stay in the app's storage. Uninstall the app and they go with it.
Can I use my phone while it transcribes?
Yes. An hour of lecture transcribes in the background and you get a notification when it's done, instead of sitting in front of a progress bar.
Which audio files can I import?
The common ones: .m4a, .mp3, .wav. They are what comes out of a voice recorder or a chat, and that is where a lecture almost always comes from.
How do I get the text out?
Through the system share sheet — WhatsApp, Mail, Notes, whatever you have — or by exporting it as a .txt file.
How much does it cost?
Sbobino is free: every day you get one hour of audio to transcribe, plus 3 hours of welcome credit to get started, and a longer lecture is still transcribed in full. If you need more, there's Sbobino Pro, with no limits: a pass for the semester or a one-time purchase that lasts forever. No subscriptions that renew on their own.
What about Android?
Yes: the Android version has the same features as iOS — recording, folders by subject, free with Sbobino Pro for those who want more. It's ready and coming soon to Google Play; you'll find the link here on the site as soon as it's out.
Why is it called "Sbobino"?
Because "sbobinare" is exactly what the app does: in Italian university slang, it means transcribing a lecture recording into written notes — literally "to unspool," from the old cassette-tape reels. The transcript itself is called a "sbobina." "Sbobino" is the first-person present tense of the same verb — "I transcribe" — and it's also the name we gave the app's ghost.