Why Notey re-transcribes a meeting after it ends

It leaves a meeting alone once you have changed anything in it, and you can switch it off in Settings.

This page explains why there are two transcripts at all, what the second pass changes, when it runs, and what it costs you in disk space.

Two jobs, two recognisers

A meeting transcript has two jobs that pull in different directions.

During the meeting, the transcript has to keep up. Words should appear as they are spoken, so you can glance at what someone just said. Notey uses Apple's on-device speech recognition for this. It is fast, it is built into macOS 26, and it covers ten languages.

After the meeting, the transcript becomes the record. It is what you search, what you quote in a follow-up, and what AI notes are written from, if you ask for them. Speed matters less; getting the words right matters more.

A recogniser working live has to commit to words before it has heard the rest of the sentence. One working on a finished recording can take the whole passage into account and does not have to keep pace with anyone. Live versus post-meeting transcription explains the trade in general terms.

Notey keeps the recording on your disk, which is what makes a second pass possible at all. A tool that transcribes a live stream and throws the audio away has nothing to go back to.

What the second pass does

When an English meeting ends:

1. The recording stays where it is, on your Mac.
2. Two stronger English recognisers, which also run on your Mac, go through the recording.
3. They and the live transcript vote word by word. The first stronger recogniser's text is the base, and one of its words is changed only when the other two agree on something different.
4. The result replaces the live transcript.

Nothing on a meeting says whether it was improved; Settings says how many meetings have been. The recognisers are different from the one that ran live, and stronger for English. They are still recognisers. Names, numbers and jargon remain the words most likely to be wrong, for the reasons in why meeting transcripts get names and numbers wrong. Read the transcript before you rely on a figure in it, and click the timestamp to hear the moment if you are not sure.

When it runs, and when it doesn't

The rules are short, and each has a reason.

• English meetings only. The stronger recogniser handles English. Meetings in French, German, Japanese or the other supported languages keep their live transcript.
• Never during a recording. It does not run while Notey is recording, so it cannot compete with a recording for your Mac's attention.
• Never while you are reading. A meeting you have open changes the next time you open it.
• Not on meetings you have changed. If you have changed anything in a meeting — moved a line, named or marked a speaker, confirmed a name — on this Mac or, with sync, on another, Notey leaves it as recorded. Replacing it would throw your work away.
• Only where the recording is. A meeting whose recording is not on this Mac keeps its transcript.
• Only if it is switched on. It is on by default; Settings → Improve transcripts after each meeting switches it off. Meetings then keep the live transcript.

The download

The stronger recognisers are about 1.2 GB in total. They are fetched once, in the background, and kept on your Mac, and they are never downloaded while you are recording. Until they arrive, meetings keep the live transcript and are improved later, most recent first. The download is the recognisers coming to your Mac; nothing about your meetings goes the other way.

Fetching it needs a connection once. Transcribing a meeting offline on a Mac lists everything worth downloading in advance.

What stays the same

The second pass changes the words. It does not change what happens to your data.

• The audio stays on your disk. Every recogniser runs on the Mac. Nothing is uploaded to be transcribed, before or after the meeting.
• No account is needed. Recording, both transcripts, search and playback all work without signing in and without a network.
• AI notes are separate. If you ask for a summary or other notes, it is the transcript text that is sent, never the audio, and only when you ask or when a meeting ends with write-ups turned on.

For how on-device transcription works in general, including Apple's recogniser that produces the live transcript, read on-device transcription explained.

Questions to ask of any after-meeting pass

Notey is not the only tool that improves a transcript once a meeting is over. If you are comparing tools, these questions tell you what a second pass really does:

1. Where does it run? On your computer, or on the vendor's servers? A second pass in the cloud means the recording is uploaded, even if the live transcript was made locally.
2. Does it keep your corrections? A pass that overwrites a transcript you have already fixed costs you the fixing.
3. Which languages does it cover? Improvements are often limited to one language, or a few.
4. When does it run? A pass that competes with a live recording for the processor can make the recording worse.
5. Can you turn it off? And what do you get when you do?

For Notey the answers are above: on your Mac, changed meetings left alone, English only, never during a recording, and yes, in Settings.

When you might turn it off

The default suits most people, but there are reasons to switch it off:

• You correct transcripts while the meeting is still fresh, and would rather work from the live version you saw during the call.
• Your meetings are not in English, in which case it would not run anyway.

Turning it off does not affect live transcription, which keeps working in all ten languages. To improve the transcript at the source, getting better meeting transcripts covers headphones, microphones and habits that help either recogniser.

Frequently asked questions

Why did my Notey transcript change after the meeting?

After an English meeting, Notey reads the recording again on your Mac with two stronger recognisers and keeps the words they and the live transcript agree on. It leaves alone any meeting you have changed.

Does re-transcription upload my audio?

No. The recognisers run on your Mac, like the live one. The audio stays on your disk.

Does it work for languages other than English?

No. The after-meeting improvement is English only. Meetings in the other languages Notey transcribes keep their live transcript.

How much space does it need?

The recognisers are about 1.2 GB in total. They are fetched once, in the background, and never while you are recording.

Can I turn it off?

Yes. Switch off Improve transcripts after each meeting in Settings. Meetings then keep the transcript made live during the call.