Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get help?

Will you improve or build a feature if I ask for it?

Absolutely! Many of Alice's features got built because someone like you shared a problem they were trying to solve. Email alice@aliceapp.ai and we'll definitely discuss it.

What is Alice?

It’s an iPhone app and a website designed to record and automatically transcribe interviews, as they happen, then deliver the completed transcription and media file to you.

How do I get my recordings and transcripts?

Your recording and transcripts are automatically delivered to your e-mail and added to your Google Drive. You can also access them in the Alice app and on this website.

Who’s it for?

Alice is for the writer or journalist who needs to interview a source, review a solid transcript, extract a quote, and then write on deadline -- and can’t have anything screw up.

What is the format of the recordings and transcripts?

Recordings made from the app are delivered as an MP3. The transcript is in the body of the e-mail and attached as a DOCX file. The media file and the transcript, with an integrated player, are also available in your account at aliceapp.ai/recordings.

Which file formats do you support for uploading?

Alice suports both audio and video files, able to transcribe many different file formats. Here's the full list.
Audio:3ga, aac, ac3, aif, aiff, alac, amr, ape, au, dss, flac, m4a, m4b, m4p, mp3, mpga, ogg, oga, mogg, opus, qcp, tta, voc, wav, wv.
Video: webm, MTS, M2TS, TS, mov, mp4, m4p, m4v, mxf.

Which languages do you support?

You can use the Alice recorder in any language. Alice is strong at detecting and transcribing these languages:

English
Dutch
Finnish
French
German
Hindi
Italian
Polish
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Ukranian
Vietnamese

How could I find my recordings by date?

You can use complex dates to find your recordings. Try things like 2023 December 19, or December 19, or even just December.

Can you transcribe dual channel recordings?

Yes. You do get a cleaner transcript if both speakers are on their own channel. They do take slightly longer to transcribe, since we run the algorithm on each channel, technically making the recording twice as long. The good news is, it still only consumes the same number of transcription minutes as if the recording was a single channel, i.e. the duration of the recording.

Why doesn't the iOS app have a pause button?

So you don't need to move your head to look at your device to pause recording. This avoids distractions during an intimate conversation, and helps you record, pause, resume while driving or walking without bumping into something unintentionally. A simple swipe gesture lets you achieve the same result.

What are bookmarks?

If the subject is saying something interesting you want to find easily later, discreetly double-tap the app and Alice will capture a "bookmark" in the recording. The Alice app is currently the only way to add a bookmark to a recording. Bookmarks are indicated in the transcript with -!-. This simple text symbol allows you to find them easily in a program of your choice, from e-mail to Scrivener to Word to Google Docs without dependency on Alice to find a highlighted section. The recording webpage also shows bookmarks neatly below the media player so you can seek to the media and corresponding transcript quickly.

How much does it cost?

Alice is quite inexpensive. Between 3 and 8 cents per transcribed minute, depending on your package. Here's the pricing page. Plus, if you are lucky enough to be able to expense transcribing, well then we’ve got a receipt for you.

Is this another subscription service?

Nope. It's pay-as-you-go. With Alice you pay for what you use and no more. Here's the pricing page.

Service X transcribes for free! Why shouldn’t I use that instead?

Businesses need some way to make money. On the Internet "free” means the right to spy on you, and sell your data. Furthermore, this data we’re talking about is not about the fact that you 'liked' Game of Thrones on Facebook. It’s your exclusive interviews, it’s your raw reporting, it’s what makes your byline valuable and respected. Do you want those interviews "monetized" by someone else? Make no mistake, sooner or later, Service X will sell you down the river.

But Service X says they would never do that.

Service X keeps all your interviews on their servers. Why do you think they designed it that way?

Why don't you transcribe the entire interview in real-time?

We decided not to, for now. We certainly can, we have the tech - you've seen it work for recording titles. First, it's distracting to see a bunch of words popping up on your phone when you're in the middle of a conversation, or capturing some thoughts. When we tried it out we also saw that it drains your device battery, reduces the quality of the transcript, takes a lot more network bandwidth as well as more storage space on your device, and it also ends up costing a bit more. Until sufficient people ask for this we're refraining from enabling this.

What happens if you get subpoenaed to share recordings or activity?

Alice is deeply committed to protecting the privacy and security of our users. When it comes to handling requests for user data, audio files, and transcriptions from law enforcement or private investigators, our stance is clear and principled: we have nothing to share, nor would we, unless compelled by a court of law.

We respect the work of law enforcement and understand the importance of legal processes. However, we firmly believe in the right to privacy for individuals who choose to use Alice. Our platform is designed with privacy at its core. We only require an email address to use our services, and importantly, this email doesn't have to be verifiable by any form of ID. This approach means we cannot reliably identify users by name, phone number, or any personal identifiers, as an email address could belong to anyone.

While most services disallow disposable email addresses, Alice does not. Many of our customers use untraceable email addresses to preserve anonymity.

Moreover, Alice employs a policy of hard-deleting data. Once a recording is deleted from our system, it is irrecoverably erased, ensuring that users' privacy is maintained even after they decide to remove their data from our platform.

In situations where we are legally mandated to share data, a rigorous process is followed to protect our users' privacy. First, the law enforcement agency would need to provide a valid court order. Following this, we would require the customer in question to verify ownership of their account through access to the associated email address. This step is crucial as it helps safeguard against unauthorized access and ensures that any data requested pertains to the correct individual. Only after these conditions are met, and it is confirmed that the requested data exists within Alice, would we proceed with sharing any information, strictly in compliance with the legal order.

Our commitment to user privacy and data security is unwavering. Alice's policies are designed to ensure that our users can trust in the confidentiality and integrity of their data while using our services.

Is Alice private? Secure?

We don't ask for your name.
We don't require your real email address, nor your phone number.
We don't use passwords to login, to avoid easy or re-usable passwords. The login process is Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) by design.
We don't track your location.
We don't ask for access to your contacts.
We don't ask you to allow push notifications.
We don't store your credit card information in our database.
We don't use tools like Google Analytics to track your behavior.
We don't drop any cookies from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, et cetera (i.e. any social network) to track browsing habits.
Here's the depravity with which these guys operate, we don't want anything to do with them: https://www.consumerreports.org/electronics-computers/privacy/tiktok-tracks-you-across-the-web-even-if-you-dont-use-app-a4383537813/
We aren't on social networks. Our focus is on the product and on communicating directly with you via email, text or phone. We are not into the game of getting "likes".
We don't prompt you to give Alice a five-star rating on the App Store.
We don't annoy you with newsletter signup popups.
We don't serve you ads.
We don't sell your data, or any data for that matter.
Alice is only listening when it's obviously recording. Otherwise the mic is off by default.

What happens if my phone gets shot with a bullet during a critical interview?

Stay safe and bring us that story. You'll have everything that you recorded in your inbox until the moment the bullet hit the phone.

Do transcription minutes expire?

No.

Can I transfer my account?

Yes. Email me alice@aliceapp.ai

Can I pay for someone else? Can I buy Alice for my team? Can my group share minutes?

Yes. Yes. Yes. Login, and head to the settings page. You will see a big button to "Share Purchased Transcription Time". You can easily purchase in bulk, and share those minutes with others. All you need is their email address and they don't even need to be Alice users. You will also be able to view a neat table of all minutes you've shared, along with a note about it.

Can I gift Alice to my niece/nephew/grandchild who just graduated from journalism school?

Yes.

Can I expense this?

Most people do, but best check with your company. You'll get a receipt for each purchase.