Submit iOS meeting notes to Obsidian using local AI transcription

This workflow enables seamless, privacy-first capture of meeting notes from your iPhone. It pairs with an iOS Shortcut that leverages Apple’s on-device transcription from the Voice Memos app and optionally passes the output to ChatGPT or a local AI model for summarization.

Who it's for

• Anyone who wants fast, secure note capture on iOS
• Professionals (e.g., lawyers, therapists) who require on-device processing for privacy
• Obsidian users who want to sync mobile notes via Google Drive

What it does

1. You record a voice memo in the iOS Voice Memos app.
2. The Shortcut transcribes it locally (no API or cloud involved).
3. Optionally, a summarization step is done via ChatGPT or a replaceable local model.
4. The data is sent to an n8n webhook, where it’s converted into a .md file.
5. The Markdown file is uploaded to a Google Drive folder synced with your Obsidian vault.

Key Benefits

• 🧠 Keeps your meeting notes private — no cloud APIs required
• 🗃️ Easily searchable in Obsidian as structured Markdown files
• 🛠️ Fully local if you swap out ChatGPT for a local model (can be less stable)

Limitations

• Transcriptions longer than ~1 hour may fail or produce unstable results.
• Some setup required to replace ChatGPT with a local model in the Shortcut.

Setup

• Install and configure the iOS Shortcut
• Replace the ChatGPT step in the Shortcut if you need full local-only processing
• Point the webhook in the Shortcut to your n8n instance
• Make sure your Obsidian vault is synced with the Google Drive folder used in the workflow
• Update any of the prompts in the iOS shortcut to ensure its personalized.

⚡ Pro Tip: Use a Set node early on to clearly define the filename, title, and text so it's easier to modify this for other note types (e.g., journals, therapy sessions, etc.)