Does summarizing send my transcript to the cloud?

No. AddSub performs 100% of summarization locally on your Mac's Neural Engine using Apple Intelligence and language-agnostic neural scoring. No servers, no uploads, and zero cloud API fees.

Can I summarize foreign language videos in English?

Yes. When watching Japanese, Spanish, German, or other foreign audio, AddSub live-translates the transcript first, allowing the summarizer to produce clean takeaways directly in your native language.

When should I click Summarize during a meeting or video?

You can click Summarize at any time. For best results, let at least 2–3 minutes of discussion accumulate so the AI has enough context to identify the core takeaways and decisions.

Can I export the summary alongside the full transcript?

Yes. You can copy the generated summary card directly to your clipboard or export the full timestamped transcript as an SRT or text file.

How to Summarize Transcripts with On-Device AI on macOS

The short answer: Instead of reading through thousands of words from a 45-minute lecture or a 1-hour international meeting, AddSub’s Summarize feature (✨) distills your live transcript into structured key takeaways, decisions, and action items in seconds — completely offline and 100% on-device.

Why Summarize Live Transcripts?

Real-time subtitles are great for following along second-by-second, but when a meeting ends or a complex lecture wraps up, you don’t want to re-read a 10,000-word transcript. You need the core signal:

Executive Key Points — What was the main conclusion or core thesis?
Action Items & Decisions — Who agreed to what, and what are the next steps?
Language Barrier Reduction — When watching a fast-paced foreign video (e.g. a Japanese tech keynote or German documentary), an instant summary helps you verify your understanding in your native language.
Zero-Friction Note Taking — Forget frantic manual typing during video calls. Let AddSub transcribe in the background, then generate structured notes when you’re done.

The Privacy Advantage: 100% On-Device Summarization

Most cloud transcription tools (Otter, Fireflies, Zoom AI Companion, ChatGPT plugins) require uploading full audio streams or sensitive transcripts to remote cloud servers. For confidential team meetings, financial discussions, legal consultations, or private research, cloud uploads create security and compliance risks.

AddSub takes a fundamentally different architecture:

Apple Intelligence Integration — Uses local on-device FoundationModels on Apple Silicon macOS.
Offline Extractive Fallback — Employs term-frequency sentence scoring that works across 99 languages with zero internet connection.
Zero API Bills & Zero Data Retention — Your conversations never touch external infrastructure or train third-party AI models.

How to Summarize Transcripts in 4 Steps

1. Play Your Audio or Join a Call

Start any video in Safari, Chrome, QuickTime, or VLC, or join a live call in Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, or Discord. AddSub automatically captures the system loopback audio.

2. Live Transcription & Diarization

As people speak, AddSub transcribes the speech live and assigns persistent speaker badges (S1, S2, S3…). If the content is in a foreign language, live translation converts it into your target language.

3. Click the Summarize Button (✨)

Hover your mouse over the bottom of the floating Liquid Glass overlay to reveal the quick toolbar. Click the Summarize button (sparkles icon).

4. Review & Copy Key Takeaways

A sleek glass card floats above the timeline presenting:

A concise summary paragraph.
Bulleted key points and conclusions.
Speaker-attributed action items.

Click Copy to paste the structured notes straight into Apple Notes, Notion, Obsidian, Slack, or email.

Best Practices for the Best Summaries

Let context accumulate — Clicking summarize after 10 seconds only summarizes those 10 seconds. For comprehensive meeting notes, summarize at key milestone breaks or at the end of the session.
Enable Speaker Diarization — Knowing who said what helps the summarizer correctly attribute decisions (e.g., distinguishing client requirements from engineering estimates).
Use Bilingual Overlay Mode — If learning a language, keep the original transcript visible alongside the translated summary to cross-reference technical terminology.

Try On-Device AI Summaries — Free for 7 Days

Experience private, real-time transcription and instant AI summaries on your Mac. No credit card required, no subscriptions.

Download AddSub for macOS