WAV to AAC on iPhone

Safari on iOS 15.4 and newer runs the converter completely, on the phone itself. There is no App Store download — and no converter app quietly uploading your recordings to its own servers. WAV files convert to AAC here the same way — nothing to install.

If the file is in Voice Memos or Photos, tap the share icon and choose 'Save to Files' first — that makes it visible to Safari's file picker. The converted file lands in Files (Downloads by default), from where you can share it into Messages, Mail, or any app. Your WAV comes out as AAC, ready to use straight away.

The WAV files people convert on an iPhone almost always originate from recording sessions, DAW bounces, and anything captured uncompressed, and WAV is uncompressed, so files are enormous — an hour of audio runs past 600 MB — which is precisely why they're stuck on the phone until you convert them to AAC.

Expect roughly 8× smaller: WAV runs about 10 MB per minute, AAC about 1.2. Because WAV is uncompressed, this is the ideal encode: the encoder sees the complete original signal, so the AAC is the cleanest that audio can produce.

WAV to AAC is a common iPhone snag specifically because WAV is uncompressed, so files are enormous — an hour of audio runs past 600 MB, and AAC is what your other apps and devices expect. Apple gives you no built-in way to convert audio at all, so the App Store is full of converter apps — many upload your recording to their own servers, show ads against it, and want a subscription. Doing it in Safari means the WAV file is processed on the phone itself and stays there, which matters when it is a voice memo, an interview, or a recording of your own family.

Your WAV file never leaves the handset. For iPhone that is the whole argument: recording sessions are usually personal, and the App Store alternative frequently ships them to a company's servers as the price of a free conversion. Processing the WAV-to-AAC conversion on-device means there is no server to trust in the first place.

WAV is the format of recording sessions. It plays where it was made, but WAV is uncompressed, so files are enormous — an hour of audio runs past 600 MB. AAC is the destination because it plays essentially everywhere — HLS streaming segments and every ordinary phone, browser, and player. Storage-wise you're looking at about 8× less: 10 MB per minute becomes roughly 1.2. Because WAV is uncompressed, encoding to AAC here is the clean, single-generation case — the encoder sees the whole original signal, so this AAC is as good as the format gets.