How to Record an iPhone Conversation

Rashida Beal
Jan 13, 2023

Have you ever wanted to record a phone call between yourself and another person? Maybe it was to remember the steps of a project you are working on. Perhaps it is simply a conversation between you and a long-time friend that you want to cherish.

No matter the purpose of wanting to record, the growth of technology has made it easier than ever to record phone conversations. Keep reading to learn some methods for how to record phone conversations on iPhone devices and what to do with the audio after.

Why Record a Phone Conversation?

As previously mentioned, there are several purposes for wanting to record audio through a phone conversation. From personal reasons to business endeavors, there are many helpful reasons to use this method. Here are a few ideas:

Interviews and Q&A Sessions

Whether working on a podcast, documentary, blog or another project, you may interview people to learn more about a certain event or topic.

When creating a podcast, you can directly insert the recorded call, which is extremely beneficial.

As you ask questions of your interviewee, you may forget an exact aspect of the conversation that you want to refer to later on. Having a recording allows one to go back to that point in the conversation so it can be noted in writing. It also allows you to add more dynamic portions to your project, as listeners/viewers can hear directly from the source.

Accountability

If you want to show a friend, romantic partner, co-worker, or other individual behaviors that are making you upset or have them recall something that they said, having them listen to their own words can help them take accountability for their actions.

It can also make keeping on task with long-term projects with other individuals easier as you can go back to audio clips to make sure of everyone’s tasks and keep a continuous record of what tasks are completed and which are still unfinished.

Legal Protection

Recorded conversations can act as legal documents that can be used as evidence in court. These can include threats or unsavory words someone is saying. Another ideas is to record verbal contracts that can be proven through the recording.

Using a Voice Recording App

It’s important to note that the options for recording phone calls on iPhone devices differ from Androids. Apple doesn’t allow third-party software access to the microphone while the phone app is in use, the apps need to use a recording line.

You may wonder how to record audio on iPhone during a call. The app must call in as a recording line during the call. Once the call connects, simply merge the call into the recording line. In essence, this creates a three-way call that can act as a recorder.

It may seem complicated, but by following these steps, it is easy to see how easy it can be.

Download an iOS Call Recorder App

To record your iPhone conversations, you’ll need a call recording app. The app store on your device contains several options.

One option is Google Voice, which provides a user with a free phone number that will directly call through the app. One benefit of this app is that it allows phone calls to be switched to different devices while the conversation is ongoing.

Google Voice is only an incoming call option so make sure that the setting for call recording is selected first.

Once the recording app is downloaded, make sure to input the correct phone number and register the app. Once an account is established, the recording of incoming and outgoing phone calls can occur.

Record an Outgoing Call

To record iPhone conversations when you’re initiating the call, tap on your recording app to open and begin.

Once the app is open, tap “Start Recorded Call”
Tap “Outgoing Call”
Enter the phone number you wish to call
Follow the prompts to call Rev’s recorder
Tap “Add Call” to dial the phone number of your call recipient
Once the call connects, tap “Merge Calls” to merge the call with the recorder and begin recording
To end the recording, end the call normally

Record an Incoming Call

Most call-recording apps provide the option to record incoming calls. If using the Google Voice app, follow these steps:

Answer a call to your free Google Voice phone number.
To start recording, tap 4. All participants hear an announcement that the recording has begun.
To stop recording, tap 4 again. All participants hear an announcement that the recording has ended.
Hanging up also ends the recording.

Recordings are displayed under the Voicemail tab.

After selecting a recording, several options will be displayed. You can play, share, or export them. Title the audio files for easy organization. You can also trim or delete them.

Recording a Phone Conversation on iPhone Without Recording App

The easiest way to record a phone call without a recording app is to have the phone call on speaker phone and use another device to record the audio. This can be any other device that has a voice recorder.

Simply open the voice memos app on the second device and hit the red “record” button to begin recording. The voice memo will save the conversation as long as the audio is loud enough to be recorded.

Some call recorder services allow one to pay to record calls, however, depending on the amount of usage and duration of the calls, it can get pretty expensive. Also, this method would record outgoing calls and not incoming ones.

Anything Else to Know About Recording Phone Calls?

It is important to note that each state has different views and laws regarding the recording of conversations, including phone calls. These usually fall into two categories: one-party consent and two-party consent (also known as all-party consent).

One-party consent means that someone does not need to be notified that they are being recorded by another individual. For example, you can choose whether or not to inform someone you are talking to that you are recording the conversation.

Two-party consent means that all people involved in the conversation must consent to be recorded for recordings to begin. If consent is not established or someone records after someone does not consent to be recorded, it could lead to legal problems.

If you want to learn more about consent in recording phone conversations and the laws regarding the topic in your specific state, research your state’s laws and keep up to date with the legislation being proposed.

Making the Most of Recorded Conversations with Maestra

While there are many benefits to recording a phone conversation, one reason to consider trying it out is that it is now easier than ever. It is also just as easy to turn those recorded audio conversations into typed-out text with Maestra’s transcription software.

Using a human transcriber for audio can be expensive and sometimes inaccurate, but Maestra’s software is quick, simple, and easy to use.

Or even better, you can transcribe the audio of the conversation to a text through a transcription service. Maestra can offer you the opportunity to use our transcription software to transcribe any audio file you record. It provides you with accurate transcriptions in real-time while still allowing the ability to edit the transcription.

Maestra-generated transcriptions also work for podcast audio. You can upload the transcription as a blog post itself and be uploaded as a blog post or include it with the podcast for listeners to view while listening.

If you want to learn more about what Maestra’s audio-to-text converter tools can do for you, explore other features, or sign up for a demo, contact Maestra today!