12 Best Voice Recording Apps for iPhone 2021
In the modern world, it’s vitally important to have a capable audio recorder close to hand. Having a voice recorder installed on your smartphone can help you capture business meetings, interviews, lecturers and save your own spontaneous genius ideas. Whatever your needs are, bad sound quality can easily ruin your efforts. Thus, it’s essential to find a reliable voice recorder solution.
In-Built iPhone Recorder
iPhone comes with an in-built recorder called Voice Memos that turns your iOS device into a portable audio recorder. It lets you easily capture voice notes on the go, edit the recorded files locally in the app, and sync across all your Apple devices. Additionally, the app makes finding the files easier by embedding the geolocation to the memos.
Though the app is free, convenient, and offers multiple additional features, the recording quality is far from fantastic. What’s more, it offers few recording formats and file sharing features are somewhat limited. It also doesn’t offer advanced features; for example, there’s no option to convert voice to text. As you see, though Voice Memos is a free recorder, it won’t meet everybody’s needs. Thus, let’s go through some other good voice recorders for iPhone in 2021.
Voice Recorders: Pros & Cons
While testing all these apps, I’ve noticed that some of them have similar pros and cons that you should pay attention to. The main advantages of the 3-rd party recorders for iPhone include unlimited duration, recording in the background, multiple audio formats, transparent quality, file sharing option, and the speech-to-text feature.
As for the disadvantages, some of such apps don’t offer any online manuals and FAQ. Thus, it’s hard to apply accurate settings for clear recording, and non-tech-savvies just give up using them after the first try. Additionally, many voice recorders offer additional features for an extra cost and sometimes it’s not clear how much you must pay for this or that feature. Finally, free recorders may contain ads, which is really annoying. Now let’s take a more in-depth insight into every tested app and check if it’s suitable for our needs.
The Best Voice Recorders for iPhone 2021
#1 REKK — Voice Recorder
When it comes to making voice notes on the go, REKK is the best solution by far. This app keeps recording in the background even if the iPhone screen is locked. Additionally, REKK provides audio files in multiple formats, including AIFF, MP4, M4A, and WAV. All audio files are of high quality and can be easily transferred through instant messengers and social apps. REKK is a perfect solution for those who need to transcribe recorded texts since it offers an in-built speech-to-text feature.
Pros:
- free of charge;
- no limits on the number and duration of your records;
- an ability to change the format and quality of your voice memos;
- a convenient file manager;
- a minimalistic design.
Cons:
- there’s no option to cut or edit your records.
#2 Voice Recorder — Recording App
Another reliable iPhone voice recorder for personal and business needs. With this app, you can easily capture and share lectures, work meetings, interviews, and speeches. Besides, you can easily trim or cut your recordings locally on the app. Like REKK, Voice Recorder supports 4 formats and lets you share your voice notes with a few taps. The app also allows scheduling voice recording in advance. A convenient player lets you stop, pause and change speed.
Pros:
- Wi-Fi sharing (you can transfer records to your desktop without cable connections);
- easy-to-use editor;
- high quality;
- file-sharing via social apps;
- an option to save records to the camera roll.
Cons:
- no option to transcribe records;
- offers in-app purchases.
#3 Voice Record Pro
This is a professional recorder that lets you capture voice memos and on-site sounds with configurable quality. The app is suitable for users who need to share their recordings on YouTube, social networks, and instant messengers. Additionally, Voice Recorder Pro allows sharing of your files through GoogleDrive, Dropbox, FTP server, and Bluetooth. The app has 2 versions (standard and pro) that differ in features and available recording formats.
Pros:
- the PRO version allows recording transcription;
- an ability to apply effects to your records (echo, distortion, volume, gain, etc.)
- an option to convert your records;
- password-protected.
Cons:
- offers in-app purchases;
- complicated navigation.
#4 Voice Recorder & Audio Editor
A voice recorder for iPhone and iPad that won’t miss a second. The utility allows recording as long as you need and as many times as you want. Moreover, it’s pretty easy to start recording because you can set up #D touch for recording from the home screen. Any note can be uploaded to Dropbox, OneDrive, GoogleDrive, etc. It’s also easy to share records through Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, and other apps.
Pros:
- high quality;
- passcode-protected records;
- changeable playback speed;
- audio editor;
- an option to record phone calls for an additional cost.
Cons:
- no option to convert records into the text;
- expensive subscriptions.
#5 Voice Recorder — Voz
Voz Recorder takes 5th place on our list of the best voice recorder apps for iPhone. Be it your voice, song, lecture, or meeting, the app will record it and save your audio in the device’s internal storage. So all your vital records will always be by hand. As usual, you can share your notes with friends via social networking channels. Voz records surrounding sounds even if the screen is off.
Pros:
- free;
- recording in the background;
- an ability to share records;
- live audio spectrum analyzer;
- intuitive interface.
Cons:
- few supported audio formats;
- no option to convert records into text.
#6 Voice Recorder — Audio Record
With this recorder for iOS, you’ll enjoy recording, playback, and audio editing. The app captures sound within 10–100 meters around you and records it with codec noise reduction technology. It supports multiple quality options and WAV, CAF, M4A formats. The app keeps recording in the background and continues recording after a phone call or other interruption automatically.
Pros:
- convenient player;
- sharing through e-mail and Dropbox;
- supports multiple languages;
- compatible with iPhone and iPad;
- supports an external input device.
Cons:
- may capture background noise;
- no speech-to-text feature.
#7 Mp3 Recorder: Voice Recorder
An intuitive utility for making voice notes, speeches, and small genius ideas. The recording starts with 1 tap and doesn’t stop in the background mode. The app supports multiple sound quality options and input channel modes (Stereo, Mono, Jstereo). Once your voice is recorded, you can upload your audio files to any supported cloud storage or save them to your Mac via iTunes. The player offers adjustable play controls for convenient playback.
Pros:
- an option to save records to any device;
- multiple output settings;
- no limits on recording duration;
- high quality;
- simple user interface.
Cons:
- additional features are paid;
- records are listed in the app in random order.
#8 Voice Recorder HD
Featured in the New York Times, Voice Recorder HD is widely-used by audio professionals, journalists, lecturers, students and anyone else who needs to record voice memos. The duration of the recording is unlimited (the developers tested up to 21-hour recording). Besides, you can share your records via e-mail and upload them to Dropbox. If the recording is interrupted by a phone call, it automatically restarts when you hang up.
Pros:
- mono and stereo modes;
- USB file transfer;
- supports external mic to record long-distance sound;
- offers AirDrop sharing between two iOS devices;
- the records are playable on any OS.
Cons:
- many features must be purchased separately (for example, the playback speed option);
- absence of a free version;
- doesn’t offer operating instructions.
#9 Voice Recorder — Audio Memo
A free recorder for iPhone with multiple handy features. Journalists and students will find the app extremely helpful since it allows adding marks when recording and then playing your voice memos beginning with the marked seconds. What’s more, when the recording is suddenly interrupted, it is saved automatically. You can also share records via SMS and e-mail.
Pros:
- high-quality records;
- password-protected;
- supports multi-format output;
- free;
- easy-to-use.
Cons:
- in-app ads;
- few audio formats.
#10 AVR X PRO — Voice Recorder
AVR X PRO is a paid voice recorder suitable for business people, school personnel, experts, and students. The utility supports 3 formats (MP3, WAV, M4A) and offers unlimited recording time. Additionally, you can add descriptions to your records, play them in multiple media, and control the file size while you’re recording. Plus, it’s possible to restart recording after an unexpected phone call.
Pros:
- Wi-Fi file-sharing;
- multiple playback speeds;
- an ability to cut and trim your records;
- folder management for your convenience;
- crystal clear records.
Cons:
- absence of online manual;
- an inconvenient search of files.
#11 Smart Voice Recorder — Offline
With Smart Voice Recorder, you can easily record notes and transcribe them to text on your iPhone. The speech-to-text feature supports more than 15 languages. The transcription accuracy depends on the device, environment, and other factors, so it may be not 100% correct. The utility also lets you import any other audio file and transcribe it in the app. The Pro license offers unlimited and background recording.
Pros:
- a quick search to find the necessary records;
- works offline;
- offers a free version;
- good quality.
Cons:
- limited features in the free version;
- according to user reviews, when you stop the recording, it automatically plays the recording, making it annoying to use around people.
#12 Voice Recorder — Audio Editor
Last but not least, this app is the ultimate solution for recording on iPhone. The utility allows to record surrounding sounds and edit them with advanced editing tools like Trim, Split, Insert, Copy/Cut/Paste, Join, Insert, and Mix. Other than that, the app supports speech-to-text for long recordings and offers a voice changing function (speed and pitch). A convenient file manager and an attractive design make the app a delight to use.
Pros:
- noise reduction;
- clear recordings;
- speech transcription;
- advanced audio editor;
- file sharing.
Cons:
- poor support;
- no instructions.