9 Best Voice Recorder Apps for All Devices in 2024

Key takeaways:

• When choosing a voice recorder app consider the audio quality and format, ease of use, and storage. 
• The best overall voice recorder is Riverside. 
• The best voice recorder for Android is Easy Voice Recorder, and for iPhone, try Voice Memos. 
• The best voice recorder app for desktops is Audacity.
• The best voice recorders for transcription are Otter.ai and Rev. 

People use voice recording apps for different reasons. Some do it to capture ideas and thoughts, others to record interviews and meetings, and still others to create podcasts and other content. 

Whatever the reason, there’s a good voice recorder app for whatever use case you’re looking for. We’ve sifted through the noise and handpicked the top 9 apps that cater to every need. Read on to find out what they are!

9 Best voice recorder apps for 2024

What to consider when choosing a voice recording app

If you’re looking for a voice recording app, there are a few features you should consider when making your choice.

Audio quality and format

Look for apps that offer high-quality audio recording. A sample rate of 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz is a good option. For voice, look for a bit depth of at least 16 bits. 

Also, make sure that the app can record in formats that meet your requirements. WAV, MP3, AAC, or FLAC are popular formats. WAV has the highest quality and is for professional use, while MP3 or AAC use less storage and are more suitable for everyday use and sharing.

User interface and ease of use

Voice recorders shouldn’t be complicated to use. And most aren’t; they usually have a big “record” button that’s hard to miss. But you should also make sure their additional features, like editing or noise reduction, aren’t too complicated either.

Cloud storage and backup

Cloud storage permanently saves your files, so you don’t have to worry about your device conking out and losing important recordings. It also saves a lot of space on your device.

Editing

Editing offers various benefits, such as removing unwanted parts, adding markers or timestamps, enhancing audio quality, eliminating noise, and more. 

Additional, good-to-have features

• Background recording: Allows recording while using other apps or when the screen is locked.
• Transcription services: Some apps offer built-in speech-to-text conversion.
• Multitrack recordings: If you’re recording more than one person, it’s good to get separate recordings from each person. This makes editing easier, as each vocal track can be edited and mixed independently.
• Noise reduction: Especially when you’re recording out of the studio, built-in noise reduction can be a nice feature to have.

Best overall voice recording tool: Riverside

If you’re after high-quality audio recordings, then you should try Riverside. Riverside’s ideal for podcasters, interviews or meetings where you want crisp and clear audio. But, it works just as well for notetaking as it has AI transcription and even automatic summaries. 

You get uncompressed, 48 kHz WAV audio files. Everything records directly on your device and then uploads to the cloud as you record. This means high-resolution no matter your internet connection. 

Need to collaborate with guests across continents? No problem. Riverside allows you to easily invite and record up to 8 remote participants and provides individual audio tracks for each person.

After recording, go to our editor to touch up your audio with AI audio enhancement. You can remove background noise, fix up long silences and cut out filler words - all in a few quick clicks. Plus, you can trim your recording with our  text-based audio editor. It’s as easy as deleting words in your recording transcript.

Key features:

• High-quality audio: Record in 48 kHz/16-bit lossless audio (and 4K video if you want too!)‍
• Simple interface: Despite having plenty of features, Riverside’s interface is easy to navigate.‍
• Record and edit in the same place: Get a full editing suite to create professional-level audio without downloading, uploading, or additional fiddling. ‍
• Multitrack recording: Records each persons’s audio (and video) in separate tracks for easy editing.‍
• AI-powered audio enhancement: Remove background noise and normalize sound levels with a click.‍
• Text-based editing: Edit videos by editing the text in the transcript.‍
• Remove pauses and silences: Cut silent audio at the tap of a button.
• ‍AI transcriptions: Highly accurate transcriptions are available in up to 100 languages. They’re also organized by speaker. ‍
• AI summaries: Automatically generate summaries, chapters, titles, and takeaways. Great for content creators.

Best voice recorder for Android: Easy Voice Recorder

Easy Voice Recorder is a straightforward recording app. True to its name, it doesn’t have fancy features cluttering its interface – just open it and press the red record button. 

The free version even allows you to trim recordings, but you'll have to watch a 30-second unskippable ad first. If that's annoying, the paid version offers ad-free trimming, plus features like skip silence and volume boost. 

Easy Voice Recorder can also continue to record even when you’re using other apps or the screen is off. And it has lots of great features, both in the free and paid versions.

Key features:

• High-quality audio: Record at up to 48 kHz/16-bit audio resolution.
• Record in various formats: Record in PCM, MP4, or AMR in the free version. Record in MP3, FLAC, and AAC in the paid version.
• Trim recordings: Trim recordings and remove unwanted sections.
• Organize recordings: Organize recordings with folders.
• Cloud upload: Upload your recording to Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive.
• Widget and notification bar recording: Record from widgets or from the notification bar.
• Remove silences: Skip silences by setting a decibel level threshold to activate the recording.
• Playback features: Easily adjust playback speed when reviewing or transcribing content.
• Noise and echo reduction: Reduce background noise and echo to recording quality. (Paid version only.)

Best voice recorder for iPhone: Voice Memos

Apple Voice Memos is a handy recording app that comes standard on all Apple devices. It's minimalist in design, but it records in very high quality and is packed with a surprising number of features. And it allows you to record while your iPhone screen is off or you’re using other apps.

Voice Memos also features a built-in editor that allows you to trim, delete, or replace parts of the recording. You can also enhance audio with a single tap.

Key features:

• High-quality audio: Record in up to 48 kHz/24-bit resolution.
• iCloud support: Save your recordings in iCloud.
• Playback speed: Increase or decrease playback speed by varying degrees.
• Skip silences: Automatically skip over gaps in audio.
• External microphone support: Compatible with external microphones to help produce higher quality recordings.

Best voice recorder app with noise cancellation: Dolby On

Dolby On is a free mobile app that serves as a high-quality audio and video recorder and live streaming tool.

It uses Dolby's advanced audio processing technology to significantly improve the sound quality of your recordings. With Dolby On, expect your recordings to sound clearer, richer, and more professional, even when recorded on your phone. (In fact, you can toggle off the “Dolby On” feature to see the difference for yourself!)

The app also has noise reduction tools and easy controls for treble, bass, and mids. Plus, there's a built-in editor to trim any unwanted bits of your recording.

Key features:

• Studio-quality sound: Record in up to 48 kHz/24-bit resolution. 
• Automatic audio enhancement: Dolby’s technology automatically enhances your recordings by applying noise reduction, equalization, and other audio processing techniques. 
• Video recording: Record videos and pair them with Dolby-processed sound.
• Customizable audio effects: Adjust your sound with presets such as “Warm,” “Bright,” and “Natural,” or apply effects like fade in and fade out.
• Audio import and editing: Import external audio files and enhance them with Dolby’s tools.
• Live streaming: Live stream enhanced audio directly from the app to platforms like Facebook and Twitch.

Best voice recorders with AI transcription: Otter.ai

Want a simple-to-use voice recorder that gives decent transcriptions of recordings immediately? Then Otter.ai is your app.

Otter’s transcription uses AI speech-to-text, allowing transcription to happen as words are spoken. It’s surprisingly accurate, and it’s also able to recognize and label different speakers.

The platform is also collaboration-friendly. You can share, edit, and collaborate on transcripts in real-time, making it a handy tool for business environments, journalists, and researchers. Otter.ai also integrates seamlessly with video conferencing platforms like Zoom and Google Meet, making it an easy win in business settings.

Key features:

• Standard audio resolution: Record in 16 kHz/16-bit audio resolution. This is adequate for many business applications.
• Automatic transcription: Almost accurate transcription that can also handle multiple accents like Canadian, Chinese, Russian, Indian, Scottish, and more.
• Speaker identification: Can distinguish between speakers in a conversation and label their transcribed speed accordingly.
• Editable transcript: Edit transcripts post-recording so you can refine the text.
• Custom vocabulary: Add custom vocabulary for jargon, acronyms, and proper names.
• Search and keyword filtering: Search recordings by keywords, speaker, or date so you can find specific information.
• AI chat: Ask questions and get answers on your voice/meeting transcriptions.

Best voice recorders with human transcription services: Rev

Rev is similar to Otter. The main difference between the two is that in addition to automatic transcripts, Rev also has human transcriptionists. While AI transcription is quite accurate, human transcription is better for heavy accents or where accuracy is vital- for example, in legal records.

The downside, of course, is that you have to wait up to 12 hours for human-created transcript. Transcription - whether AI or human generated - also comes at a cost per minute, although the Rev recorder itself is free to use.

Key features:

• Quality audio recordings: Record in up to 44.1 kHz/16-bit resolution.
• Basic trim: Basic trim feature to shorten your recordings.
• Accurate, fast human transcription: Transcription with 99%+ accuracy. Files under 30 min are typically transcribed in less than 12 hours, often much faster.
• Highlights accuracy issues: Rev's AI tool flags any parts of your audio it's unsure about as “low confidence,” which helps you pinpoint sections of the transcript that may need your attention during editing.
• Sharing & collaborative editing: Share your transcript with others, giving them control over read and write access.
• Comments and notes: Create notes within the transcripts by using the comment or note box feature.
• Cloud storage: Export to Dropbox, Evernote, Google Drive, iCloud Drive, and more.

Best voice recorder for customization: Voice Record Pro

Voice Record Pro is the Swiss Army Knife of voice recorders. The app is filled with options to customize your voice recording every which way possible. 

You can add effects, filters, reverb, and more to your recordings. During recording, you can choose the bit rate, sample rate, bit depth, etc. Other out-of-the-box options include the ability to leave notes and photos on your recordings as well as add bookmarks. 

Key features:

• High-quality audio: Record in up to 48 kHz/24-bit audio.
• Supports multiple formats: Can record in M4A, AAC, MP3.
• Editing: Simple and advanced trimming functions.
• Add notes and photos: Add notes and photos to your recording.
• Cloud integration: Integrates with popular cloud apps like Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Box Cloud, Amazon s3, and iCloud.
• File management: Organize recordings and add color tags to files. Also lets you add date, time, location, and address.
• Apply effects: Including echo, volume and gain, reverb, pitch, speed, distortion.
• Change sound quality: Choose between low, medium, and high recording options to vary recording quality.

Best voice recorder for audio journaling: CocoonWeaver

Just like its name, CocoonWeaver is an odd app on this list. It’s more of a voice journal than a standard recording tool. But it’s perfect for jotting down a creative thought in the moment it comes to you. 

While there are many apps for recording voice notes, CocoonWeaver encourages you to “self-talk” into your phone. With the help of Siri commands, you can run the app mostly hands-free. This means that if you wake up from a dream you want to capture, you can record it on the app without lifting a finger.

Key features:

• Great sound quality: Clear sound quality, likely at a standard 44.1 kHz/16-bit resolution.
• Journal-centric: Great for brainstorming, dream journaling, brain dumping, and self-reflection.
• Transcription: Decent transcription with surprisingly good punctuation.
• Hands-free operation: Record with voice commands even when the app isn’t open.
• Beautiful, customizable interface: Create your custom home screen by organizing the colorful Cocoons any way you see fit. You can  change the color and name of the Cocoons too.

Best free voice recorder for desktops: Audacity

Opening Audacity for the first time, you’ll be greeted by a slightly daunting interface. But looks deceive. Sure, there are plenty of advanced features beginners might have to get accustomed to, but the essential features are easy to use. 

Plus, Audacity is more than just a recorder - it’s also a full-fledged audio editor. You can trim and cut your recordings, adjust your volume, add effects, remove background noise, and more. All in all, Audacity is like having a free audio recording studio on your computer. 

Key features:

• Studio-quality audio: Record in up to 384 kHz/32-bit resolution.
• Multitrack recording: Lets you capture in-person audio from multiple people and save recordings as separate files.
• Noise reduction and audio cleanup: Audacity learns the noise characteristics from a portion of the recording and then lets you remove that noise from the entire audio.
• Audio enhancement: Has effects like equalization, compression, and normalization to improve audio quality.
• Editing tools: You can cut, copy, paste, delete, trim, split, and arrange clips.
• Analysis tools: Identify frequencies, compare volume levels, detect distinct sounds, and more. 
• Multiple file formats: WAV, AIFF, FLAC, MP3, WMA, and more.

Final Thoughts

Choosing the best voice recorder app depends on what you're recording. If you're just recording personal notes or some quick ideas then any basic recorder will do. For example, you can try Easy Voice Recorder or Voice Memos. But if you're recording a podcast or a professional meeting then you may need a higher-quality voice recorder. You can try Riverside, Otter. ai or Rev.

FAQs on the Best Voice Recorder Apps

Still looking for more information? Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions.

Does Android have a built-in voice recorder?

Yes, most Android phones come with a pre-installed voice recording app. However, the exact name may vary depending on the manufacturer. On Samsung devices, it’s typically called “Voice Recorder.”

To find the voice recorder on your device, open the App Drawer, use the search function, and type voice or sound recorder in the search bar.  

Does iPhone have a voice recorder?

Yes, iPhone’s built-in recorder is called Voice Memos. It has basic tools for trimming audio, and lets you remove background noise from your recordings.

What is the difference between a voice recorder and a call recorder?

A voice recorder is used for:

• Capturing ideas
• Recording lectures
• Recording interviews
• Recording music
• Creating audio books
• Podcasting 
• Journalism
• Creating transcripts
• And more

A call recorder is used specifically for recording telephone conversations. It’s a feature present in many Android devices. 

iPhone users don’t currently have a native call recording feature. However, this is set to change, as iOS 18 will introduce call recording and transcription on the Phone app. 

If your phone doesn’t include a call recorder or you don’t like its features, you can always use software like Riverside to record a call on iOS or Android. Simply invite people to your studio to chat. Your content will be recorded in studio quality and transcribed automatically.

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