While it’s true that our iPhones can help us order pizzas, hail cabs, and document our heartbeats, recording a simple phone call can be a challenge. It’s not as easy as tapping a button on your iPhone — you need a special app to accomplish that task. There are plenty of apps in the Apple App Store and services online that promise to show you how to record calls on an iPhone, and many of them promote crystal-clear quality for free.
There are so many reasons why people like to record their phone calls — from recording an interview for an article or school project, making sure you get the exact sequence of a complex set of instructions, or making sure you don’t forget essential details of a conversation — phone call recording is just another way of taking notes.
Also, be aware of federal and state laws pertaining to the recording of phone calls. As a general rule, you shouldn’t run into any legal trouble if you capture both parties verbally consenting to the recording. Some states require that only one party consent, however, so check your state or local laws if you need further clarification.
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We’ve searched the internet in a quest for the best call recorders for your iPhone, trying out some different methods and apps, and have come up with this list. Just make sure you keep it legal.
How to record an outgoing call with an iPhone app
If you want the option to record both incoming and outgoing calls, then your best bet is a call recording app. There aren’t very many good call recording apps out there that are free, but there are quite a few options if you’re willing to pay a few dollars. We’ve tested out some call recorders, and we believe the four options below are the best.
Pro tip: The website GetHuman is a great workaround for recording customer service calls. The site allows you to notify a specific company where you’d like a rep to contact you.
Rev Call Recorder (Free)
You can record incoming and outgoing calls on your iPhone with this free app, as long as you have a U.S. phone number to register with. There’s no subscription and no lurking hidden costs here, no limit on the length or number of conversations you can record, and the quality is usually good. It works by setting up a three-way call, so you have to merge in the recording line, but it’s fairly easy to do and you can download the audio file afterward and do whatever you like with it. If you’re wondering why it’s offered for free — Rev also offers a transcription service for $1 per minute, which is handled by human translators for superior accuracy. If you want a free call recording app, then look no further — this is the only decent one available.
TapeACall Pro ($11)
If you don’t mind paying for a decent app, then you might consider TapeACall Pro. For just $11, you get unlimited call recording time, regardless of who or where you’re calling, for one year. The pricing is listed at $30 per year for unlimited calls. The works a bit differently than the other options listed here — for incoming calls, you initiate a recording by putting whomever you’re speaking with on hold for a moment, and then opening the app and hitting the record button. Once you do all this, the call is merged and stored with a remote recording service. For outgoing calls, you open the app, hit record, then call whomever and merge the call. TapeACall Pro doesn’t notify the other party that you’re recording the conversation. When you’re done recording, you can access the stored audio file directly on your smartphone.
Call Recorder Pro ($10)
You can record incoming or outgoing calls with this app, but you must first set up a three-way call by putting your call on hold, dialing in the recorder through the app, and then merging the calls, which is a bit of a hassle. On the other hand, it does mean you can start recording calls that are already in progress quite easily. It’s a reliable service that makes it simple to manage your recordings, and you can download them and share them via SMS, email, Dropbox, and other apps. The $10 fee will get you 300 minutes, but you can also buy 150 minutes for $5 or 30 minutes for $1.
IntCall Call Recorder
Call Recorder helps you make and record national or international calls, records entire calls, and saves recordings on your phone. Your carrier must be GSM and support both hold and conference calling. With pay-per-minute rates, IntCall might be a good choice depending on the country you’re calling. The app operates by pre-paid credit or pay as you go and makes the calls over the VoIP. The price of each call is calculated per destination and minute. A dedicated version of the app for this mode is called Call Recorder Pay As You Go. You can also get a weekly subscription calling via normal channels but in that case, you must make a conference for the recording. Additional minutes can be purchased for $5, $10, or $20, and the cost per minute varies in each country. We advise checking out the price list before you buy anything, but most countries can be reached for 10 cents or 20 cents per minute.
How to record an incoming call using Google Voice
If you’re looking for a good, free option and you only need to record incoming calls, Google Voice might be for you, and it can help you filter out unwanted calls as well. You must port your phone number over to Google to get access to the recording feature and it can’t record outgoing calls. This makes it rather inconvenient if you’re hoping to record any conversations that you need to initiate, or if you like your current carrier. Read our guide on how to set up Google Voice if you’re not familiar with the app.
To start recording incoming calls with Google Voice in iOS 13, you first need to set up an account. Just go to voice.google.com and follow the instructions. Once your account is up and running, the next step is to enable call recording so you can record and automatically save your conversation as an MP3 file.
Step 1: Navigate to the main Google Voice homepage.
Step 2: Click on Settings (gear icon) on the upper left-hand corner of the window.
Step 3: Scroll down to the Calls section and make sure that Incoming call options is turned on.
If you want to listen to recorded phone calls on your iPhone, you’ll need to download the Google Voice app. With this app, you can record incoming calls within Google Voice by tapping the number 4 on your phone’s keypad during the call. Make sure you answer the phone within the Google Voice app using your Google Voice phone number — not the native iPhone phone app your phone number may be linked to. This triggers an automated voice notifying both parties that the call is being recorded. To stop recording, tap 4 again or end the call as you would normally. After you stop recording, Google will automatically save the conversation for you to listen to later.
If everything is set up properly, and you have answered and recorded your call on your phone, you will see your recorded conversation listed under the Calls and Voicemail tabs. To listen to the conversation, tap the arrow and turn up the volume.
You will also get an email directing you to your conversation in the browser.
Record using an external voice recorder
If you don’t like the suggestions so far, another option is to pick up a dedicated voice recorder designed to plug directly into your smartphone’s 3.5-millimeter jack or connect via Bluetooth. Products such as the Olympus TP-8 Telephone Pick-up Microphone ($14), an earpiece you wear that records both you and the caller, will do the job. If you have a newer iPhone, you may need to use the lightning-to-headphone adapter. You may also consider the RecorderGear PR200 Bluetooth Cell Phone Call Recording Device ($109) if you want something that connects wirelessly, or if you want something higher quality that plugs in via the headphone port, check out Techerific’s Digital Voice Recorder ($70 used).
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