AppCraver » Voice Recorders

Four Voice Recording Apps that Fill In for Apple’s Voice Memos

Michael Alexander — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:00:12 +0000

Voice Memos — Apple’s iPhone development people probably figured adding voice memo recording in a native app in OS 3.0 would make the iPhone seem more corporate. That’s only a guess, but if I’m right, I suspect Voice Memos won’t be a big hit around the water cooler. I would take Griffin’s iTalk, QuickVoice PRO Recorder, Voxie Recorder or JMDictate-Professional Dictation ahead of Voice Memos.

Voice Memos is like a boring novel with a fancy cover (it’s good looking). You can record, playback, trim clips and share by email your voice recording. Oh yeah, you can also give it a label by picking one from a list.

“It does the job and besides, I didn’t pay extra for it,” I can hear you reply. You don’t have to pay for at least one of other apps I just mentioned either… and the rest, well they’re worth the extra coin.

Griffin’s iTalk, at least the ad-supported version, is free. Don’t worry, the ads aren’t in your face.You can record your audio at normal (8kHz), medium (11kHz), high (22kHz) and CD quality (44kHz). Then, you can use iTalk Sync, a free download, to drag and drop your recordings to your desktop over a Wi-Fi connection. It’s available for the Mac OS and Windows PCs. If you can’t abide ads, then you’ll have to spring for $4.99 for the premium version.

There’s also QuickVoice PRO Recorder, which is only $0.99. Add here the ability to transfer files via iTunes, Wi-Fi or email. QuickVoice PRO Recorder works best in conjunction with its free desktop app. Importing a voice recording from QuickVoice for iPhone to the desktop app is easy: Launch QuickVoice, select “Import” under the “File” menu and the rest is taken care of.

Voxie Pro Recorder, ($1.99) is a voice recorder and dictation app for the iPhone and iPod touch with features such as Wi-Fi syncing with your desktop, audio file emailing and texting, audio-quality settings, customizable categories and audio file sizes limited only by the amount of available storage space.Other features include an express mode that is activated by shaking the iPhone, wallpapers, icons to flag recordings, the ability to send quick notes to a list of friends and family and to your contacts in the Contacts native app.

With JMDictate-Professional Dictation you have a good variety of options if you would like to transfer your recordings to your desktop and manage them. JMDictate handles email, iDisk MobileMe, WebDAV and FTP. You’ll also find on the Settings screen a switch to automatically activate voice recording and a field where you can enter your initials. JMDictate-Professional Dictation is $7.99; which is pricey compared to most audio recording apps in the App Store but if you often record audio, you shouldn’t find the price too hard to swallow.

QuickVoice PRO Recorder Has a Bonus

Michael Alexander — Thu, 07 May 2009 18:30:00 +0000

nFinity is using QuickVoice, a voice recorder for Macs and PCs, as a lure to nab buyers for its new iPhone version called QuickVoice PRO Recorder. QuickVoice is usually $15.00 but it’s free with when you buy the $0.99 app.

What you want is a voice recorder that delivers decent audio and does everything a virtual voice recorder can do, that much is a given. Add the ability to transfer files via iTunes, Wi-Fi or email, and you’ll move up a notch on the ladder. Now, throw in a free desktop app, and you might be on to something.

That’s what QuickVoice PRO Recorder aims to do, although not as well as some apps.

Shuttling your voice recordings between handheld and desktop and voice mailing them aren’t that much of a big deal. Several apps feature similar capabilities such as Griffin Tech’s iTalk and Bottle Rocket’s Voxie Pro Recorder.

QuickVoice PRO Recorder works best in conjunction with its desktop app. The iPhone version is limited compared to many other apps and not as visually pleasing to my eyes (it’s plain).

Importing a voice recording from QuickVoice for iPhone to the desktop app is easy: Launch QuickVoice, select “Import” under the “File” menu and the rest is taken care of. The road from handheld to desktop passes through iTunes and you’ll be alerted to run a backup first.

QuickVoice, the desktop app, features one-click recording, voice email, voice reminders, audio stickies and other useful features.

With so many voice recording apps in the App Store (there must be at least 50) it’s impossible for me to recommend one over the other. The best I can do is tell you is to assess your needs first and then find the app that suits — you’ll have plenty to choose from.

QuickVoice PRO Recorder is only $0.99 and it doesn’t get cheaper than that for two apps, so I think it’s worth a try.

app_name: QuickVoice PRO Recorder for iPhone
rating: 8/10

Voxie Pro Recorder Rolls Up Everything Into One

Michael Alexander — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:30:51 +0000

I’ve looked at a number of voice recorder apps, and they’re all similar, which isn’t surprising, given their primary purpose. What’s different about Voxie Pro Recorder & Dictation, Bottle Rocket’s app is that it has all the features of the others rolled into one with I think a few extras mashed in. I say “I think” because I haven’t looked every app with recording features in the App Store, which number about 50 apps when I checked.

Voxie Pro Recorder is a voice recoder and dictation app for the iPhone and iPod touch with features such as Wi-Fi syncing with your desktop, audio file emailing, audio-quality settings, customizable categories and audio file sizes limited only by the amount of available storage space.

Other features include an express mode that is activated by shaking the iPhone, wallpapers, icons to flag recordings, the ability to send quick notes to a list of friends and family and to your contacts in the Contacts native app.

You can record your audio at normal (8kHz), medium (11kHz), high (22kHz) and CD quality (44kHz). Getting the best audio is always a compromise between quality and storage space. I experimented with each of the settings, and found what Bottle Rocket claims is CD quality to be quite good but faint. The sound level is fine if you transfer your file to your desktop but that’s something to keep in mind if you’re recording on the go.

The interface is intuitive, although I found it a little busy in places, but that’s more a personal perference than anything.

app_name: Voxie Pro Recorder & Dictation
rating: 8/10

iDicto Voice Recorder Has Great Features but Needs Refinement

Michael Alexander — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 16:30:47 +0000

At last count, the App Store featured something like 60 apps with voice recording capabilities. DAVA Consulting’s iDicto happens to be among one of the better ones I’ve tried for simple voice-note-taking.

As with virtually every voice recording app I’ve tried, iDicto is straight forward and easy to use. Press a button, record, replay, pause — you know the drill. What you want is a voice recorder that works as easily as (or better than) the real deal and this app does that.

iDicto tags each recording with a name, time, date, length of recording and format. You can also add one of several icons and sort the list of recordings by priority. You can name your recording, or let the app do it with Record0001, Record0002 etc. and you can rename your recordings, sort and group them and append audio to previously recorded notes. I like not having to name my recordings first, like some apps I’ve tried.

When you’re done recording, you can email them or sync them via Wi-Fi (over the same network) to your Mac or PC desktop. When I tried syncing to my PC, the iPhone and PC found each other within seconds and up popped a list of recordings inside my Web browser. It would be nice to also be able to manage the recordings on the iPhone, for example, to delete them from the iPhone but it’s a one-way street.

To email a recording, DAVA’s app uploads the recording to its server and then passes a link back to you that you can send to someone via email. The link is valid for 10 days. What happens to the audio that’s sitting on DAVA’s server is unclear. I’d be wary of uploading anything sensitive for just that reason. Of course, you can always send the recording to your desktop and attach it to an email.

iDicto features two audio recording formats: Audio Interchange File Format and Core Audio Format. The difference is AIFF files are limited to 4 GB, or 15 minutes of audio. CAF supports an unlimited number of minutes of audio. I haven’t seen that feature before. iDicto also has low-good-best audio quality settings. I found the recording quality at the best setting acceptable. I sure wish it were louder, though.

The graphical interface is nicely rendered, and for the most part, one of the better-looking ones I’ve seen. What I really dislike is the recording and playback buttons — both are garish red blobs.

I’d like having some sort of indicator to give me an idea of just how well my recording is going — simulated LEDS, VU meter — something. I want to know the device is well-positioned and operating at its optimal ability. It would be nice to have the app record start and stop when someone is speaking, like a physical recorder, but that’s not a deal breaker. What would be fabulous is having the ability to record telephone conversations, but I don’t know if that’s even technically feasible.

app_name: iDicto Recorder
rating: 8/10

Jott Your Notes with Your Voice Instead of a Keyboard

Michael Alexander — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 22:00:46 +0000

The first time you use Jott, a voice recorder from Jott Networks, you get the feeling that you’ve just seen something that’s crazy, in a good way.

There’s not much to the voice recorders in the App Store. Press record; press play. Nothing could be simpler. Oh, sure, there are a few sparkly features in some voice recorder apps such as adjustable audio quality and the ability to append text but they’re all pretty much same-old-same-old, which is what you would expect after all.

Then there’s Jott, it too is a voice recorder and it’s capable of only recording 15 seconds of audio at a time, which is hardly anything to write home about. That’s a huge limitation compared to every other voice recorder in the world-virtual and real.

Although Jott is not as capable a voice recorder as all of the rest of those guys, it stands out in another way. Jott enables you to transcribe your recordings into text.

Here’s how Jott works: Record up to 15 seconds of audio and upload it to Jott’s server, using your iPhone number as you login ID after registering. There, it’s transcribed and returned to Jott in your iPhone. The amount of time that takes to make the round trip from voice to text depends on the amount of traffic on the server. One day, a transcription took 5 minutes, and on another day (the Thanksgiving holiday) it took about a minute.

You can keep your notes as lists on Jott Networks, in your iPhone and on your desktop, and the three will automatically sync. You can cut and past text into other apps as well.

The Jott apps are free. The iPhone version is advertising supported.

Jott offers upgrade and premium plans ranging from $39.50 to $129.50 per year (you can also pay as you go, month-to-month). The full package features 30-second, voice-to-text, reminders via email and SMS, hands-free email and text messaging, integration with Outlook and Google Calendar, posts to Twitter and other features.

No doubt, many people will find the full menu’s price a bit much. Try the free version of Jott at least. It will make you say, “Gee whiz!”

app_name: Jott
rating: 7/10

iTalk, It Listens, Voice Recorder from Griffin Technology

Michael Alexander — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:30:34 +0000

iTalk Recorder, according to Griffin Technology, the developer, is “WAY more than a voice recorder.” That’s partly true. Unfortunately, the “way more” part is still not enough to put it on par with many of the other voice recording apps in the App Store.

ITalk Recorder has one button recording. You can name your audio files. You can delete them. All what you would expect an iPhone recorder to do and the interface for doing those things couldn’t be any simpler (that’s a good thing).

You also have the option of choosing, “good, better, best” recording.

I guess you can say the “more” part for iTalk is that you can use iTalk Sync, a free download, to drag and drop your recordings to your desktop over a W-Fi connection. It’s available for the Mac OS and as a public beta for Windows PCs.

I downloaded iTalk Recorder, the free version, which is supported by banner advertising. However, in using the app several times, I saw only a couple of ads, and happily, they were unobtrusive. I also used iTalk Recorder plenty of times where I did not see any ads. I’m not sure what to make of that but let’s just say the wiring is faulty somewhere.

iTalk Recorder Premium, the same app without advertising, sells for $4.99. Based on my experience using the ad-suported version, I don’t see a pressing need to upgrade.

I recommend test driving any number of the many voice recording apps in the App Store before deciding if this is the right one for you.

I do want to put a plug in for Griffin, though. (No, I don’t have any connection with Griffin; and no one is making me write this.) They’re my go-to guys for iPhone accessories for my house and car and I recommend them without hesitation.

app_name: iTalk Recorder
rating: 7/10

Recorder 4 – Now with Email Support

Fred Krueger — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 22:25:52 +0000

There are a lot of apps that allow you to do simple voice recordings in the App Store, ranging in price from free (EverNote — includes this capability)on up. However, perhaps because of its generic name, “Recorder” from Retronyms, is the leader in the space, with a ranking of 15 of all paid apps on the App Store (iLounge has a good roundup of other apps in the recorder space).

As one review said on iTunes: “This is the best dollar we ever spent”. AppCraver is likely to agree. This well-focused app does one thing and does it well: record messages. With a big record button, its not hard to see how to record a new message. When done, click on the blue button to change the message title (and other attributes) and then email the message to yourself or your friends.

In any case, the app is great and totally justifies the $0.99 price tag. Great work.

app_name: Recorder
rating: 7/10

Talking Pics

Fred Krueger — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 19:44:30 +0000

Talking Pics is an app from Stone Design BigStonePhone, a one three-man shop in Albuquerque, New Mexico run by Andrew Stone, a 40ish Mac software veteran. You can read a little bit more about Andrew and his chickens, and eco-lifestyle here.

Talking Pics is a voice recorder, but with a twist. Rather than just taking individual voice recordings, it allows you to tag photos with voice comments, as well as text notes. You can then store and edit groups of these annotated pictures in “Projects”, and upload these slideshows to the web. I wasn’t able to figure out the upload part, but here is an example of such a project.

Overall, a useful app, and unique in the ability to easily create slideshows. The only question is whether it is worth the $9.99.

UPDATE: Andrew Stone checked in with us to let us know that the name of his shop is “BigStonePhone,” and that it’s a three-man operation. He also let us know that TalkingPics v1.1 lets you upload files to your desktop. Looking forward to seeing more apps out of BigStonePhone.

app_name: Talking Pics
rating: 6/10