10 Best Voice Recorder Apps for High-Quality (Android & iPhone)

What Is a Voice Recorder App?

A voice recorder captures the sound and converts it into an audio file for storage and later use. You may be picturing that little black rectangle reporters in movies shove into the faces of famous people when asking for a comment. 

If you have a smartphone, you have the ability to record any sounds within the range of its microphone—without the need for an additional piece of equipment. Voice recorder apps are mobile applications that let you capture sounds from a meeting, interview, or even a voice memo you might record for yourself.

Both iOS and Android phones come pre-loaded with voice memo apps, but if you’re looking for advanced features like better audio quality or AI-based transcription, you may want to turn to a third-party application.

Benefits of Voice Recorder Apps

If you’re used to writing things down, it may seem like voice recorders have limited uses. But recorder apps let you recall down to the last detail what was said or what the atmosphere was like.

How many situations can you think of where that ability would feel like a superpower?

Maybe you’re running your first marathon. A voice recorder app lets you capture the electricity present at that start line, from the chatter of the nervous crowd, to the boom of the announcer’s mic, to the upbeat rock blasting from the nearby speakers. 

Or maybe you’re interviewing a famous celebrity for your company blog. Taking handwritten notes can be time-consuming and distracting, and trying to remember what was said can lead to disaster. 

Instead, take a voice recording. You’ll have an exact record of what was said without needing to worry about writing it down in the moment. You can focus on listening, interacting, and finding the next insightful question to ask.

Having a real-time recording of what was said can help you in many situations, whether personal or professional. And when that recorder is an app on your phone, you’ll have it with you at all times. 

10 Best Voice Recorder Apps in 2024

Our top voice recorder: Riverside

If you’re looking for the best audio quality and ease of use, we recommend using Riverside’s mobile version as a voice recording app. Riverside’s Android and iOS app is a professional recording studio in your pocket! 

With high-resolution audio (and video), separate tracks for all your participants, and remote recording tools this is an ideal choice for any creator on the go. Best of all, Riverside specializes in local recording which means that all files are captured directly on your device. This stops fault internet connection from ruining your recording resolution.

Key Features:

• Locally recorded, uncompressed 48kHz WAV audio for every guest to produce the highest audio quality possible
• Separate audio (and video) tracks for all participants to give you more editing flexibility
• Remote recording for up to 8 participants with up to 1000 audience members 
• Automatic transcriptions for easily repurposing your recordings into blogs or other written content
• Easy text-based audio editor accessible from your desktop for quick and precise cuts, plus extra tools for audio fine-tuning and merging tracks
• Automatic background noise remover to ensure crystal clear sound
• Host controls so you can monitor and adjust your guests’ audio levels
• Live streaming and live call-ins  from audience members

Experience all these benefits, yourself! Start recording audio on Riverside!

While we believe Riverside is one of your best bets for a voice recorder, we’ll let you compare it to the rest of our list. Keep in mind that none of the other options let you record video or hold virtual conversations directly in the app as Riverside does. They all also have limited editing functionality. But if you want a simple audio recorder, one of these apps will do the trick nicely.

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Alice

Alice is a free iOS app designed for journalists who just want to open their phones and press record at a moment’s notice. It has a sleek design and is very easy and quick to use, no matter your experience level.

Features:

• Simple to set up; only requires an email address to use
• No ads or tracking
• Simple to use while recording: swipe right to pause, and tap to save the audio file
• Automatic transcriptions

Apple’s Voice Memos App

Apple’s Voice Memos app is a great choice for beginners. If you have an iPhone, iWatch, or iPad, you can use it as a portable audio recorder without even needing to download another app.

Features:

• iCloud support lets you sync your mobile device to your Mac 
• Choose between compressed and uncompressed audio formats
• Recordings are named automatically based on your location
• Editing features let you trim, replace, and reduce unwanted noises
• Search and sort features keep you organized
• Skip Silence feature skips audio gaps automatically

AudioShare

AudioShare is a sound file manager for musicians, but iPhone users can use it to record and edit other audio as well. It is priced at $4.99.

Features:

• Record, trim, convert, normalize, import, export, transfer, zip, and unzip files
• Transfer files between and across apps
• Convert files into formats like M4A AAC, WAV, ALAC, CAF, and AIFF
• Built-in Dropbox client
• Built-in text editor lets you add notes

Easy Voice Recorder Pro

Easy Voice Recorder Pro is a free app for both Android and iOS that lets you capture your surroundings from an easily accessible Home Screen widget. The Premium version of the app is priced at $3.99 for Android and $1.99 for iOS.

Features:

• PCM, MP4, or AAC formats
• Automatic uploading to Google Drive, Dropbox, or iCloud Drive
• Transcription
• High-speed listening
• Limited editing features like audio trimming

Otter Voice Notes

Otter is an app designed for recording and transcribing meetings. It’s available on both iOS and Android and comes in free and Premium ($12.99 per month or $99.99 per year) versions. The free version comes with 600 monthly minutes, while the premium version comes with 6,000 minutes and Zoom meeting recordings.

Features:

• Collaborators can edit and highlight transcriptions
• Live captioning for accessibility during meetings
• Home Screen widget and Siri Shortcut for quick recording
• Real-time transcriptions
• Photo and slide insertions
• Transcription search function
• Adjustable-speed playback
• Export as PDF, TXT, SRT, MP3

Rev

Rev is a transcription service that also offers a recording app for both iOS and Android. If you want your recording transcribed, you can place an order directly within the app and have real humans transcribe your audio for a per-minute charge with 99% accuracy.

Features:

• Unlimited recordings
• Basic audio editing functionality lets you trim recordings
• Export to Dropbox, Evernote, Google Drive, iCloud Drive, and more
• 12-hour turnaround for transcriptions of recordings under 30 minutes
• Automatic backups to Dropbox
• Background recording lets you use other apps or let your phone go to sleep

Tape-a-Talk

For Android users, Tape-a-Talk is a free and useful recording app that lets you record directly from your home screen and save files to a variety of locations in the cloud. 

Features include:

• Background and screen-off recordings
• Uncompressed audio up to 44.1 kHz PCM
• Internal or external storage, with the option to upload to the cloud automatically
• Customizable app interface that lets you choose from several color themes
• Set recordings as a ringtone

Best Voice Recorder Apps on iPhone

If you’re an iPhone user, you can use almost all the voice recording apps listed above. This depends on what your needs are, and what features will help you the most. For example, you may want to use Apple’s Voice Memo App which is built in for voice recording on your iPhone. This is simple and easy to use, but doesn’t offer transcriptions like Otter or Alice. 

When it comes to free iPhone voice recorders, your best options likely include: 

• Alice
• Riverside
• Apple’s Voice Memos app
• Easy Voice Recorder Pro
• Otter

The Best Voice Recorder Apps for Android

Just like with iPhone, you have a lot of options for voice recorder apps on Android. Android also has a built-in voice recorder which is free and might be all you need. On the other hand, if you’d like transcriptions or other features you may want to look at the following best audio apps for Android:

• Riverside
• Easy Voice Recorder
• Otter
• Tape-a-Talk.

Read more: 7 Best Recording Apps for Android in 2024 (Free & Paid)

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The Best App for Recording Lectures

Students often choose to record their classes rather than try to write down all of the important information they hear. This option lets you turn your complete attention to what your professor is saying, while still capturing a complete record of what was said. 

Some of the most popular apps for recording lectures include:

•  Alice
• Apple’s Voice Memos app
• AudioShare

Best App for Recording Interviews

If you’re recording in person then you may want to choose a recording app that offers you transcription. Alice and Otter are great options. If you’re accordingly remotely though, Riverside is your best option for a reliable interview live recording app on Android and iOS. You can record with up to 8 participants no matter where they are and all recordings are captured locally so no internet connection affects your final quality.

Best Multitrack Recording App

Multitrack recording is when you capture more than one audio source simultaneously. Riverside is your best option for this as you can record separate audio (and video) tracks for all participants. This gives you more editing freedom. The good news is that multitrack recording is available on Riverside’s free plan, but with higher plans, you get more hours of multitrack recording.

What Do You Need to Record High-Quality Audio? 

Finding the best audio recording software for your needs is only one piece of the puzzle. You’ll also need to invest in equipment to help you get the best results. 

Microphone 

While you may be tempted to just use your phone’s built-in microphone, a dedicated external microphone will be sensitive enough to result in high-quality audio. 

So if you’re doing more than taking a voice memo of your grocery list, you may want to consider purchasing a dedicated external mic instead. Check out our guide to choosing a microphone to learn more.

Headphones

If you’re recording your own voice (or your guests’ voices), everyone involved needs to be wearing headphones. Why? Because it cuts down on background sounds and lets you hear your own voice, which results in a better recording technique.

The type of headphones you choose is less important than the type of microphone; it depends largely on your personal comfort and preferences. Our list of the 10 best podcast headphones walks you through what to look for in a good set of headphones!