Is it possible to record a lecture or discussion with my LG V20 or my girlfriend’s Samsung Galaxy S7?
Android is an interesting operating system for smartphones. There’s so much that Google has gotten right and that other companies like Samsung and LG have added, that almost always Android is ready to roll and doesn’t require much of any additions. Recording voice, however, is a forgotten feature and you’ll need to download an app to accomplish the task. Which means that there are predictably dozens of apps that all claim to be the best audio recording utility and you need to choose one!
My strategy is always to look for an app that has a lot of downloads (assuming that “millions” of people can’t be wrong) and also has a high star rating. Find both of those in the Google Play Store and you’re heading in the right direction. It’s quite an easy task, however, so there’s no reason that you should have to pay, suffer through in-app purchases, or similar. An advert? Well, the programmer has to make a few bucks, I’m okay with that as long as it doesn’t get in the way of actually using the program.
Which brings us back to the voice recording feature. I tested this out on a brand new AT&T LG V30, the next generation of your own LG phone, just utilizing the built-in microphone for input. There are lots of third party mics you can plug in that will get you better results — you can check out my YouTube channel for reviews of many of ’em — but to start, you’ll get surprisingly good recordings with nothing other than a free app!
I started by searching for “voice recorder free” and got a bunch of choices:
Here’s where the star ratings are your friend. A close look and you’ll see that the fourth option has the best ratings – 4.8 stars. That’s the one I’m going to download and install, a task that’s two finger taps away.
Downloaded Voice Recorder for Android? Great, now tap on the app icon to launch the program. It’ll look like this:
You can see that there’s a tiny advert along the bottom (the “w” graphic and green “install” button). You can safely ignore that area if it’s not something that catches your attention.
Along the very bottom are three choices. Left to right, it’s the “archive” area with the headphones icon where you can find previous recordings, the red microphone to make a new recording, and the gear icon for settings and preferences.
What you really want, however, is that big red button in the middle of the screen. Tap on it and you’re recording!
The top bars show a visual representation of the input: it should be bouncing up and down to show you that the mic is working and you’re getting something.
Now talk to your phone. Pick it up if you want, or leave it on the table. Have your friend talk too, to see how that works.
Done? Tap on the red square button and it’ll stop recording and prompt you to name the new file:
I gave my demo audio file the name “audio demo.mp3”.
Name your file, tap “OK” and now you can tap the headphone icon on the lower left to see it listed:
You can listen to it again, with headphones, a bluetooth speaker, whatever. Want to transfer it to your computer? Mac or Windows, just plug in your phone. If you have Android File Transfer on a Mac, for example, you’ll see this pop up:
To find your new audio file, go into “Recorders“, as I have highlighted above.
It’ll show you each and every audio recording created by the program:
Easy enough. Find the one you want and simply drag it onto your Desktop. Android File Transfer will do all the work and you’ve got an audio file you can use, listen to, share on Facebook, email to grandma, whatever!
And not only that, here’s what mine sounded like, for your listening pleasure:
That’s it. Whatever variation of Android you have, a quick visit to the Google Play Store will yield you an app that can do audio recordings, and the resultant files can be quite easily shared onto your computer using the free Android File Transfer tool shown.
While you’re here, by the way, do look around. I have tons of Android help on the site!
Great straightforward review, thank you. Does the app have any advantages over using Google Keep, though? I have a moto g with hardly any memory (& no card slot) so hesitant about installing something else
Just got the one you used and it works like a charm…also gave it 5stars. Thanks for all your great videos. For a 74 y/o dinosaur…you are a god send.
Hey, that’s young for a dinosaur, Ray! 🙂