18 hidden voice memos features you never knew about

Your iPhone is packed with productivity tools, but you don’t have to download a dozen apps for your device to become a true time-saver. Apple’s voice memo app alone can add to your productivity, help you keep track of your appointments and reminders, and act as your personal assistant. Use Voice Memos to record conversations, meetings, lectures, and the great idea you had while driving or walking the dog. You can even record a phone call on your iPhone by using the Voice Memos app.

The app is easy to locate – you’ll find it in your Utilities folder, though you can move it wherever you’d like, or ask Siri to open it for you. It’s easy to use. It’s available on iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Apple computers. And best of all, it’s free. There’s no time limit for recordings (it’s dependent on the internal storage capacity of your device), so you can likely record that entire lecture without worry.

Scroll down for tips that take you beyond voice memo recording and to all of the truly cool things you can do with a voice memo app.

There are a whole host of reasons you might make good use of a voice memo app. Maybe your boss loves to have walking meetings, but you’re not quite skilled at walking, note-taking… and not running into a tree. Maybe you’re meeting colleagues for a brainstorming dinner and want to keep track of everyone’s ideas. Or maybe you need a quick way to take down a brilliant idea – for a business, a birthday gift, you name it – during your commute.

It’s incredibly easy to use your iPhone’s Voice Memos app. (Just be sure to ask the other person’s permission first!) Here’s how:

1. Open the Voice Memos app.
2. To start recording, tap the red record button.

Boom! You’re recording your conversation.

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While you may often record straight through without breaks, there are times when you may want to pause a recording. For instance, during an important lunch meeting with colleagues, you really don’t need to keep track of your coworkers ordering coffee at the care. This iPhone trick will also be helpful during conversations with long pauses or when you’re put on hold. Here’s how to do it:

1. While recording, tap or swipe up on the recording field at the bottom of your screen to bring it into full-screen view.
2. Tap the pause symbol to temporarily stop recording.
3. Tap Resume to continue.

When you’re done recording your conversation, remember to actually stop the recording or you’ll be stuck with a really long voice memo that eats into your storage space. Here’s how to do it:

• In partial-screen view: Hit the red square.
• In full-screen view: Tap the pause button, then hit the word Done.

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Not every recording is worth saving. If you decide you don’t need yours, it’s easy to delete. Here’s how to do that:

1. In your All Recordings list, find the voice memo you’d like to delete.
2. Select the recording to expand the field.
3. Tap the trash can.

If you delete the wrong file, don’t panic. Just as you can recover deleted photos, you can recover recently deleted recordings. Just follow the steps below.

1. Navigate to the main Voice Memos screen.
2. Tap Recently Deleted.
3. Tap the recording you’d like to restore.
4. Select Recover to restore your recording.
5. To recover multiple deleted voice memos, select Edit in the upper-right corner. Tap all of the recordings you’d like to restore, then select Recover All from the lower left-hand corner.

One thing to bear in mind: you only have about 30 days to recover deleted files.

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If you’re satisfied with your recording, you’ll want to save it. Thankfully, a voice memo on iPhone saves automatically. As soon as you stop a recording, it’ll save in the Voice Memos app and appear in your All Recordings list. Yep, it’s actually as simple as that.

Be sure to give your file a new name so you’ll be able to find it easily in the future. Here’s how to do that:

1. Tap the recording.
2. Tap on the name.
3. Type your new file name.

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While Voice Memos automatically saves a recording, you may want to save it to iCloud for extra security – or so you can access it from any device. By following the steps below, you’ll ensure your voice memo remains in the app and in your chosen folder.

1. Tap the recording you want to move.
2. Look for a circle with three dots in it. Tap it.
3. Select Save to Files from the list below.
4. Tap the folder you’d like to add it to.
5. To create a new iCloud folder, tap the folder icon in the top right corner.

If you use the voice memo app often, you may want to organise your recordings to make them easier to find, just as you would organise your apps for easier access. You can group them in folders, which you’ll find on the main Voice Memos screen.

Here’s how to move a voice memo to a folder:

1. Tap the recording you want to move.
2. Tap the circle with three dots in it (to the right of the recording’s name).
3. Select Move to Folder from the list below.
4. Tap on the folder you want your recording to appear in.
5. To create a new folder, tap the folder icon in the lower right-hand corner. Give the folder a name, then select Save. Select that folder to save your recording there.

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