New in iOS 18: Hands-Free Call Recording Now Possible Without External Apps - Insights

Direct Phone Call Capture Now Possible with Apple’s iOS 18; Say Goodbye to Additional Apps for Recordings Innovations in Mobile Technology

Apple

Recording phone calls on your iPhone has long been doable but it’s always required a third-party recording app. Now, Apple has unveiled a built-in phone recording feature available via the AI skills introduced with iOS 18 .

Based on a quick preview at Apple’s WWDC 2024 on Monday, the new phone call recording option will appear on the screen during a live call. Tapping the Record button will kick off the recording and alert you and the other person that the call is being recorded. A soundwave indicates the audio level of the recording, while a timer shows you how long the recording has been running.

Also: Apple staged the AI comeback we’ve been hoping for - but here’s where it still needs work

When you’re done, the recording is sent to the Notes app where you can play it. (You can also start an audio recording from a note.) Using the AI-powered Apple Intelligence technology, the recording is automatically transcribed for you to read. Plus, you can ask the AI to summarize the call to zero in on the key topics and comments in your conversation.

Newsletters

ZDNET Tech Today

ZDNET’s Tech Today newsletter is a daily briefing of the newest, most talked about stories, five days a week.

See all

The recording and transcription are saved in the note for future reference. You can then search for specific text in the transcription and even combine parts of the conversation with other notes.

For now, direct call recording on an iPhone is possible only through such apps as TapeACall, Call Recorder Pro, Rev Voice Recorder, Easy Voice Recorder, and Google Voice (incoming calls only). But many of the third-party apps are either limited or impose a fee for full recording and transcription. The built-in call recording promises to be simpler and more seamless.

Also: Your Apple Watch is getting an upgrade - here are the coolest features in WatchOS 11

The transcription capability will support English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, and Portuguese. iOS 18 is currently available to anyone as a developer’s beta. However, you won’t be able to try out the recording and transcription until the AI-based Apple Intelligence arrives in a future beta this fall.