An app for recording lectures that turns the class into a searchable transcript
Listen in class. Read it later.
A good app for recording lectures has to do three things: keep recording for ninety minutes with the phone locked in your bag, never lose the file, and make the recording useful afterwards. Recordd does all three, and then adds the part that matters at exam time: search every word of every lecture and ask a recording where the professor covered something.
Here is how to record a class on iPhone with Recordd, from asking permission to finding the one sentence you need in week twelve.
40 minutes free, forever · every feature included · try Pro free, cancel anytime
An app for recording lectures that turns the class into a searchable transcript, step by step
6 steps.
- 01
Ask the lecturer first
Many lecturers are fine with it and some already record. Some are not, and some universities have their own policy. Ask once at the start of term. In many places you need consent to record other people, and the rules vary, so check what applies to you.
- 02
Start recording and lock the phone
Open Recordd, tap record, lock the phone, and put it away. Recording continues in the background for as long as the lecture runs. Pause during the break and resume after. If someone calls, the recording pauses and resumes when the call ends. Or tap once on your Apple Watch: the recording transfers to your iPhone afterwards and goes through the same pipeline.
- 03
Do not worry about losing it
Recordd writes audio to disk in short segments while it records and uploads them as you go. If the app crashes, you force-quit it, or the battery dies, the recording is recovered and finished the next time you open Recordd. It works fully offline, so a lecture hall with no signal is fine; transcription happens once you are back online.
- 04
After class, tap Process
Transcription is not automatic. When you stop, tap Process and pick the language, or auto-detect, from 26 languages. The first time, a one-time notice explains that audio is transcribed by cloud services. You get a transcript with the lecturer and any students who asked questions separated, plus a title, a summary, and action items, which for a lecture usually means the reading and the deadlines.
- 05
Search what the professor said about anything
Type a term and Recordd finds it across every lecture you have recorded, not just the current one. Open a recording and chat with it: “what did the professor say about the second law?” The answer comes with a link to the moment in the audio, so you can hear it again in the lecturer’s own words. Chat works within one recording at a time.
- 06
Export into your notes
Export any transcript as Markdown or plain text with speaker labels and paste it into Obsidian, Notion, or a plain document. Recordings sync to your account, so a lecture recorded on the phone is on your Mac or iPad when you sit down to study.
A lecture recorder app on the free plan
The free plan is the whole app with a 40-minute lifetime recording cap. That covers a short lecture or half of a long one, enough to see whether the transcript is worth it to you. Pro removes the cap for $6.99 a week or $99.99 a year, with a free trial on the yearly plan, and one subscription covers iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch.
Recordd requires iOS 17 or later. Recordings are never used to train AI, ours or our vendors’, and you can delete any recording or your whole account at any time.
An app for recording lectures that turns the class into a searchable transcript: questions
Before you press record.
Will it keep recording a whole two-hour lecture with the phone locked?+
Yes. Recording continues in the background with the phone locked. You can pause during the break and resume after.
What if my battery dies or the app crashes mid-lecture?+
Audio is saved to disk in short segments as you record. After a crash, force-quit, or dead battery, the recording is recovered and finished on the next launch.
Can I search across all my lectures at once?+
Yes. Search covers every word of every recording in your library, plus people, places, and tags. Chat, which answers questions and jumps to the moment, works within a single recording.
Does it transcribe lectures in languages other than English?+
Yes. Recordd transcribes 26 languages, with auto-detect if you are not sure which to pick.
Do I need to ask before recording a class?+
Ask the lecturer and check your university’s policy. In many places you need consent to record other people, and the rules vary.
Facts checked 2026-09-23. Apple changes things; tell us if something here is out of date.
Download the voice recorder app for iPhone and Mac
Get Recordd.
40 minutes free. Every feature unlocked. Takes 30 seconds to set up, and your library compounds from minute one.
40 minutes free, forever · every feature included · try Pro free, cancel anytime