To record a meeting on an iPhone, open the built-in Voice Memos app and tap the red record button, then tap it again when the meeting ends. That gives you an audio file. If you also want the meeting written down, record it in MeetNotes instead: tap record, put the phone in the middle of the table, and when you stop you get a transcript with each speaker's name, plus minutes of meeting (a summary, the decisions and the to-dos, each with an owner).
Whichever app you use, tell the people in the room that you are recording before you start. There is more on consent at the end.
Option 1: Voice Memos, the built-in recorder
Every iPhone comes with Voice Memos. It is free, needs no account, and is fine when all you need is the audio.
- Open Voice Memos. If it is not on your home screen, swipe down on the home screen and search for "Voice Memos".
- Tap the red record button. Recording starts straight away.
- Put the phone down near the speakers, screen up, in the middle of the table.
- Tap the red button again to stop. The recording is saved in the list, named after where you are if Location is on.
- Rename it to something you will recognise later, such as the meeting name and date.
What you have now is an audio file. To find one sentence, you scrub through the recording. Nobody's name is attached to anything, and the follow-ups still need writing up. Recent versions of iOS can also show a plain transcript of a voice memo for some languages, but it is one block of text without speaker names, decisions or to-dos.
Already recorded a meeting in Voice Memos? You can still get the minutes. In Voice Memos, tap the recording, tap the three dots, and choose Share. Pick MeetNotes if it is listed; otherwise choose Save to Files, then open MeetNotes, tap Import and choose the file. It is transcribed the same way as a live recording.
Option 2: MeetNotes, to get the transcript and minutes
MeetNotes is an iPhone and Android app that records the meeting and writes it up for you.
- Install MeetNotes from the App Store and sign in. Every account starts with 100 free minutes.
- Allow the microphone the first time you record. If you tapped Don't Allow by mistake, turn it on in Settings, then MeetNotes, then Microphone.
- Tell the room you are recording.
- Tap record and put the phone in the middle of the table, screen up. There is no language to choose and no speaker setup.
- Lock the phone if you like. The recording keeps going with the screen off. If you take a phone call, the recording pauses and normally resumes by itself when the call ends; if it does not, tap resume.
- Tap Mark when something important is said, so you can jump back to that moment later.
- Tap Finish. The recording uploads and is transcribed.
- Name the voices once. Change "Speaker 1" to a real name. The transcript, the minutes and the PDF use it, and MeetNotes recognises that voice in later meetings.
What you get when the meeting ends
- A transcript with each speaker named and every line timestamped. Tap a line to hear it.
- Minutes of meeting: a summary, key takeaways and the decisions.
- To-dos with owners: each action item carries the person who took it on, and a due date when one was said. They also land in the To-dos tab, together with the open items from every other meeting, where you can assign one to someone or tick it off.
- A PDF or an editable Word file to send on WhatsApp or email. The people you send it to need no account.
Meetings that switch language mid-sentence, such as Hindi and English or Spanish and English, are transcribed as spoken, and the minutes can be written in any of 110 languages.
Faster ways to start recording on iPhone
When a meeting starts suddenly, opening the app and finding the button takes a few seconds too long. These are quicker:
- Siri. Say "Record with MeetNotes".
- Control Center and the Lock Screen (iOS 18). Add the "Record meeting" control, and one tap opens MeetNotes already recording.
- Action button (iPhone 15 Pro and later). In Settings, Action Button, choose Controls and pick "Record meeting".
- Apple Watch. MeetNotes on the watch records with the watch's own microphone. See how to record a meeting on Apple Watch.
Voice Memos or MeetNotes?
| Voice Memos | MeetNotes | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free, built in | Free to start, 100 minutes included |
| What you get | An audio file | Audio, transcript, minutes and to-dos |
| Who said what | Not recorded | Each line labelled with the speaker's name |
| Follow-ups | You write them up | To-dos with an owner, in one list across meetings |
| Sharing | The audio file | PDF, Word, WhatsApp text or a link |
| Account needed | No | Yes |
If you only need the sound, for example to listen back to a lecture once, Voice Memos is enough. If someone has to write the minutes or chase the action items afterwards, that is the work MeetNotes does.
Getting a clean recording on an iPhone
- Middle of the table, screen up. Not in a pocket or a bag: fabric muffles the microphone.
- The quietest person should be the closest one you can manage. Distance matters more than anything else.
- Away from fans, air conditioning vents and projectors. They end up in the audio.
- Turn on Do Not Disturb. Notification sounds otherwise land in the audio, and a call you take pauses the recording until it ends.
- Plug in for long meetings. A half-day workshop is a long time on battery.
- For a big room, use two phones. One phone at one end of a long boardroom table will struggle with the far end, as any single microphone would.
What about Zoom, Google Meet and Teams calls?
An iPhone app cannot record the sound of a call happening in another app, so recording the room will not capture the people on the far end of a video call. For online meetings, use the MeetNotes Notetaker: paste the call link in the app, or add notes@getmeetnotes.com to a calendar invite you organise. The notetaker joins as a visible participant, records, and the minutes arrive when the call ends, in the same account. The details are in our Zoom, Meet and Teams guide.
And on Android?
The steps are the same. Most Android phones come with a recorder app from the phone maker, which gives you an audio file. MeetNotes is on Google Play and works the way it does on iPhone. Android also lets you share a WhatsApp voice note straight to MeetNotes, and it can turn the recordings your phone's own call recorder saves into notes: see call recordings to notes.
Is it legal to record a meeting on my iPhone?
The rules depend on the country and the situation, and some places require everyone's consent. The normal, safe practice is to say you are recording before you start and to get a clear yes. It also means nobody is surprised when the minutes arrive. Our guide to recording consent has a line you can use.
More on recording rooms is on the in-person meeting recorder and voice recorder with transcription pages.
FAQ
How do I record a meeting on my iPhone for free?
Use the built-in Voice Memos app: open it, tap the red record button, and tap it again to stop. For a transcript with speaker names and the minutes, MeetNotes is free to start with 100 minutes included.
Does the iPhone keep recording when the screen is locked?
In MeetNotes, yes: the recording keeps going with the screen off. If you take a phone call, it pauses and normally resumes by itself when the call ends.
Can I get a transcript of a meeting I recorded in Voice Memos?
Yes. Share the recording from Voice Memos to MeetNotes, or save it to Files and tap Import in MeetNotes. You get the transcript with speakers labelled, plus the minutes and to-dos.
Can my iPhone record a Zoom or Teams meeting?
Not the call audio from another app. Send the MeetNotes Notetaker into the call instead: paste the link in the app, and the minutes arrive when the call ends.
How do I get the action items from a meeting I recorded?
MeetNotes lists them for you. Every to-do comes with the person who took it on and a due date when one was said, and all open to-dos from every meeting are in one To-dos list.
