How do I record a call on my iPhone?

12 May 2020, 00:06

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Ever wanted to record a call on your iPhone?

Well… You can’t. Sorry. Apple doesn’t let you for security reasons. And it’s often illegal anyway.

How to record a phone call on the iPhone: One trick to try
There’s no way around this using just Apple’s software. You can’t record the screen and then make a call, for example. The screen recording will simply terminate automatically when you make the call.

However, if I need to record a call, here’s what I do:

  1. I make the call and switch it to the iPhones speaker, by tapping the Hide button to remove the numeric keypad, and tapping the Audio button so the speaker is selected. The iPhone’s mic and speaker are so good that, usually, the individual on the other end of the line has no idea they’re on speakerphone.
  2. I use an audio recording app on my computer to record the call using the computer’s built-in microphone. Most laptops have a built-in mic but if you’re using a desktop PC then you’ll need to source an external microphone. For example, on my Mac I use the QuickTime Player software. I click File > New Audio Recording. If you’re using Windows 10, you can use the Voice Recorder app.

How to record a phone call on the iPhone: Other methods
Now, you might be reading this and thinking – that stinks! This guy MUST be wrong. I’ll just keep googling until I find an answer I like.

Be careful! There are three ways you might read about to get around Apple’s restriction on calls, and all are problematic.

The first is to use an app that lets you make calls using a third-party service. Often these work by creating a three-way call with you, the person you’re calling, and a recording service on the third line. For example, the rev.com transcription service offers this feature – and for free (although they’d like you to buy their transcription service). Alternatively, other apps work by simply bypassing the Apple built-in phone app. You make a call through the app instead, across the Internet, just like you make voice calls using Skype or WhatsApp. But these apps charge money for the call, or the app. Or both. So beware. It’s one of those areas where sharks operate and aim for big profits.

The second way around the restriction is to jailbreak your phone in order to install software that lets you record calls by hacking Apple’s built-in phone app. Don’t do this. Jailbreaking severely damages the security of your phone. It’s one of the most effective ways to get your iPhone infected with malware – something that’s literally impossible usually.

The third way is to create a three-way call, and the third “caller” is a service that records the call. This is perhaps the safest way of recording a call, in that you haven’t got to mess around with apps, but it’s clunky. This is basically a manual version of the first method mentioned above. And again, the prices for making and recording calls through these services are high, and it’s typically shark-infested waters.

If you need to record calls on a regular basis, the best plan is to get an Android phone. Android offers a variety of ways of doing so – although at the expense of weaker security than the iPhone.

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