Comparison

Voice Memos vs Voice recorder

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Voice Memos

Capture, edit, and organize audio with this versatile recording tool. Easily transcribe speech to text, enhance sound quality, and share your creations across devices. Ideal for notes, ideas, and moments.

Highlights
  • Portable audio recording
  • Speech-to-text transcription
  • Audio editing tools
  • Vocal layer recording
  • iCloud sync
  • Noise reduction
Features
Read full description

Voice Memos turns your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch into a portable audio recorder, making it easy to capture and share personal notes, song ideas, family moments, classroom lectures, and more. Editing tools like trim, replace, and the new “Save As” feature let you fine-tune your recordings without altering the original. The transcription feature converts speech into text, simplifying the process of finding and referencing specific content. And the new feature to record a vocal layer on top of an existing instrumental recording* without the need for headphones making it easy to capture song ideas on the go. Users can then separate and edit the vocal and instrumental layers independently to continue expanding on those ideas. And with iCloud support, you can capture audio on the go with your iOS device, then use your Mac to do even more with your recordings. Features Record • Record using the built-in microphone, a Bluetooth headset, or a compatible external microphone. • Choose uncompressed audio for maximum sound fidelity, ensuring the highest quality recordings. • Opt for compressed audio to save storage space and record longer sessions. • Automatically name recordings based on your location. • Record a vocal layer* over an instrumental track without headphones. • Stereo recording adds greater depth and dimension to your audio**. • iCloud support keeps your recordings and edits in sync across all your devices, including iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac, and Vision Pro. Edit • Pinch-to-zoom for more precision when editing. • Trim your recordings to save just the portion you want. • Replace and resume to fine-tune your recordings. • Save As lets you make edits and save them as a new recording without altering the original file. • Separate and independently edit the vocal and instrumental takes for layered recordings*. • Transcripts automatically convert speech into text for easy reference***. • Enhance Recording reduces background noise and room reverberation with a single tap. Organize • Quickly find recordings with the search feature. • Folders make it easy to organize your recordings. • Mark recordings as Favorites so you can quickly access them later. Listen and share • Speed up or slow down playback of your recordings, or jump 15 seconds forward or back. • Skip Silence analyzes your recordings and automatically skips over gaps in your audio. • Share multiple recordings at once via AirDrop, Mail, Messages, and more. • Import vocal layer* recordings into Logic Pro as a two-track project for advanced editing and production. * Adding a vocal layer on top of a Voice Memos recording is available only on the iPhone 16 Pro models. ** Stereo recording requires Apple devices equipped with stereo microphones and iOS 18 or later. *** Audio transcription is available on iPhone 12 and later in English (Australia), English (Canada), English (Ireland), English (New Zealand), English (South Africa), English (UK), and English (US).

About

Voice recorder

Easily record high-quality audio, including voice, music, lectures, and meetings. Save recordings to your device's internal storage for playback anytime. Share your audio files through various social networking channels.

Highlights
  • HD Audio recorder
  • High quality voice recording
  • Record songs, lectures, speeches
  • Supported file formats: mp3, ogg
  • Play, pause, stop audio files
  • Send / Share your recording
  • Record in the background
Features
Read full description

Voice recorder is a great recording application that easily records audio, voice, of the song, speech, lecture, meeting, and save in the device's internal storage. So, you can play back whenever you want, on your phone. This is a excellent recording application, meet quality great voice recording, ensuring the information is recorded clearly, accurately, with less noise. It does not limit the recording time, which only depends on the remaining space of your internal memory. The voice recorder app stores your recordings and shares them with your friends through social networking channels. The voice recorder pro is designed with an intuitive interface that makes it easy to record, pause, edit audio and much more. It is a very useful application for your work and life. Features: - HD Audio recorder - High quality voice recording. - Recorder songs, lectures, speeches,… best quality - Supported file formats: mp3, ogg - Play, pause, stop audio files. - Send / Share your recording. - Delete your recording right from the app. - Rename and delete your recordings. - Save the recording file on the device's internal memory - Live audio spectrum analyzer - Digital voice recorder - Mp3 encoded with adjustable sample rate (8-44 kHz) - Record in the background (even if the screen is off) - Microphone upscaling tool - Save / pause / resume / abort the recording process control - Send a recording and share a note via email, sms, mms, facebook, WhatsApp, dropbox, ... - Move your audio recording through the computer easily - Record the microphone inside or outside - We are improving .wave format - A timer to keep track of your recording time. - Smart recorder, automatic recording - Call recording is not supported Thank you for downloading and using voice recorder. Your feedback and suggestions help us to improve! Any contact please send by email: Sincerely thank!

Screenshots

Voice Memos4 screens
Voice recorder4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Voice Memos at none against Voice recorder's shown. Voice Memos also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and ratings volume (1.1M vs 26K). Voice recorder's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 5 months). On price, rating, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Voice Memos holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Voice Memos has 1.1M ratings behind it against 26K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 80% of Voice Memos's written reviews are positive against 69% of Voice recorder's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Voice Memos ships an update every 5 months, Voice recorder every 2 months. Both last shipped on November 10, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Voice Memos versus Voice recorder: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVoice MemosVoice recorder
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (1.1M ratings) — better4.6 (26K ratings)
Positive reviews79.8% of reviews — better68.6% of reviews
Number of ratings1.1M — better26K
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS10.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size17 MB67 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAppleHieu Nguyen

Customer experience

Voice Memos

All ratings1,112,941 ratings
Positive95.4%
Neutral2.1%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews3,431 reviews
Positive79.8%
Neutral5.8%
Negative14.4%

Voice recorder

All ratings25,544 ratings
Positive92.1%
Neutral4.0%
Negative3.9%
Written reviews423 reviews
Positive68.6%
Neutral7.6%
Negative23.9%

User reviews

Voice Memos

From 1.1M App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Seamless recording
  • 🎨 Attractive and minimalistic design
  • 🔍 Useful for capturing ideas and thoughts
  • 🎶 Great for musicians and singers
  • 📚 Helpful for students and academics

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Unreliable recording (stops unexpectedly)
  • 🔇 Audio quality issues
  • 🔄 Inability to edit/resume recordings
  • 🗂️ Poor organization and folder management
  • ⚠️ Freezing and crashing issues

Voice recorder

From 26K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Clear and high-quality recordings
  • 🚀 Efficient and easy to use
  • 💡 Useful for various applications (music, meetings, interviews, etc.)
  • 🎁 Free app with no major limitations

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional issues with saving/retrieving recordings
  • 🔍 Navigation and file management could be more intuitive
  • 💸 Aggressive ads and prompts to rate the app
  • 🔒 Concerns about data security and privacy

Bugs and requests

Voice Memos

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Recordings disappearing or not saving properly
  • Phantom data usage and storage issues
  • Playback issues (choppy, unresponsive)
  • Compatibility problems with newer iOS versions
  • Inability to delete or export recordings

Requested features

5 requests
  • Repeat/loop playback feature
  • Ability to add notes/comments to recordings
  • Improved search and filtering options
  • Integration with other apps (e.g., transcription)
  • Selective sync option to manage storage

Voice recorder

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Recordings sometimes stop unexpectedly
  • Difficulty finding and accessing saved files
  • Compatibility issues with certain devices or OS versions

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add ability to append to existing recordings
  • Implement a trash/recovery feature for deleted files
  • Improve editing functionality and precision
  • Add Bluetooth connectivity and background recording options

In-app purchases

None

Voice Memos

No in-app purchases

None

Voice recorder

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Voice Memos free?
Voice Memos is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Voice recorder free?
Voice recorder is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Voice Memos or Voice recorder?
Voice Memos is rated higher. Voice Memos averages 4.8 out of 5 from 1.1M ratings, while Voice recorder averages 4.6 from 26K ratings.
Do Voice Memos or Voice recorder have ads?
Voice recorder shows ads; Voice Memos does not.
Which is updated more often, Voice Memos or Voice recorder?
Voice Memos ships an update every 5 months, and Voice recorder every 2 months. Most recently, Voice Memos was updated on November 10, 2026 and Voice recorder on November 10, 2026.

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