Comparison

SimpleMic vs Voice Memos (Recorder)

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

Head to head
About

SimpleMic

Capture high-quality audio with this elegant iPhone recorder. Features gesture-based controls, multiple recording modes like sound-activated and no-motion activated, and seamless iCloud sync for easy access across devices. Manage, tag, and share your recordings effortlessly.

Highlights
  • Gesture-based user interface
  • Sound Activated recording mode
  • No Motion Activated recording mode
  • Record on Start option
  • iCloud Drive sync
  • Tagging and notes for recordings
  • Comprehensive sharing and uploading
Features
Read full description

The best audio and voice recorder for iPhone just got better! All new for iOS 12, support for Siri Shortcuts! SimpleMic is the fast and elegant audio recorder that makes capturing sound on your iOS device a delightful experience. Now featuring iCloud Drive sync, it has never been easier to collect all your audio on all of your devices! Completely redesigned from the ground up for iOS 12 and with usability in mind, SimpleMic takes advantage of the entire screen to provide gesture based controls atop a beautifully presented user interface. Swipe left or right to start recording and you'll instantly be treated to a vivid glowing level meter as the microphone captures crystal clear audio. Swipe up or down to reveal three different recording modes, each taylor made for specific real-world situations. Ever needed to start recording as soon as the band starts playing or the lecturer speaks? "Sound Activated" mode will quietly wait until the microphone picks up enough sound, then will quickly start recording, even capturing audio from a few seconds prior to make sure you get a perfect recording every time. How about that annoying rattling sound you used to get at the start of every audio recording, you know, that familiar sound of your device being set on the desk after you tap the "record" button and place it down? We hate that too, which is why we also built a "No Motion Activated" mode. Just swipe and place your device where you need to, SimpleMic will wait for it to be completely still for a few moments before starting your recording. No more click-clacks or thuds, just the sweet sounds of your beautiful voice. Finally, if you can't waste even a split second, enable the "Record on Start" option to start recording automatically when you launch the app. But the awesomeness doesn't stop once you're done recording, SimpleMic is as functional under the hood as it is above. Dive in to the recordings list to access and manage all your audio in one place. Every recording gets tagged by date and geo location, but you can easily choose your own label and add notes. And most importantly, SimpleMic offers some of the most comprehensive sharing and uploading functionality of any such app on the market today. Every recording is stored in iCloud and thus backed up and secure. If you need to get audio files off of your device, we have you covered there as well, all of your recordings will be available on your Mac running OS X Yosemite in iCloud Drive. Or, upload/open the audio files directly to Email, SoundCloud, Dropbox, Evernote, or any other app on your device that supports opening audio files. All these great features and much much more… FEATURES • Beautifully designed, gesture-based user interface makes it a breeze to effortlessly record audio. • Gorgeous glowing level meter gives a dazzling realtime representation of your audio. • 3 recording modes help you capture great sounding audio anytime, anywhere. • "Record on Start" option to start recording automatically when app launches. • Support for "Start Recording" and "Show Last Recording" via Siri shortcuts. • Includes Apple Watch app, record directly on your watch, recordings automatically synced to your device and iCloud. • Record any device audio, including audio produced by other apps. • Automatic geo-tagging as well as custom labels and notes. • iCloud Drive syncing. • Upload directly to Email, SoundCloud or Dropbox • Send recorded audio to other apps installed on your device (including Evernote, GDrive, and MS Sky Drive). • Multiple app color themes included, with the ability to unlock even more. • Fully optimized for VoiceOver users. We truly believe we've created the most efficient, functional, yet beautiful audio recorder for iOS and sincerely hope you'll agree. Get SimpleMic today! SimpleMic: Fast, Elegant, Audio Recording

About

Voice Memos (Recorder)

Capture audio and enhance it with text and image tags. Organize recordings into custom categories for easy retrieval. Supports multiple audio formats and file renaming.

Highlights
  • Audio recording
  • Text tagging
  • Image tagging
  • Category management
  • File renaming
  • Multiple audio formats
Features
Read full description

This is a recording app, but not just to record. Based on the audio file, we can add text-tag and photo-tag to create a Image-Text-Audio memo. In the recording, you can add a quick tag with one click, or add text, photo with shoot. Recording :       Recording format AAC/ALAC/MP3/WAVE       Modify File Name of the recording file       Add Title and Notes of the recording file Tag:       Add quick-tag with one click during recording       Add text, image during recording Category management (box):       manage recordings file into custom category       add category(box)

Screenshots

SimpleMic4 screens
Voice Memos (Recorder)4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Voice Memos (Recorder) at none against SimpleMic's 4. Voice Memos (Recorder) also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). SimpleMic's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (79% vs 50%). On price, rating 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. SimpleMic sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Voice Memos (Recorder) asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

SimpleMic holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SimpleMic has 1.7K ratings behind it against 167, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 79% of SimpleMic's written reviews are positive against 50% of Voice Memos (Recorder)'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SimpleMic ships an update every 2 months, Voice Memos (Recorder) every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
SimpleMic versus Voice Memos (Recorder): the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSimpleMicVoice Memos (Recorder)
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (1.7K ratings) — better4.4 (167 ratings)
Positive reviews79.0% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings1.7K — better167
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS11.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size31 MB30 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperVelocity Raptor IncorporatedKSY Studio

Customer experience

SimpleMic

All ratings1,674 ratings
Positive89.0%
Neutral5.1%
Negative5.9%
Written reviews176 reviews
Positive79.0%
Neutral8.0%
Negative13.1%

Voice Memos (Recorder)

All ratings167 ratings
Positive83.2%
Neutral4.2%
Negative12.6%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

Bugs and requests

SimpleMic

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Recordings stop unexpectedly during calls
  • Playback issues when device goes to sleep
  • Renaming files in iCloud doesn't sync back to app

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add ability to record in layers or tracks
  • Include audio waveform visualization
  • Allow recordings to be shared without paid upgrade
  • Implement a complication for quick access from Apple Watch

Voice Memos (Recorder)

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

SimpleMic

One-time4
  • Finer Things Color Pack$0.99
  • Planetary Color Pack$0.99
  • Premium Upgrade$2.99
Show 1 more
  • Mega Bundle$3.99
None

Voice Memos (Recorder)

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SimpleMic free?
SimpleMic is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Voice Memos (Recorder) free?
Voice Memos (Recorder) is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, SimpleMic or Voice Memos (Recorder)?
SimpleMic is rated higher. SimpleMic averages 4.5 out of 5 from 1.7K ratings, while Voice Memos (Recorder) averages 4.4 from 167 ratings.
Do SimpleMic or Voice Memos (Recorder) have ads?
Voice Memos (Recorder) shows ads; SimpleMic does not.
Which is updated more often, SimpleMic or Voice Memos (Recorder)?
SimpleMic ships an update every 2 months, and Voice Memos (Recorder) every 3 weeks. Most recently, SimpleMic was updated on October 26, 2026 and Voice Memos (Recorder) on October 24, 2026.

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