Recording on your phone
The permissions the app asks for, what the screen shows while you're recording, and what happens to a recording once you stop.
Record a meeting straight from your phone when there's no laptop to upload from afterward and no meeting bot to send instead: a live conversation, a hallway one-on-one, a call on someone else's device. VoiceCap captures audio locally on the phone and uploads it the moment you stop.
Before you can record
The first time you tap the microphone button, VoiceCap asks for microphone access. iOS shows: "VoiceCap uses the microphone to record your meetings so they can be transcribed." On Android, the same tap requests RECORD_AUDIO first; on the very first recording the consent notice described below comes next, and only once that is out of the way does VoiceCap ask to send notifications, so it can show the ongoing notification that tells you a recording is running and takes you back to it. Recording starts after you answer that last prompt, not while it is on screen. The app also declares FOREGROUND_SERVICE, FOREGROUND_SERVICE_MICROPHONE and FOREGROUND_SERVICE_MEDIA_PLAYBACK, which Android requires for any app that keeps recording, or keeps playing audio, once you switch away from it or lock the screen, and MODIFY_AUDIO_SETTINGS, used to manage audio routing while capturing.
Turning down the notification request does not stop recording. Android does not need that permission to keep a recording running in the background, so the recording continues either way and the only thing you lose is the notification itself. Denying microphone access outright leaves the record button unusable until you turn microphone access back on for VoiceCap in your phone's system settings, which the app links you straight to.
Recording a meeting
- Open Record and tap the microphone.
- The first time, confirm the consent notice: you're telling VoiceCap you're responsible for informing everyone in the meeting that it's being recorded, and for following the recording-consent laws where you are, since some places require everyone's consent. VoiceCap only asks once; after that, tapping the microphone starts recording straight away.
- A timer shows the recording running, next to a rough audio-level badge (good or low) and a running estimate of the file size. Type a title while it runs, or leave it blank: the meeting arrives as "Untitled meeting" and is renamed from its summary once processing finishes. Under the title, People speaking reads Not sure until you set a number. Tap + or − to say how many people will speak, yourself included (up to 32). The first tap on + sets 2; if you're the only one speaking, tap − after it for 1. VoiceCap uses the number to tell the speakers apart in the transcript, and you can change it while the recording runs. Leave it on Not sure if you don't know. From six people up, the screen suggests putting the phone in the middle of the table.
- Pause and resume as needed, or tap Discard to delete everything captured so far instead of uploading it.
- Tap stop when you're done.
If the system interrupts you
A phone call pauses recording and resumes it automatically once the call ends. A route change, such as a Bluetooth headset connecting, also resumes on its own. Any other interruption pauses recording and waits for you to tap Resume yourself. Whichever kind it is, nothing captured before the interruption is lost.
On an iPhone, a call that ends while you're still outside VoiceCap, on the call screen or the lock screen, can't restart the recording straight away: iOS only lets the app take the microphone back once VoiceCap is open again. The Record screen stays on Paused until then, and recording picks up when you come back to VoiceCap. If it can't, tap Resume. The audio captured so far is safe either way, and you can still tap stop to upload it.
Recording continues if you switch apps
Recording keeps running if you switch to another app or lock your screen. With the latest version of the app on an iPhone, a running recording also shows on the lock screen with its title and time, and you can tap Stop there to end it and upload it. On some Android phones, the manufacturer's own battery management still kills long background recordings to save power. VoiceCap shows a one-time card offering to open your phone's battery settings so you can exempt it there; you can get back to that same screen later from Settings.
While a recording is running, playing a meeting does nothing, audio or video alike. Recording and playback both want the phone's audio, and VoiceCap gives the recording priority rather than risk cutting it short. If a meeting was already playing when you start recording, it pauses and its lock-screen controls disappear. Stop the recording and playback works again.
If VoiceCap closes before you stop
If the app is closed or crashes while you're recording, the next time you open VoiceCap it offers the unfinished recording, with how long was captured, so you can upload or discard it. If part of it couldn't be recovered, the card says so.
A recording you upload later, whether from the recovery card or after your phone regains signal, is still dated when you recorded it. It appears in your meetings list under that day, not under the day it finished uploading, so a call you had on Tuesday stays on Tuesday even if it only reached VoiceCap on Wednesday. Date filters and searches use the same day.
When the two days are far apart, the meeting page shows both: the recording date and time, then "uploaded" and the day the upload finished. If a meeting turns up under a day you did not expect, that second date is where to look. A phone whose clock is wrong reports the wrong recording time, and showing both dates is what makes the difference visible.
What happens after you stop
VoiceCap assembles what you captured into a single audio file and starts uploading it right away. The file stays on your phone until the upload is confirmed, then it's removed. From there, a recording goes through the same processing as a file you upload: see Uploading a recording for what each status means, and Summaries for what you get once it finishes.
The app uploads one recording at a time. If an upload is still running when you stop a second recording, VoiceCap says An upload is already in progress. rather than interrupting the first one. Nothing is lost: the second recording stays on your phone and is offered for upload the next time you open the app, once the first upload has finished.
When your team is out of minutes
Once your organization has used its minutes, the Record tab shows that instead of the microphone button, so you don't start a recording that can't be transcribed. While there are minutes left on a plan with a limit, the line under the microphone button says how many the team has.
If you run out while uploading, whether a recording you stopped a moment ago or a file you picked, the upload screen says so and the recording stays on your phone. Tap Try again once your team has minutes.
A Member sees Ask Rokas to upgrade (with your Owner's name), which sends the request to the Owner and Admins; after you tap it, the screen shows who you asked and when. An Owner or Admin changes the plan in the web dashboard, not in the app. See Plans.