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 plus POST_NOTIFICATIONS, the permission Android needs to show the persistent notification a recording displays while it keeps running in the background. The app also declares FOREGROUND_SERVICE, FOREGROUND_SERVICE_MICROPHONE and FOREGROUND_SERVICE_MEDIA_PLAYBACK, which Android requires for any app that keeps recording once you switch away from it or lock the screen, and MODIFY_AUDIO_SETTINGS, used to manage audio routing while capturing.
If you deny the notifications permission, recording still works, but only while VoiceCap stays open in the foreground; switching to another app pauses it. 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 and VoiceCap calls it "Untitled meeting."
- 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.
Recording continues if you switch apps
Recording keeps running if you switch to another app or lock your screen, as long as you allowed the notifications permission above. On some Android phones, the manufacturer's own battery management still kills long background recordings to save power regardless. 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.
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.
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.