Easy Voice Recorder: Review and Alternatives With Transcription

Easy Voice Recorder is one of the best plain recorders on Android: it's free, starts recording from a widget in one tap, and keeps going with the screen off. Its transcription is a beta that runs on your phone in English, Spanish and Portuguese only, with a time limit per recording on the free version. If you just need clean audio, keep it. If you need a transcript of a long meeting in another language, or a summary and action items, pair it with (or switch to) an AI note app.

That's the verdict. The rest of this review shows what the app does, what Pro adds for $4.99, how the iPhone version differs, and which alternative fits which job.

Every fact about the app below comes from its Google Play listing and App Store listing, checked on November 7, 2026. Prices are US prices and can change.

Easy Voice Recorder at a glance

Easy Voice Recorder is made by Digipom. On Google Play it has over 50 million downloads and a 4.7-star rating from about 625,000 reviews. The iPhone version has 4.8 stars from about 11,000 ratings.

If you're still choosing between recorder apps in general, our roundup of the best voice recorder apps with transcription covers the whole field. This page is about one app and whether it's worth keeping.

What Easy Voice Recorder does well

It starts fast and doesn't stop

The app's best feature is the boring one. Add the widget to your home screen and a recording starts with one tap. It keeps recording in the background, with the screen off, and there's no time limit on the recording itself. On a Wear OS watch, a tile starts a recording from your wrist.

Picture Dana, a landscaping crew lead (an illustration, not a real customer). She walks a client's yard at 7:30 a.m. with gloves on and a clipboard in one hand. One tap on the widget, phone in her chest pocket, and the whole walkthrough is saved: which beds to edge, where the sprinkler leaks, the budget the client mentioned twice.

That's the job this app was built for.

Sensible formats and presets

The free version records to PCM (uncompressed WAV-style audio) and MP4, or to AMR when you need small files. Presets switch the app between voice notes, meetings and lectures, and music or raw sound, so you don't have to know what a bitrate is. Playback can be sped up or slowed down, and it can skip silent parts.

Easy to share

Every recording can go out by email or any messaging app, and you can search and sort the list. On iPhone you can save recordings to iCloud Drive instead of the phone.

Easy Voice Recorder transcription: what you actually get

Digipom has added transcription, and it's the reason most people now search for it. Here's what the Google Play listing says, in Digipom's own words: transcription runs "privately on your device (beta)" and "works in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. The free version has a time limit per recording; the Pro version unlocks full transcriptions."

What that means in practice:

• Private: the audio isn't sent to a server to be transcribed. Good for personal notes.
• Three languages: English, Spanish and Portuguese. A meeting in German, Hindi or French won't transcribe.
• A cap on free: the free version stops transcribing after a set length per recording. The listing doesn't publish the exact limit, so test it on one of your own recordings before you rely on it.
• Beta: Digipom labels it beta. It also isn't supported on 32-bit Android phones, which mostly means older budget models.
• Text only: you get a transcript you can search, edit and export. There are no speaker labels, summaries or action items listed on either store page.

On iPhone, the free app also transcribes, and a one-time "Full transcriptions" purchase for $1.99 allows "transcriptions of unlimited length."

Need a summary, not just the words? ParrotNotes records on the same phone, transcribes in 99+ languages on Pro, and writes the summary and action items for you. The free plan covers 100 minutes a month.

Easy Voice Recorder free vs Pro vs iPhone

This is the table we couldn't find anywhere else. It's built from the two store listings on November 7, 2026.

On Android you can buy Pro inside the free app (in-app purchases run $1.49 to $4.99 per item) or install the separate Easy Voice Recorder Pro app, which costs $4.99 and has 4.7 stars from about 35,000 reviews. Either way it's a one-time price, not a subscription.

Is Pro worth $4.99? Yes, if you record every week. Automatic Google Drive upload alone saves you from losing a year of recordings with a broken phone, and the transcription limit goes away. If you record twice a month, the free version is fine.

Where Easy Voice Recorder falls short

• It isn't a call recorder. Digipom says so plainly. For calls, see our guide to recording phone calls on Android.
• Transcription is narrow. Three languages, a beta label, and nothing beyond the raw text.
• No AI layer. No summary, no list of decisions, no follow-up email draft, no way to ask a question about last Tuesday's recording.
• Long recordings stay long. A 70-minute lecture is still 70 minutes of audio or a wall of text. You'll scroll or listen back to find the one part you need.
• Ads on free. The free Android version shows ads; Pro removes them.

None of these is a flaw in what the app promises. It is "exactly what the name says," in Digipom's words: an easy recorder. The problems start when you expect it to be a note-taker.

A quick note on the law before any recorder: if you record other people, consent rules apply. Some US states need everyone's permission. See our list of one-party and two-party consent states before you record a meeting or interview.

Easy Voice Recorder alternatives with transcription

The recorder already on your phone

Before installing anything, check what your phone has built in. All three of these are free.

• iPhone: Voice Memos. On an iPhone 12 or later, Voice Memos writes a transcript while you record. Our Apple Voice Memos transcription guide has the steps and limits.
• Samsung Galaxy: Voice Recorder. On Galaxy phones with One UI 6.1 or later, Transcript assist turns recordings into text and can summarize them. See our Samsung Voice Recorder guide.
• Google Pixel: Recorder. Google's Recorder transcribes on the device, but it only comes on Pixel phones. Our Google Recorder guide covers what it does and the options for other phones.

On a Motorola, OnePlus, Xiaomi or other Android phone, the built-in recorder varies by maker, and many don't transcribe at all. That gap is why Digipom's app became popular in the first place. Our guide on how to record audio on Android walks through each maker's app.

An AI note app: ParrotNotes

If the job ends with you typing up notes, the right alternative is an app that does that step for you. ParrotNotes runs on iPhone and Android. You tap record, and when you stop it gives you the transcript, an AI summary, and on AI-powered recordings, action items and key points. Pro adds follow-up email drafts and AI chat.

What the plans include, from the pricing page:

• Free: 100 minutes of recording a month, up to 30 minutes per recording, an AI summary on every recording, and 5 AI-powered recordings a month with action items and key points.
• Pro: $19.99 a month, or $14.99 a month billed annually. 3,000 minutes a month, up to 3 hours per recording, transcription in 99+ languages with translation, speaker identification and AI chat with your recordings.

Here's an illustration of the difference. Rafael, a sales rep in Miami (not a real customer), used the free recorder for client visits. Each recording was clear.

But every evening he spent 20 minutes listening back to write CRM notes, and half his calls were in Spanish and English mixed. With an AI note app, the summary and next steps are waiting when he gets back to the car, and on Pro, mixed-language conversations come out as one transcript.

Want to try it on your own recordings? Get ParrotNotes free on iPhone or Android. No credit card.

Which app for which job

Most people don't need to replace it. They need to know when to reach for something else. Here's how we'd split six common jobs.

How to move Easy Voice Recorder files into a transcription app

Already have months of recordings in the app? You don't have to start over.

1. Open the app and find the recording.
2. Open its options and tap Share (the menu layout can change between versions).
3. Pick your transcription app from the share sheet. In ParrotNotes, the free plan includes 3 audio imports and 3 share-to-app transcriptions a month; Pro has no import limit.
4. Wait for the transcript and summary, then copy what you need.

On Android Pro, automatic Google Drive upload makes this easier: your recordings are already on Drive, ready to import from a laptop. Our guide on how to transcribe a voice memo has more ways to turn an existing file into text.

Priya, a new real estate agent (an illustration), recorded every session of her 12-week licensing course on her phone. The week before the exam she shared the six sessions she understood least into an AI note app and read the summaries on the train.

She listened back only to the parts the summaries flagged. The recorder did its job; the second app did the reading.

The verdict

Digipom's recorder earns its 50 million downloads. It's fast, reliable, honest about what it does, and Pro is a fair one-time $4.99. Keep it if you want audio.

Look elsewhere when:

• You need transcripts in a language other than English, Spanish or Portuguese.
• You want a summary, action items or a follow-up email instead of a recording to replay.
• You need to record phone calls.

For those jobs, check your phone's built-in recorder first, then try an AI note app. ParrotNotes is free to start on iPhone and Android, with 100 minutes a month.