How to Record Phone Calls on iPhone: Built-In Recording and Apps

Dana manages 40 rental units in Phoenix.

At 4:10 PM a plumber calls with three quotes, two dates, and a warranty detail she'll need in a month. She's driving. By the time she parks, she remembers one price and none of the dates.

If that sounds like your week, you've probably searched for apps for recording phone calls on iPhone. Good news: you may not need one. Since iOS 18, the iPhone's own Phone app can record a call and save it, with a transcript, to Notes. It doesn't work everywhere, though, and it only transcribes a few languages.

This guide covers both routes. You'll get the built-in steps, checked against Apple's own support pages on October 30, 2026, the apps that still work, and what to do when neither fits. You'll also see how to turn the recording into notes and a follow-up, and where to check the consent rules before you tap record. (Dana is an illustration, not a real customer.)

Built-in recording or an app: pick by situation

Start here. Find your situation, then jump to that section.

One rule sits above the whole table: tell the other person, and check the law where both of you are.

How to record a phone call on iPhone with the built-in Phone app

Apple's iPhone User Guide says that "in some countries and regions, you can record a phone call when you're talking to one other person." Apple's support article says it works for phone and FaceTime audio calls, starting in iOS 18.

Here's how to record a phone call on iPhone, step by step:

1. Open the Phone app and make or answer the call.
2. During the call, tap the More button, then tap Call Recording.
3. Both of you hear an audio notice that the call is being recorded.
4. To stop, tap the Stop button or hang up.
5. Tap View Saved Call to open it, or find it later in the Call Recordings folder in the Notes app.

In Notes, tap the recording to play it. In supported regions and languages, a transcript appears there too, with the speaker of each statement identified. It may say the transcription is in progress for a moment. You can search it with Find in Transcript, copy it, or tap Add Transcript to Note.

Two details people miss. First, deleting the audio also deletes the transcript, so copy the text out before you clean up. Second, Apple's own advice is to "verify the accuracy of a transcription before relying on it."

Don't see the option? Go to Settings > Apps > Phone > Audio Call Recording. Apple says it's on by default, but you or a company profile may have switched it off.

Where built-in call recording isn't available

Apple's guide lists the places where call recording "isn't currently available": Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt, the European Union, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

So a consultant in Berlin or Madrid won't see the button at all. That's a regional setting, not a fault.

Which languages get a transcript

This is the limit almost nobody mentions. Apple's feature availability page lists over 30 languages for call recording, including German, French, Hindi and Italian. Call transcription is a much shorter list (as of October 30, 2026):

• English (Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Singapore, UK, US)
• Spanish (Mexico, US) and Portuguese (Brazil)
• Japanese and Korean
• Mandarin Chinese (China mainland, Taiwan) and Cantonese (Hong Kong)

If your call is in French, you'll get the audio but no transcript. A summary needs Apple Intelligence on top of that, which Apple lists for iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and iPhone 16 models or later.

Recording calls in more than one language? ParrotNotes transcribes 99+ languages on Pro, and you can send it the audio from Notes in a few taps (steps below).

Apps for recording phone calls on iPhone

Apple doesn't give other apps access to a normal phone call's audio. That's why apps for recording phone calls on iPhone use a workaround: they merge a recording line into your call as a three-way call, or they give you a separate phone number that does the recording. Both have catches.

TapeACall

TapeACall is one of the best-known call recorder apps. Its App Store listing (seller Mosaic S.r.l.) shows a free download with in-app subscriptions, priced from $7.99 to $89.99 depending on the plan and period, as of October 2026. The listing also advertises automatic recording of outgoing calls and transcripts of recordings.

The catch is the carrier. The listing says "TapeACall requires your carrier supports 3-way calling," and names SimpleTalk and H2o Wireless as US carriers that don't. Reviews on the same page describe the merge steps as fiddly, so test it on a call that doesn't matter before you rely on it.

Google Voice

If you already use a Google Voice number, it can record calls for free. According to Google Voice Help, personal accounts can record incoming calls only. Turn on Incoming call recording under Settings > Calls, then press 4 during a call to start or stop. Voice plays an announcement to everyone on the call, and the recording shows up in the Calls tab.

Workspace accounts need the right Google Voice license, and admins can set calls to record automatically. Either way, it only records calls to and from your Voice number, not your regular iPhone number.

A note on older advice

Many roundups still recommend the free Rev Call Recorder. On October 30, 2026, its page on rev.com returned a "not found" error and it didn't appear in a US App Store search. Treat any list that leads with it as out of date, and check the App Store listing yourself before you download anything.

When the call can't be recorded on the phone itself

No button and no app? Two free fallbacks cover most cases.

Speakerphone plus a second device. Put the call on speaker and record the room with something else: an iPad, a Mac, or another phone. This also handles group calls, which the Phone app's "one other person" rule leaves out.

ParrotNotes works here, on iPhone, Android, and macOS. It records the conversation through the second device's microphone, then gives you a transcript, a summary, and action items. It isn't a native call recorder.

It's the same in-room recording it does for meetings, pointed at a speaker. Our guide to recording a meeting on iPhone has tips on where to place the device.

A spoken debrief. No recording at all? Hang up and spend 60 seconds saying what matters out loud: names, numbers, dates, and what you promised. A debrief records only you, so there's no one else's consent to ask for. It's also the habit behind most good voice notes on iPhone.

Here's how that plays out. Marco, an executive assistant in Lisbon, can't use the Phone app's recorder because Portugal is in the EU. When his boss's lawyer calls, he asks if he can take notes by recording on speaker, gets a yes, and records on his MacBook.

Ten minutes later he has a summary and four action items, and the lawyer's two deadlines are in the calendar. (Marco is an illustration.)

Turn a call recording into notes you can use

A recording is only half the job. Here's how to turn a built-in recording into notes:

1. Open Notes, then the Call Recordings folder, and tap the call.
2. Tap the recording, then the More menu, then Share Audio. Pick ParrotNotes from the share sheet. (Or tap Save Audio Files to save it to Files first, then import it in ParrotNotes.)
3. ParrotNotes transcribes the file and writes a summary, key points, and action items.
4. Ask it to draft the follow-up email, then edit and send it.
5. Delete the audio from Notes if you don't need it, once you've copied what you want to keep.

On the free plan you get three imports a month and an AI summary on every recording. Pro is $19.99 a month, or $14.99 a month billed annually, with unlimited imports and multilingual transcription in 99+ languages. Transcription needs an internet connection.

Only need a transcript of one short call? Our free audio to text tool transcribes a file up to 10 minutes long and saves it to a free ParrotNotes account.

Back to Dana in Phoenix. The next time the plumber calls, she says, "Mind if I record this so I get the dates right?" He says sure, and she taps Call Recording.

That evening she shares the file from Notes, gets three action items, and sends the contractor a confirmation email with both dates and the warranty term. Nothing is left to memory.

If you want the same evening routine, download ParrotNotes and try it on your next recorded call.

Consent: ask before you tap record

Apple's announcement tells the other person the call is being recorded. Whether that's enough under the law where you both are is a separate question, and this article can't answer it for you. It isn't legal advice.

In the US, the rules vary by state. Some let you record a call you're part of; others require everyone on the call to agree. Our guide to one-party consent states lists every state's rule, with the statutes and what to do when callers are in different states. Outside the US, check your own country's rules, and check your employer's policy too, since it may be stricter than the law.

The simple habit works almost everywhere: ask out loud at the start, and let the yes be the first thing on the recording.

Conclusion

The short version, whether you use the Phone app or apps for recording phone calls on iPhone:

• Try the Phone app first. It's free, it saves to Notes, and both sides hear a notice.
• Know its limits. No EU, no group calls, and transcripts in only a few languages.
• Use a second device when nothing else fits. Speakerphone plus a recorder handles group calls and blocked regions.
• Always ask first. Check the consent rules for every state or country on the call.

Then use the recording while you still remember the call. Download ParrotNotes free to turn your next call recording into a summary, action items, and a follow-up email.