Transcribe voice memos from iPhone or Android

Plenty of interviews and field notes are recorded on a phone. To turn one into a transcript, all you need is to get the recording out of the app as a file.

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iPhone: save a voice memo as a file

Open Voice Memos and tap the recording.
Tap the three-dot menu and choose Share.
Choose Save to Files and pick a folder, for example in iCloud Drive.
Upload the M4A file to Themera from your phone or computer.

Android: export from your recorder app

On Android the route depends on the recorder app. Most offer Share or Export and save as M4A or MP3, both of which Themera accepts. Some older apps record AMR or 3GP; convert those to MP3 first or switch the app to another format.

Recording an interview on a phone

Put the phone between you and the other person, microphone towards both of you, not on a soft surface.
Silence notifications so calls do not interrupt the recording.
Record the conversation in one piece rather than many short clips.
Make a short test recording where you will talk and listen back.

Keeping recordings safe on a phone

A phone is not a good long-term home for interview recordings. Many recorder apps sync recordings to a cloud automatically or include them in device backups. Check whether that fits what participants consented to, and turn syncing off for the app if needed.

Name each file with a fixed pattern, such as date and participant code, never a real name. Once the transcript is checked, delete the recording in Themera in one click, and remove it from the phone as soon as it is stored where your data plan says it should be.

Field notes and reflections

Thoughts right after an interview, such as notes on the setting and anything unusual, are quicker to dictate than to write. Transcribed, they sit next to the interview in the same account.