iPhone 3.0: Sync Voice Memos with iTunes
Submitted by Chris on April 3, 2009 - 2:19pm
One of my favorite features of the upcoming iPhone 3.0 OS is the new default Springboard app from Apple called Voice Memos. The app is very simple yet elegantly designed and is everything I've wanted in a simple voice recorder. It is packed with many features and more integrated than any other voice recorder available for the iPhone.
The recording interface is very simple, sporting only a large image of a microphone with a audibility meter and controls underneath. Managing recordings is done in a familiar voicemail interface. Upon first glance, you can immediately tell the time, date and the length of the recording. You can also manage your memos by sharing (currently only via email) or delete them. Each memo has a blue 'info' arrow that leads to a more detailed screen that provides advanced features such as tagging or trimming the recording.
Apart from improving the overall stability of Voice Memos, the latest beta of the iPhone 3.0 OS (7A258g) quietly introduced two (2) changes that make the app even better. The first is that the phone now gives audio cues when beginning and stopping recordings. While, I'm not very impressed with the audio cues (camera shutter snap and text input click), it is a step in the right direction. The second feature is the ability to sync voice memos with your Mac via iTunes. A playlist called "Voice Memos" is created and your recordings are automatically synced. Apple has not yet included the preference option under iPhone INfo Tab to control whether syncing is turned on or not.
Check out some screenshots of the interface on the MAG Galleries.
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Comments
June 6, 2009 - 9:49am
#2
Sadly, you can't label the recording in the current beta, you can only tag them by context. For example, you can tag one recording as "Lecture" and the other as "Poetry". Each recording is given a unique time stamp as the name which you can edit just like a regular song once it syncs to iTunes.
Yes, you can burn it to CD after syncing with iTunes. iTunes handles it like a regular music file, so you can also locate the file in Finder and also use it in other applications like Garageband or iMovie.
You can only trim the beginning and end of a recording, not in between. Trimming is final - you can preview a clip before you trim it to see what it will sound like.
June 6, 2009 - 2:02pm
#3
thanks for the information chris.
Keep doing what your doing. Your great at it
June 16, 2009 - 1:45pm
#4
This app is NOT good. I've downloaded 3.0 and this app changes the name of my previously recorded Voice Memos to just a generic name of date & time. I've been using the device called called iTalk plugged into my iPod to record work meetings that last over an hour. Apple's attempt to offer you this same capability with this new app would have allowed me not to use iTalk but it has screwed up all the titles of my previous recordings after I synced to the iPhone.
The voice memos don't show up on the songs list anymore and can only be played within the app. You now have to rename the voice memo after it's synced to the iPhone to know which one your playing. This creates double the work for us.
Apple is ignorant on this one.
June 17, 2009 - 9:40pm
#5
Yes. You can label a voice recording anything you want. Simply go to "custom" and type in a tag. The resulting file will take the tag's name.
June 20, 2009 - 9:21pm
#6
I am having trouble syncing voice memos from iPhone 3 G (with downloaded software). Any suggestions? I have recorded two half hour voice memos which are important chapters in a book I am writing and want to move them into iTunes and listen on my computer.
Also for those asking how to label voice memos: if you click Custom (I had to hold it down to get it to respond), the keyboard shows up and the voice memo can be named.
June 20, 2009 - 9:28pm
#7
This is same person who wrote about difficulty with syncing voice memos from iPhone to iTunes. I just figure out that what happened is that the names I gave the memos were erased (or whatever the right term) and replaced by date. So I will have to rename them in the iTunes list. Annoying, but at least I know where they are now.
June 30, 2009 - 12:52am
#8
I have a question about the new voice memo app. I used it to record a meeting that was about two hours long. When I got home I tried to play the recording, but all I got was the wheel to the left of the recording to spin. After a while my phone just powered down and went to sleep. Later on that night I synced my phone with my powerbook. After I had finished syncing my phone I looked in the voice memo folder(on the phone) and the recording was gone! I looked in my itunes playlist and there was a new playlist called voice memos, but the recording was not there. I searched in my finder for any new files loaded that day and found a .m4a file that is 35mb. It wont open in itunes, nor in quicktime. I have a feeling this is my recording, but I cannot open it. Any suggestions?
Thanks
July 14, 2009 - 12:00am
#10
Dude,
I have the same frustrating problem. I even reset and restarted the whole iPhone 3g again. It worked for one 40 minute message and now the other two 35 minute messages are blank. They appear, but when you play them nothing happens and they won't synch up. Very disappointed to have counted on Apple and four times this Voice Memos app has failed me big time. Maybe I should just use a third party app?
July 14, 2009 - 4:32am
#11
Hi,
I'm having a couple of problems with voice memos too (but I adore the concept).
I recorded a voice memo today, and came home to sync it to my iTunes. I can see that the memo is in my iPhone device list, but I can't move it to my library or save it or find it in spotlight.
I haven't actually checked 'sync Music' in the settings, and I'm worried if I click this I'll lose the voice memo from my iPhone.
Can you please advise:
- if it's possible to save the voice memo as a file of any sort;
- if I check 'sync Music' in the settings whether I will lose the voice memo from the iPhone.
Appreciate any help. Cheers
July 14, 2009 - 1:22pm
#13
In iTunes, under the Music tab at the bottom, can you select the option to include voice memos - or is it only visible if syncing is selected?
July 17, 2009 - 5:09pm
#14
You should be able to select ''sync music'' and ''include voice memos'' without losing the voice memo on the iphone.
August 14, 2009 - 8:07pm
#15
ALL:
Here is what you do to get the voice memo on your pc.
1) Hook iPhone up to itunes
2) Look for "voice memos" on the left side of Itunes (lower left)
3) Click on "voice memos"
4) See the memo you want?
5) Drag it onto where you want to save it (deskptop, C drive)
6) Double click on it. Whereever you save it and it will play
Worked for me
August 16, 2009 - 1:40pm
#16
I can only check the option to include voice memos if syncing is checked.. but if I do that will it erase everything off my phone (including the memo..)? I have it selected to manually manage my music and everything so now I don't know what to do. PLEASE HELP ME!
August 17, 2009 - 12:07am
#17
'Voice memos' is not on the left side and my iPhone and iTunes are up to date with the latest version. Please advise. If it were that simple, I would not be looking for forums to solve this problem. Thanks!
Help! I have a very precious interview with my Dad on it and I cannot risk losing it!
August 18, 2009 - 1:43pm
#18
Are you on AIM? We can try to screenshare so I can see exactly what's going on. Email your screen name to contactus[at]myappleguide.com?
Alternatively, you can post some screenshots of iTunes with your iPhone connected.
August 26, 2009 - 1:00am
#19
Sorry, I have to agree that this app is broken. There doesn't appear to be a way to sync the voice memos to iTunes if you manually manage music on your iPhone. The "include voice memos" checkbox is ghosted if you do, and you can't change it to sync without (according to the scary popup message) erasing all of the data on your iPhone. Emailing only works if you have email enabled and if the memo is small. A reasonable length recording can easily exceed the maximum size of something that you can email.
August 26, 2009 - 7:20am
#20
I have important Voice Memos recorded that I would like to add to my computer.
I have no clue how to get it off my phone onto the computer.
I have looked at different websites, did what they said. Nothing.
Plus this voice memos tab on the side? How do i get that. I dont have it.
PLEASE HELP! they are important!!
August 26, 2009 - 5:37pm
#21
A helpful note: Once you sync your voice memos, you can delete it from your phone (to save space or whatever), it remains on iTunes. I tested it out and it works.
August 28, 2009 - 11:22am
#22
Large files don't show up in iTunes... mine doesn't even play. Haven't tried to email small segments yet. Disappointing, what I lost isn't like I can't do with out but the trust and time it took to get this recording - unbelievable. You would think Apple could simple split it into X number of files based on size automatically.
September 26, 2009 - 10:29am
#23
my problem is that I cannot view the name of the file (labeling it on iphone via: "custom")
HOWEVER, on the itunes:
via iTunes LEFT side bar>playlist>voice memos>right click on top row (with name/time/size> reveal entire list (top Auto size all columns, then below the line Album to Year).
I have checked EVERY category; an none of these categories shows the iphone given "custom" name.
IMO, Disconnect between the iphone and itunes. Needs a tweak.
Why is it important? Well when traveling, I'll dictate my thoughts and label it (since there's so much down time on international flights).
However, IMO, it's a waste of time if I were have to ONCE AGAIN name files that are ALREADY named via CUSTOM.
September 27, 2009 - 5:53pm
#24
I have recorded several voice memos of only a few minutes each and can get them onto iTunes and even onto an iPod from there. My problem is that the memos will not play continuously, only one at a time. Is there anyway to get them to play back to back like songs in a playlist will?
October 7, 2009 - 10:30am
#25
I also am manually managing my music and when I plug my iPhone 3G in nothing happens -- No Voice Memos playlist under music, no nothing. I need to be able to sync these files for work, but I am afraid that if I click sync (with the "include voice memos" button checked) that I will lose my Voice memos from my phone.
Please Advise
October 15, 2009 - 8:18am
#26
One thing I have found is that this was not syncing or even playing back any of my recordings which were all 40-60 minutes in length. I was very frustrated and have just found a way you can get your recordings even if the app doesn't play them orr itunes wont recognize/sync it.
Here's how I did it.
SSH into the phone, of course mine is jailbroken and you will need it to be to enable SSH. But it's worth having my recordings, it was under var/media/recordings. Use a client like Filezilla log in with the ip of the phone and port 22, default password for iphones/touches you can find on google. You will need the touch/phone wireless connected to your network and it plugged into your pc. If you need help there are many websites that explain ssh.
Enjoy
November 10, 2009 - 11:33pm
#27
i have the new app and i want to sync the memo to my comp and it is very important and if i loose it im screwed and i have stuff froma old comp that broke so i got a new comp and was to lazy to sync it resently, so it warns when i try to put the memo on the comp its going to delete all my old data does that include my memos im putting on to the comp??? and am i going to loose them in any way and can u tell me how i can save them without loosing the data.
November 11, 2009 - 1:25pm
#28
i have the new app and i want to sync the memo to my comp and it is very important and if i loose it im screwed and i have stuff froma old comp that broke so i got a new comp and was to lazy to sync it resently, so it warns when i try to put the memo on the comp its going to delete all my old data does that include my memos im putting on to the comp??? and am i going to loose them in any way and can u tell me how i can save them without loosing the data.
I would definitely jailbreak and backup the voicemail manually. Then you can un-jailbreak.
November 13, 2009 - 6:52pm
#30
how do i do that?
Follow this guide. No need to unlock. Just Jailbreak. It should take 15 seconds max. Let me know once that is complete. I will try to write up some instructions later.
Chris does it allow you to label the recordings individually?
Are you able to burn to CD after syncs with iTunes?
Are we only able to trim the begining and the end or in between as well?