Ask LH: How Can I Record Calls On My Mobile?

Hey Lifehacker, How can I record a phone call on my mobile? Thanks, Records Needed

Picture: Getty Images

Dear RN,

From a technical standpoint, there are a couple of different ways to record calls on your mobile phone.

The simplest and most basic would be to use a secondary recording device, whether it’s another smartphone, a tablet or a PC while using the speakerphone mode on your mobile. That’s crude, but should be effective for basic recording suitable for either preservation or transcription purpose. Obviously it also broadcasts the call to everyone around you.

If you want to record calls purely on your mobile device, however, there are a few app options open to you, although it’s a tricky proposition when you balance privacy and easy access to your files. Apps such as Call Log Pro, Call Recorder ACR and Google Voice provide call recording facilities, but rely on either subscription fees for recording, that same speakerphone recording trick or having a US-based number to work off, which may not be ideal for your purposes.

There’s a secondary aspect to recording your calls that you should pay serious attention to, however, and it’s the fact that under Australian Law,you’re obliged to not only let the other party know that you’re recording the call, but also offer them the option to not have the call recorded as well, which is why any business system that does that kind of recording always includes those kinds of opt-out statements. Yes, the chances of you getting busted on the spot are remarkably low, but at the same time depending on what you’re planning to do with your recordings, it could spell serious trouble down the line if you can’t absolutely prove consent on the side of both parties.

Any Lifehacker readers have their own methods for (legal) call recording?

Cheers
Lifehacker

Have a question you want to put to Ask Lifehacker? Send it using our [contact text=”contact form”].


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

Here are the cheapest plans available for Australia’s most popular NBN speed tier.

At Lifehacker, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.

Comments


11 responses to “Ask LH: How Can I Record Calls On My Mobile?”