Recording lectures with a voice recorder in the classroom have always been a highly challenging task. As you’re sitting over there with a handful of other students, their noise can deteriorate the quality of your recording. However, if making sure that you have a high-quality recording, one which can be heard later on without any hindrance, is your goal, you can always use your iPhone’s built-in microphone for recording lectures.
Apple offers a Voice Memos app that is already incorporated on the iPhone. This application makes it quite easy to record class lectures, and you can also use it to record various other voice memos. It works like a digital recorder, so you don’t have to purchase one for this particular purpose.
So, in the below-mentioned guide, we’re going to tell how to properly use the Voice Memos software along with the iPhone’s microphone for recording lectures, of course you can use an external mic for your iPhone too. Even though it is quite easy, you still have to follow some steps to ensure the quality of your recordings. Afterwards, you can take help from these recordings to prepare for your exams and other important assignments. For studio recording quality check out our guide to choosing a mic for recording.
Table of Contents
How to record a lecture on iPhone?
First Step
When it comes to recording lectures via your iPhone, you cannot afford to sit on the backbenches. You’ve to arrive early in the classroom and sit as close to the lecturer as possible. Not only will it improve the quality of your recordings, but it will also reduce background noise.
For those of you who’re using the iPhone 4 or the newer versions, Apple has already designed a special microphone for your convenience. It is designed at one side of the headset jack, and it works extremely well when it comes to canceling outside noises.
Second Step
Apart from reducing outside noises, you’ve to make sure that the iPhone’s alerts won’t interfere as well during your recording sessions. For this purpose, click on the settings before tapping on the sounds menu. Click on a couple of vibrate switches over there and turn them off.
Third Step
Click on the Voice Memos app on your phone. If you haven’t used this application in the past, you might not find it with the regular apps. In that case, go to the utility folder, and you’ll find this app residing over there.
Fourth Step
After launching the Voice Memos app, you’ll find a big red button at the bottom of your screen. It works as a record button at the start, and once you’ve clicked it, it will turn into a pause button. You’ll also find a red banner at the top of your screen which notifies the user that the recording has been started.
Fifth Step
Before using the Voice Memos app in your classroom, it is recommended to use it in your own room. Tap on the red button and speak a few words. You can call out your lecturer’s name and date of the lecture while holding the phone. If the needle, which is designed at the center of your screen, starts moving, it means you’re correctly doing everything.
Sixth Step
Before the lecturer arrives in the classroom, you should launch the Voice Memos app and click on the pause button. You should always place your iPhone on a flat surface with the microphone directed towards the lecturer. Keep this thing in mind, that the mic is designed at the bottom edge of your iPhone. Tap on the play button as soon as the lecturer starts delivering his or her lecture.
With the help of the Voice Memos app, you can record for as long as you want. The reason behind it is that this particular application imposes no time limit on recording. This is a viable thing for all those students who’re going to use it for recording lengthy lectures.
If the professor takes a break in the midst of the lecture, click on the pause button to avoid recording unnecessary audio. Once the break is over, click again on the red button and this application will start recording.
Seventh Step
Click on the stop button as soon as the lecture is finished. You’ll find this button at the bottom-right edge of your screen. It is designed in a square shape which makes it easy to differentiate from the play and pause button.
Eighth Step
Depending on your preference, you can also give a name to this recording by clicking on the relevant field. If you’re satisfied with the quality of this recording, click on the save button. However, you can also tap on delete button if you think that the recording isn’t good enough.
Sharing the Recorded Lecture
Apart from recording voice memos with your iPhone microphone, you can also share it with other people. This is highly beneficial for all those students who want to share their class lectures with the fellow students.
For this purpose, click on the Voice Memos app and tap on the voice memo which you want to share. Once you’ve selected a particular recording, a separate share button will appear at the lower left corner of your screen. If you haven’t found it, it’s a blue box with an arrow pointing upwards.
With the help of this particular feature, you can share your recordings via a number of different ways. It includes iMessage, email, and other social media applications.
Useful Tips
While using your iPhone’s microphone for recording lectures, always carry a power bank with you. Remember, the iPhone’s battery can end up pretty quickly when you’re using the Voice Memos. Depending on the battery life of your device, you can also sit close to a wall plug. However, if the lecture isn’t very long, you can use your phone as such without any such arrangement.
Conclusion
Recordings can help you understand your lectures in an imperious manner especially if you’re studying a complex field, or even if you aren’t a native speaker of your course language. You can listen to these recordings for as many times as you want for having a better understanding. Furthermore, since it’s up to your iPhone microphone for recording lectures, it allows you to interact with your professors and other class fellows without any hindrance.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I record with my iPhone microphone?
Recording lectures, live music is possible using your iPhone’s voice memo app. Especially while doing voice-over recordings, in a boardroom, everything you hear in a class, in a live event, and narration of a poet or a meeting can be recorded using an iPhone. Thus, any audio recording can be achieved directly on the iPhone using the built-in microphones installed at the base of the iPhone itself. Bringing the microphone close to the vocal source now helps get crystal clear sound for recording everything.
What’s the best voice recorder app for iPhone?
The iPhone has inbuilt microphones that help capture crystal clear sound. Several apps help to record lectures on an iPhone. Moreover, many free apps are great for live recording narrations, speeches, and classes that you can take note of after recording them on an iPhone.
• Voice memo is an app that is installed into the extra folder of the phone. You need to open the app and press the record button. Pausing and resuming the audio you are recording is very convenient using the voice memo app.
• Voice recorder and editor: another app available in all the iPhones helps to make a copy of all the recordings, trump the audio, and edit it according to your requirement. It is one of the best apps for those who want to record lengthy lectures and narrations back-to-back, one after the other. It has no limitation while recording any audio.
How do I make my iPhone voice recorder better?
Changing the quality of the Voice memo is possible using a Voice Memo app in iOs devices. You need to go to the settings, then change audio quality, and finally click to lossless. It is the easiest way to change the quality of the audio with a touch of a button. To minimize the echo while recording audio, it is better to upgrade the microphone, adjust the sound quality levels, and then finally get closer to the source of the sound you want to record.

Best Studio Mics was started by a husband and wife team who love the sound and the technicals behind recording it. Both are professional theatre artists, one with a stage management background and one more on stage. One also has experience in film and television work and the different audio requirements of that arena.