How to Record a Phone Call on iPhone or Android

iPhone, Pixel and Samsung phones can all record a phone call without an extra app, as long as you're in a country or region that supports it. On an iPhone with iOS 18.1 or later, tap More during the call, then Call Recording. On Android phones with the Phone by Google app, tap Record (or Call Assist → Call Recording on a Pixel). On a Samsung Galaxy, tap the three dots and Record call. In each case, the other person is told the call is being recorded.

This guide covers each phone step by step, where the recording ends up, what to do if your phone has no built-in option, and the consent rules to know first. It ends with the reason we care about it: a phone call is often the easiest way to record a parent or grandparent telling their stories in their own voice.

Before you press record: consent

Call recording laws vary. In the US, federal law allows a recording when one person on the call consents, but some states, including California, require everyone on the call to agree. Other countries have their own rules, and some don't allow call recording at all, which is one reason the built-in options aren't available everywhere. Google's and Samsung's help pages both say that following local law is up to you.

The built-in recorders make some of this easier, because they announce themselves. Apple says both people hear an audio notice, repeated during the call. Google says both parties are notified when recording starts and when it stops. But a beep isn't the same as asking. Apple's own guidance is to get the other person's explicit consent before recording.

For a family call, it's one sentence: "Mom, can I record this so the grandkids can hear you tell it someday?"

How to record a phone call on iPhone

Since iOS 18.1, the iPhone's Phone app can record calls and FaceTime audio calls with one other person, in countries and regions where Apple offers it.

A few details from Apple's documentation:

• Transcripts appear in supported languages and regions, and can take a little while to show up. With Apple Intelligence on a supported iPhone, you can also get a summary.
• FaceTime audio calls can be recorded the same way. Apple's call recording covers calls with one other person, not group calls.
• Availability: call recording isn't offered in every country or region, and button labels can differ slightly between iOS versions. If you don't see Call Recording under More, it may not be available where you are.

Once you've saved the audio, our guide to transferring recordings from iPhone to a computer shows how to get it onto a PC or Mac. The iCloud Drive and email methods work the same for any audio file.

How to record a phone call on Android (Phone by Google)

Many Android phones, including every Pixel, use Google's Phone by Google app. Google's requirements: Android 9 or later on non-Pixel phones, a Pixel 6 or later with Android 14 or later on Pixels, the latest Phone app, and a country or region where call recording is supported. Google adds that only some devices and carriers support it.

You can also set the app to always record calls from numbers not in your contacts, or from selected contacts, under Settings → Call recording → Always record. Google notes that automatic recording isn't available in every market.

Google also lists a few limits: you can't record a call before it's answered, while it's on hold, or while you're setting up a conference call.

How to record a phone call on Samsung Galaxy

Samsung phones use Samsung's own Phone app. Where it's available, Samsung's support pages describe two ways to record:

If you don't see these options, your model, software version, carrier or country may not offer them.

No built-in call recorder? Two fallbacks

• Google Voice. With a personal Google Voice account, you can record incoming calls to your Google Voice number. Turn on Incoming call recording under Calls in the Voice app's settings. Then answer the call and press 4 to start, and 4 again to stop. Everyone on the call hears an announcement. Recordings appear in the Calls tab.
• A second device on speaker. Put the call on speakerphone and record it with another phone, a tablet or a laptop. The sound is weaker and it picks up the room, but it works with any phone, any carrier and any calling app. Tell the other person you're recording.

Use a phone call to record a parent's or grandparent's stories

Most "how to record a call" searches are about work calls, scam calls or keeping a record of a dispute. We'd make the case for another reason. A phone call may be the easiest way you'll ever get to record someone you love telling their stories. There's no camera, no setup, nothing new to learn on their end, and it happens in a place they're comfortable: on the phone with you.

10 questions that work well on the phone

1. What's the earliest thing you remember?
2. What was the house you grew up in like? Walk me through it.
3. What did your parents do for work, and what were they like?
4. How did you and Mom (or Dad) meet?
5. What was your first job, and what did it pay?
6. What's something you did that your parents never found out about?
7. What was the hardest year of your life, and how did you get through it?
8. What were you like when you were my age?
9. What's a story about me as a child that I've probably forgotten?
10. What do you want the grandkids to know about you?

For a fuller list and interview technique, see our complete guide to recording family life stories and how to interview your parents. If the clock feels short because of illness or memory loss, read recording a parent's voice before dementia.

Save the voices you already have

A recorded call is one way voices end up on your phone. There are others, and some of them disappear on their own:

Give the recording a home

A recording sitting in Notes or the Phone app is one lost phone away from gone, and a file called "Call with Mom" won't mean much in twenty years. In Memory Murals, you can upload the saved call audio to your Media library and add it to a memory with the photos and the story it belongs to. Then invite the family, so it isn't sitting on one person's phone. And when you're with them in person, you can record their voice straight into a memory in the app.