There are various reasons you might need to record a call; it may be for business or personal reasons. But, there are so many laws regarding recording phone calls. So, you will not find a default call recording feature on your phone. Although you may find some apps in the Google Play Store that claim they will help you record your calls with ease, most of them do not give the best results. In this article, we’ll be providing you with different methods you can use to get your call recordings easily. Make sure you have permission to record your phone call before you try them.
Is it legal to record calls?
It is legal to record calls in some countries, such as the US (there are exceptions). But in some countries it is not. Some of them allow recording one-on-one calls, while restricting group calls. Some countries allow call recordings if it is for a legit reason. Basically, the law will completely depend on the country and state you are living in, whether you have explicit permission to record calls, and many other factors. It is not possible to list all the locations with its call recording laws. So, you should figure it out yourself. Do a quick Google search with a query like “is it legal to record calls in x”. You will find the answer. If you have a lawyer, it would be even better to ask them.
1. Steps to Record Android calls with Google Voice
Unlike iPhone users, most Android users already have Google Voice installed on their phones. So, it’s easier to operate it. The first thing you need to do is to sign up for a Google Voice account. Head over to the Google Voice website and follow the steps displayed on the screen.
After you get your account ready, enable recording on the account following these steps –
- Go to the Google Voice App.
- Click the view more menu (three dots) located on the left side of your dashboard.
- Click on Calls. If you don’t find it, scroll down.
- Enable Incoming calls by using the slider on the right.
You’re done with the setup and can now use Google Voice to record your incoming calls. All you need to do is press the number 4 button on your keypad when the call is ongoing. The person you’re on a call with will be notified that the call is recording. To end the recording, all you need to do is press 4 again. You can access your saved recording in your inbox. You can also get them in your Google Voice app under the Menu option.
Apart from setting it up on your browser, you can also do it on your Google Voice app. In the app, the menu is found at the top right-hand corner. Then, you’ll head to Settings. Select Advanced Settings. Here, you’ll find the Incoming Call option and can turn it on.
2. How to record calls with a Third-Party Android App?
This is one of the most popular and easiest ways of recording your phone calls on Android phones. But it is usually difficult to select the best app on Google Store. Some of them have better features than others and are more efficient. Most of them will allow you to record your incoming and outgoing calls. However, they record from your microphone, so the quality is not usually so great. Let us give you our top 5 best apps for recording calls on your Android phone:
1. Automatic Call Recorder by RSA
This one has an average rating of 4.6 on the Play Store and has been installed by many people. You can record all your calls automatically using this app. Also, your calls don’t save immediately you’re done. Instead, it asks if you want to save the call. This helps you save space on your phone. It also allows you to share your recordings on Skype, Dropbox, and Google. It supports ads, but you can remove them using the Pro version.
2. Call Recorder – ACR
Unlike most Android apps for call recording which may not work on your phone, this one works well on most of the phones we tested it on. You can record both your incoming and outgoing calls automatically. Also, it supports cloud integration and sharing with Google Drive, WebDAV, OneDrive, FTP, and DropBox. It has a premium version too if you want to remove the ads and get extra features.
3. Cube Call Recorder ACR
You can use Cube Call Recorder to record more than traditional phone calls. You can also record calls from VoIP services like Skype, IMO, Viber, WhatsApp, and Facebook among others. It is one of the best call recording apps you get for free, with no ad interruptions and great features.
4. Truecaller
You never knew you could use Truecaller as a call recording app too. While the free version of this app gives us the caller ID features, the premium version gives even much more. You can use it to record both incoming and outgoing calls. Truecaller gives a 14-day period when you can use the premium version. So, you can test the call recording feature to see if you’ll like it.
5. Call Recorder by Top Weather Studios
This call recording app comes with so many features that we couldn’t leave it out of this list. With this app, you can decide to record calls from all contacts, ignore calls from certain contacts, record calls from some contacts, and not record any calls at all. This allows you to easily customize the call recordings you will have. So, you don’t have to do this after each call. You can also save your recordings in MP3 format and store it on your SD card and Google Drive. This allows you to easily share it with anyone you want on any platform.
There have been news about removing call recording apps from the Play Store. According to the reports, Google was supposed to prevent third-party apps from providing call recording functionality to Android users. However, most of the apps are still working and are live on the Play Store. If any of the third-party call recording apps are not working for you, probably this is the reason.
3. Recording calls on Android with an External Recorder
Using an external recorder is not the best way to record your calls. It is also not the easiest or most affordable. So if you don’t want to get an app on your phone, you can also pick up a recorder and plug it into the phone’s earphones (3.5-millimeter) jack. It records calls anonymously as you speak with the person on the other end. You will find some of these call recorders for prices ranging from $35 to $110.
4. Recording using another Android device
If you have another smartphone or tablet, you can also use it to record your calls. All you need to do is put your phone on the loudspeaker and turn on the voice recorder of the other phone. If your phone doesn’t have a voice recorder, you will find some good ones on the Google Play Store. When using external devices like smartphones, you need to make your calls in a quiet area to ensure that your recording is clear enough.
How to record calls on devices from different companies?
We have articles for recording calls on devices made by different companies. You can follow the steps on those guides to have a better call recording experience, specifically using the in-built functions on your smartphone brand –