Contenuti
Intro
In this article we will look at whether and when it is legal to record a phone call, and we will also see what are the ways to do it for free. Of course, we will see methods that can be used on most smartphones, but also methods specific to Android or iOS.
Looking at the technological evolution of the past decades, we have witnessed the incredible evolution of a great many technological objects, among them cell phones undoubtedly stand out. In fact, in the past few years, we have gone from bulky, button-filled phones with the presence of keyboards to the latest generation of ultra-flat smartphones with touchscreen technology. In addition to the design and how they are used, the functionality of these incredible devices has also changed, and they are capable of performing many different kinds of tasks.
What we are going to talk about, however, concerns one side of one of the basic functions that led to the birth of telephones-the ability to call other people. It has occurred to a little bit of everyone in certain situations how useful it would be to record a certain call or certain statements made by a person we were talking to on the phone.
There are a great many reasons why we may want to record a call; moreover, recording the audio of the call may or may not occur without the knowledge of the caller. In some cases this practice is really very useful, especially in cases where we need to transcribe an interview, we need tangible proof of a certain person’s statements, or we need to remember what will be said in a call that is important to us.
Is recording a phone call legal?
Often when people want to record a call, many wonder whether this practice is actually legal or whether it constitutes an invasion of privacy. In this section we will see,whether it is possible to record a call without the knowledge of the caller, or whether this action is considered a crime or an invasion of privacy. Let’s quickly see how to solve this issue.
Despite many people’s firm belief to the contrary, recording a conversation between those present, even without their knowledge, or a phone call with another person who does not know they are being recorded, does not constitute a crime. In particular, it is neither a crime of tortious interference with private life nor an invasion of privacy. This is explained and interpreted by the law, as a memorization of something we have been told, something considered already our property. Saving it to an electronic medium is thus considered a memorization of a historical fact in which we participated directly.
Now that we know that recording a phone call is allowed, we need to ask ourselves what we can do with the recordings we want to obtain. There are, of course, things we can do and others that are prohibited by law, depending on the context of using a recording, we can carry out a lawful activity or a crime.
If we record a conversation to remind us of a particular discussion and want to keep the contents of that discussion to ourselves, we are free to do so without consequence. One practice that is prohibited, however, is the broadcasting of the conversation; having other people listen to a recording of an interlocutor or post it on the Web may be considered in some cases, an offense punishable even criminally. If we wish to publish a conversation we must have the consent of all the people who participated in it.
Only in one case can the recording be disclosed by having other people listen to it without violating the law. The case in point is when one has to protect one’s right, for example, before a judge in a criminal or civil trial. Another example might be having a recorded conversation played as part of a disciplinary proceeding with an employer or in a divorce or separation case.
A recording of a conversation can thus be used as evidence ina trial, even to the detriment of an opposing party who does not know it was recorded. This is also permitted under the Privacy Code, which considers registration obtained surreptitiously “for the purpose of asserting or defending a right in a court of law, provided that the data are processed exclusively for such purposes and for the period strictly necessary for their pursuit.” Be careful, however, because if we are in the midst of a criminal investigation, recording the discussions could become an illicit wiretap, and thus, considered a crime.
Making a brief summary, recording a call is lawful and we can even use it as evidence in court cases when we need to defend our rights, but in order to have other people listen to it or publish it on the web, we must have the consent of everyone who participated in it.
How to record free phone calls from your smartphone
Now that we have resolved some doubts, we are ready to see how to record calls directly from our phone completely free of charge, using some apps. Clearly we will see processes on both Android and iOS so that we can find programs that work for everyone.
If we want to talk to more than one caller at the same time during a call to record a conversation between several people, with some telephone operators, we will have to activate the conference service. To do so, you will sometimes need to contact your provider and request activation of this service. For some apps also, it is necessary to have the conference service on if we want to record a phone call.
How to record calls from Android smartphone
Let’s quickly see what we need to do to record a phone call from a cell phone running Android. This is really very easy to do, since we can take advantage of an app that is already inside all Android phones, namely “Phone,” the very app we use to make and receive calls.
The Phone app, in addition to allowing us to make and receive calls, also has a recording function that respects the privacy of our callers. We should know that when we activate it during a phone call, the people on the call will immediately receive an automatic voice message alerting them that the call is being recorded. This feature allows privacy perfectly, but it is quite harmful if we want to record a call and want our caller to be unaware that we are recording.
In any case, using it is very simple; to do so, first we need to initiate a call or answer one with the Phone app. During the call, as we move our face away from the screen, we will be able to see some buttons that perform functions such as Mute, Keypad, Speakerphone, Add Call, Hold, and Record. This very last button called “Record,” allows us to start recording the callafter a short period of time where an automatic voice announces that the call is being recorded. Following the announcement, the recording of the call will start and everything that is said is also recorded.To end the recording, you need to press the “Record” button again or simply close the call. If we press the button during the call to end the recording, again we will hear the automatic voice announcing that the recording has ended.
Once the call has ended, we can listen to the recording again as many times as we want. To do this, we need to reopen the Phone app and go to the “Recents” tab, at which point we need to select the call where we recorded. We can see that calls that contain a recording have a small blue microphone symbol next to the contact’s name or number. Tapping on the number or name of the contact with whom we had the phone call will open a small audio playback player; pressing the play button will allow us to listen to the recording we made. From the player we can also delete the created recording by pressing the trash icon or even share it using another app, through the icon to the left of the trash icon.
On the Phone app we can also view how many recordings we have made and see how much memory they take up, plus we can decide to delete them in one go. To do this, from the Phone app, on whatever screen we are on, we have to press on the three vertical dots that are in the upper right corner, and select the item Settings. Now, from the new screen in front of us, we need to open the “Call Recording” item. Here we can see how many recordings we have made and also how many bytes they take up on the memory, by pressing on “Deleteall recordings now” and then pressing Delete, we can delete them all at once.
More free apps to record calls on Android
Having seen the default method for recording phone calls on Android, let’s see what alternative apps you can use to accomplish this task.
We are then going to analyze some apps that can be downloaded for free from the Play Store, which allow us to store audio during calls. The apps we are going to look at allow us to record all calls automatically and then listen back whenever we want.
MobileIdea Studio Call Recorder
This app is one of the most widely used apps on Android to manage phone calls, and it integrates a feature with which we can record phone calls on our smartphone, with the ability to listen to them again whenever we want. One thing to point out is that not all phone models support this app, so it is not available for everyone, but it has excellent compatibility with all Samsung devices.
What is special about this app is its main feature that allows it to automatically record all calls, both incoming and outgoing, and then play them back whenever we want. To download it, we need to find it in the Play Store and tap Install. Once installed and started, we will need to grant the app all the required permissions to make it work properly. Once the permissions are granted, the app will think of recording all calls automatically, either when we answer the phone or when we call a contact.
Basically, after every call made, we will receive the recording and can listen to it again in a special section where all calls are stored. On the main screen of Call Recorder, we will find all the calls made, if we tap on one of them we will see an audio file player, by pressing the play button we can listen to it. The audio quality of recordings is really very good in most devices, as it allows the words of the interlocutors to be heard clearly.
Among the app’s features, we also find a Spam call blocker, which uses a blacklist that includes various telemarketing numbers, spam and robocalls. It also allows us to save recorded phone calls in MP3 format, to save them this way, we have to press “Save as MP3“, if we want we can also share the file or save it to another location. Another really very interesting feature allows us to view a recording and create an automatic transcript of it, we can then have a text file with the contents of the conversations.
Call Recorder by Glad Apps Technology
Let’s look at another app for managing phone calls, which has the same name as the previous one but a different developer. This call recorder allows us to record phone calls on our smartphone, with the ability to listen to them again whenever we want. It has a somewhat higher compatibility than its predecessor that allows it to be installed on different brands of smartphones and has very similar features to its predecessor.
The main function of this app is to automatically record all calls, both incoming and outgoing, and then play them back whenever we want. To download it, we need to find it in the Play Store and tap Install. Once installed and started, we will need to grant the app all the required permissions to make it work properly. Once the permissions are granted, the app will think of recording all calls automatically, either when we answer the phone or when we call a contact.
So again, after each call made, we will receive the recording and can listen to it again in a special section. In the calls section, we will find all the calls made, if we tap on one of them an audio file player will appear, and by pressing the play button we can listen to it.
This app has many features that allow you to manage calls and block unwanted, spam and unknown user calls. Like the previous one, it allows you to block telemarketing, spam and robocalls. Compared to the other app of the same name, this app has additional options to control the quality and format of recorded files, and has many customization options.
Call Recorder – Calls Box by Smsrobot LTD
Let’s take a look at another app for managing phone calls, this app is considered one of the best apps in the Play Store for recording calls. This call recorder allows us to record phone calls on our smartphone, with the ability to listen to them again whenever we want. It has very good compatibility and many useful and interesting functions.
Call recorder is a well-made app that was redesigned in 2020 and added several very useful functions. This app also acts as a call manager, and an option can be included to automatically record both incoming and outgoing calls in high quality, with the ability to play them back. To download it, we need to find it in the Play Store and tap Install. Once installed and started, we need to grant the app all the required permissions to make it work properly. Once the permissions are granted, the app will think of recording all calls automatically, either when we answer the phone or when we call a contact.
It has many very useful features. We can organize call recordings by viewing the list of files and sorting them in a variety of ways, by size, weight, and alphabetically; it is also possible to share recordings in many ways and even place them in cloud storage platforms such as Dropbox and Google Drive.
Recordings can be saved in different recording formats, there is also a feature that allows us to set a password to protect our privacy and that of the people we talked to on the phone.
We can also turn off automatic recording and enable the “Shake to Record” option that allows us to start recording during a call by simply shaking the phone. There are also options for managing audio files and also a really interesting feature that hides the app icon on the phone’s home screen. This app proves to be very useful when we need to record a caller and we don’t want them to be suspicious of us.
How to record calls from iPhone
After looking at the methods and apps to start recording comfortably on Android, let’s see how you need to do the same task on Apple phones.
As is often the case, performing some procedures on the iPhone is usually much more complicated than on its rival operating system. Unlike Android in fact, we cannot use the default call app to record conversations.
For this reason we will look at some applications that will allow us to perform this task easily and for free. These apps are very easy to use and do not require the jailbreak process, which is the procedure of unlocking the iPhone’s developer options and taking advantage of non-native iOS features. Some of the apps we will look at, however, are not completely free, as in many cases they require the purchase of features in order to unlock part or the full version of the app or may require a monthly subscription for full use.
Mimik Lite: Call Recorder by Kamp Inc.
Let’s start with the first app for managing phone calls, this app is considered one of the best apps in the App Store for recording calls. This call recorder allows us to record phone calls on our smartphone, with the ability to replay them whenever we want. It has very useful and interesting functions, but unfortunately, it uses a credit system to record calls, and when we run out, we have to buy new ones.
Mimik Lite allows us to record all the calls we care about, both incoming and outgoing calls, and then listen to them again whenever we want. To download it, we need to find it in the App Store and tap on the download icon. Once installed and started, we will need to grant the app some required permissions to make it work properly. Permission granted, we enter and verify our phone number and select a line. At this point we can start using the app to record calls.
Initially, the app will grant us a certain number of credits that we can spend to make a registration; if we need more, we can buy them. To record an outgoing call, we will have to press the main button in the home and type in the phone number to call or choose the contact from the address book, the conversation we will have with this user will be fully recorded. When it is an incoming call instead, we will have to put our caller on hold for a few seconds asking them to wait and open the Mimik app to start recording the call in question.
To make unlimited use of the service offered by Mimik, we will have to make a subscription on a monthly or annual basis. The price will be shown in the app before completing the payment and varies depending on the country where we use it. The subscription will automatically renew every month or year through our iTunes or Apple account, and can be turned off from the account settings.
The subscription will give us access to many more features, allowing unlimited call duration and number of recordings, as well as the ability to easily view, filter, tag, share and download recordings.
Rekk Call Recorder by Anatoly Nevelev
Let’s move on to another very interesting app that features a very nice user interface and works perfectly. REKK basic is free, but we can take advantage of its full features by subscribing to a monthly subscription to be able to record unlimited calls and take advantage of some extra features.
To download Rekk we need to find it in the App Store and tap on the download icon. Once installed and started, we will need to grant the app some required permissions to make it work properly. Once permissions are granted, we will need to enter and verify our phone number and select a line. At this point we can start using the app to record calls. It may be necessary to activate the conferencing service of our telephone provider in order to use this program properly.
To record an outgoing phone call, we need to press on the “Keyboard” button on the homepage of the app and type in the number of the person we want to call or select the contact from our address book. Once this is done, we need to tap on the number next to the “Call” heading, at which point we press on the notification that appears at the top of the screen and choose the other number displayed next to the “Call” heading in the new menu that appears. As soon as the user answers the call, we should press the “merge” button, at this point, we can converse freely and the call will be fully recorded.
As for incoming calls, so those that we receive, the process is even simpler. All we have to do is answer, minimize the call screen so we can use the apps, open REKK, press the big purple button with the microphone, and finally reopen the screen with the call and press “join.” This way we will be able to record the conversation with the person who called us.
Whenever we end a call, whether made by us or received from another person, the audio file containing the recording will be saved automatically by this app and we can find it in a special screen. To hear the recordings made, we need to open the “Records” section located at the bottom of the app’s main screen, and press on the recordings we want to hear .
In addition to this activity, we also find some very interesting functions. One of them allows us to convert our recordings to text, this is a very convenient feature as it allows us to save time and learn about conversations without replaying the recordings. REKK also gives us the ability to create backup copies of files and share recordings through third-party applications, as well as upload them to cloud storage platforms such as Google Drive and Dropbox. We can also quickly find what we are looking for with the help of a smart search function and even create a link that leads to our recordings so we can easily share them.
TapeACall: record calls from Epic Enterprises
Let’s take a look at one last very interesting app, which works very well, is not very expensive and is constantly updated. TapeACall is an easy to use call manager for recording phone calls, it is not completely free but provides a free trial to test it. To take full advantage of it, we will have to subscribe, which will allow us to record unlimited calls and take advantage of some extra features. It may be necessary to activate the conferencing service of our telephone provider in order to use this program properly.
To download TapeACall we need to find it in the App Store and tap on the download icon. Once installed and started, we will need to grant the app some required permissions to make it work properly. Once permissions are granted, we will need to enter and verify our phone number and select a line. At this point, we have to choose a subscription type between the annual and monthly subscription, or take advantage of the free trial period. After that, we will be presented with a short tutorial showing us how the app works. Now we can start using the app to record calls.
To start recording an outgoing call, we need to press the red button located in the center of the app’s main screen, after a few seconds we need to tap on “Other Call” and enter the phone number of the person we want to call or select them directly from the contacts we have in our address book. Once we initiate the call and the person contacted answers us, we will have to press on the “Merge” item that we will find on the display. In this way the entire conversation will be recorded.
Recording a received call is even easier, we simply need to answer a received call, minimize the call screen so we can use the apps, open TapeACall and press the red button on the homepage. After a few seconds, the call connects to the app’s recording service, and we will need to press on the “Merge” item so that the call is properly recorded.
Once we have recorded one or more calls, we can listen to them again from the homepage of the app; to do so, we will have to click on the playback button and press play on the recordings we want to listen to. We can also easily organize, label, and archive records for quick reference at a later date.
In addition to this activity, we also find some very interesting functions. One of them allows us to quickly transcribe recordings by turning them into text with really good accuracy. This is a very convenient feature as it allows us to save time and learn about conversations without replaying recordings. TapeACall also gives us the ability to record phone calls or meetings on Zoom of any length, incoming, outgoing, or ongoing. In addition, recordings and transcripts can be shared via e-mail, text messages, and many other apps and cloud storage platforms, such as DropBox, Evernote, and Google Drive, and transferred to other devices. This app even offers customer service provided by real people to help us with various kinds of problems.
