There are somewhere around 3-billion cameras on planet earth. That helps to explain why there are no aliens from Mars, or Bigfoot monster roaming around. No photos, no creatures.
Mac, iPhone, and iPad users have no excuse for not taking comprehensive notes in meetings or in classrooms these days, thanks to a few dozen audio recorder and notes apps. If you’re a Mac user on a budget but need audio notes, here’s a good place to start.
Click To Record Audio
My day job as a Mac and PC system administrator for a large private school near Chicago means I have teachers, staff, and students bugging me for app recommendations.
Students and teachers especially want a quick and easy way to take notes. Typing during class makes noise. Recording audio using an app like Note Recorder does not.
This 2-dollar utility records audio notes using MP4, so the files are easily edited and shared. It records audio in the background so you can use other applications while recording.
As a typical Mac app it can use the built-in microphone or a connected mic (whatever is connected and visible in System Preferences > Sound). Audio files are stored in the Finder for easy access, and can be shared via email, Messages, Dropbox, iCloud or whatever else suits your sharing fancy.
Controls are simple and obvious. Big red button to Record. Green button to Play or Pause.
Note Recorder saves audio files as MP4 files so they can be played back in Garageband, iTunes, QuickTime Player, and nearly any Mac audio application. Yes, the files also work on iPhone and iPad, and even iPods.
If you need audio notes and don’t want to spend much money, Note Recorder works well, doesn’t have much of a learning curve, and can record hours of audio notes.
