Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Voice recorder vs Voice Memos

Voice recorder 4.6★ · Free + IAP 40
Winner Voice Memos
Voice Memos 4.8★ · Free to download 85

Voice Memos is the superior choice for a reliable, ad-free voice recording experience, despite its more basic features, while Voice recorder is plagued by intrusive ads and stability issues.

Full reviews: Voice recorder · Voice Memos

Voice Memos, the built-in Apple app, offers a stable, ad-free recording experience with good sound quality, making it ideal for general use and creative pursuits like songwriting. Voice recorder, while offering some advanced features, is severely hampered by aggressive, often inappropriate, full-screen ads and reports of recording failures and battery drain.

Head to head

Features tieR8R11R5R26
Voice recorder Voice recorder offers features like multiple file formats and is praised for its sound quality, with users wishing for more advanced editing options like pausing and rewinding during recording, or auto-tune R8R11R5R26. Some users appreciate the ability to download files easily to a computer .
Voice Memos Voice Memos is praised for its simplicity and effectiveness for basic recording, especially for songwriting and capturing ideas . Users desire more advanced editing features like cutting out sections, transcription, or a voice changer . There are also requests for Apple Watch integration for control and better syncing for recordings from the watch .
Ease of Use edge: Voice MemosR5R23R47R6
Voice recorder Users find Voice recorder generally easy to use with a big record button and easy access to recordings R5R23R47. However, the experience is severely degraded by intrusive ads that make the app hard to use or even unusable R6R7.
Voice Memos Voice Memos is widely regarded as very easy to use and simple . Users appreciate its straightforward interface for recording and finding files R23.
Reliability edge: Voice MemosR7R19R21R37
Voice recorder Voice recorder suffers from significant reliability issues, including randomly stopping recordings, corrupted recordings, files being deleted, and severe battery drain R7R19R21R37. Some users also report issues with the mic sensitivity slider and recordings not being backed up .
Voice Memos Voice Memos is generally reliable for recording, with users praising its clear sound quality and ability to retain recordings for years . However, some users report occasional lagging when starting a recording , issues with recordings not syncing from Apple Watch , or older recordings not downloading R87.
Price/Value edge: Voice MemosR1R3R6R9
Voice recorder Voice recorder is free but heavily relies on intrusive, full-screen ads, which many users find unacceptable and disruptive R1R3R6R9. Some users who paid for the 'Pro Version' still reported seeing ads or issues with premium features like Bluetooth playback R41.
Voice Memos Voice Memos is a free, built-in app that provides core recording functionality without any ads or in-app purchases, offering excellent value .
Support tieR41R49R87
Voice recorder There is limited information on support, but one user mentioned searching YouTube for tips with no results and another noted the 'App Support Button does not work' R41R49.
Voice Memos Voice Memos, as an Apple-developed app, has no explicit in-app support button, and users have reported issues with older recordings not downloading and no clear support path R87.
Pick Voice recorder if

You need specific file format options and are willing to tolerate a high volume of intrusive, potentially inappropriate ads, or if you are hoping for features like auto-tune or advanced editing that are not currently well-implemented R8R11R13.

Pick Voice Memos if

You need a reliable, simple, and ad-free voice recording app for general use, capturing ideas, or songwriting, and prioritize stability over advanced features .

Evidence note: Reviews for Voice recorder are heavily skewed negative due to the aggressive ad experience, which impacts all dimensions. Voice Memos reviews are generally positive, with most negative feedback relating to feature requests rather than core functionality issues.

Frequently asked

Does Voice recorder have ads?
Yes, Voice recorder is heavily supported by ads, with many users reporting intrusive, full-screen pop-ups that are difficult to close, some of which are described as inappropriate or scam-like R1R3R6R13.
Can Voice Memos record in the background?
The reviews for Voice Memos do not explicitly state whether it can record in the background. However, for Voice recorder, a user noted that it stops recording when they leave the app, making it useless for background recording R33.
Do these apps drain battery quickly?
Voice recorder has multiple reports of significant battery drain, with one user stating a 1-hour recording used 40% of their battery and another reporting a 90-minute recording completely drained their phone R12R37R57. Voice Memos reviews do not mention battery drain as a common issue.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R8] Voice recorder 5/5 · US Useful: Meeting recording is sufficient, supports multiple formats, currently one of the better options. · translated
  2. [R11] Voice recorder 4/5 · US Rate you guys a 4 big Stars: Why not we get to add auto tune to recordings or change in transposes recording a song, that would be a great and nice idea, just suggesting tho💛👏
  3. [R5] Voice recorder 4/5 · US Great, but…: This is actually a great app. The sound quality is excellent. I love the big record button. Very easy to use. However, the pause button should be bigger. And there should be a way to pause and rewind while recording before saving in order to make changes, Instead of having to save, or delete, and start over over. Overall, I use this app more than the other two that I have, strictly be
  4. [R26] Voice recorder 5/5 · US Excellent app: This app let u record unlimited voice and its so clear all time, recommend
  5. [R23] Voice recorder 5/5 · US My favorite!: Easy to use, and easy to find all your recordings!
  6. [R47] Voice recorder 5/5 · US Good App: Simple and does the job. Thank you!
  7. [R6] Voice recorder 3/5 · US Intrusive ads getting worse: I get this is ad supported but there are more full screen timed ads than those annoying games like Homescapes! It’s gotten to the point where it’s hard to use.
  8. [R7] Voice recorder 1/5 · US No longer usable: Used to be a solid app. Then the ads started getting very aggressive and hard to click out of. But now it will just randomly stop recording after under 30 seconds. Moving on.
  9. [R19] Voice recorder 1/5 · US Bad surprise: Randomly stopped recording some time before crucial info that should have been recorded but wasnt. Disaster
  10. [R21] Voice recorder 3/5 · US somewhat useful: It is basic and it helps with simple tasks of recording, but somehow files were deleted when not properly exiting the app and cannot retrieve.
  11. [R37] Voice recorder 1/5 · US Battery Drain: 1 hour recording used 40% of my battery
  12. [R1] Voice recorder 1/5 · US No cancel for ads: They put up pop ups with no way to get rid of them. I checked all corners, I sat on the app for 10 min waiting for it to vanish, I swiped from every side, I long pressed. My recordings are being held hostage by an ad for an AC company
  13. [R3] Voice recorder 3/5 · US Rich with Ad’s: Simple product work as expected but has ads popping up in full screen. I’m okay with them on a part of the screen just not full screen. Some of the Ads are also clickbait as if something was detected wrong with your phone.
  14. [R9] Voice recorder 3/5 · US Invasively Annoying: I do not like it when full page adds and links pop up automatically, every time, whether it’s free or not!
  15. [R41] Voice recorder 5/5 · US Works great: Been using it for years but I just wish there was more info on it. I searched YouTube for tips but nothing comes up. I paid for pro but I still seem to get ads and I can’t figure out how to edit. Anyways I’ll still give it 5 stars because it’s free and records all my conferences well.
  16. [R49] Voice recorder 2/5 · US Cannot find time stamps: App Support Button does not work & I am unable to find the time stamp for any of the recordings that were renamed! Where is it?
  17. [R87] Voice Memos 1/5 · GB Recordings aren’t downloading: Anything before 6 months ago show “downloading”. There is no support for the app, so these recordings are basically lost
  18. [R13] Voice recorder 1/5 · US The ads ugh: This app is fine for what it’s for, but the ad for the porn site is really bad. I’ll be deleting this app and reporting it to the App Store due to the presence of children in your porn site ad.
  19. [R33] Voice recorder 3/5 · US 90% useless to me: Idk if it’s different in android. On iPhone, it never lets you record when you get off the app, it stops recording as soon as you get out. Most of my recording is done when I’m off the app. So it’s useless for me. I wanted to give 0 rating but it actually records but that is no different from other apps
  20. [R12] Voice recorder 3/5 · US Everything is good except battery: I’ve been using it to record a class voice, after class ending I saw my phone battery is about 13% !! I know iPhone batteries are bad but not like that!
  21. [R57] Voice recorder 2/5 · US Drains battery: Records well, but drains battery super fast, as in 90 min recording will completely drain battery from a full charge. Similar app on android could run at least a day and half before getting low battery level.

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store