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How to Record Calls on Your Android Phone (While You Still Can)

Have an important phone call coming up and want to record and save it? With the right app, you can record both incoming and outgoing calls on your Android phone.

Updated August 7, 2023
graphic showing a man talking to microphone illustration on his phone (Credit: aklionka / Shutterstock)

Recording phone calls on an Android device can be a challenge. While Google's own Phone app offers a recording feature, whether or not it works depends on your carrier, region, and other conditions. You can always use an external recording device, but there are also several on-device options, including Google's Phone app, Google Voice, and several third-party apps.


Recording Limitations on Android

Google has never been particularly fond of call-recording apps for Android, at least not those from third parties. With Android 9, the company added limitations that prevented many apps from recording your phone conversations. The apps continued to work, but when you played the recording, you could only hear your end of the conversation—or complete silence.

Android 10 cracked down even further on these types of apps by blocking call recording via the microphone. In response, many app developers started tapping into Android’s Accessibility Service to record phone calls. But Google then updated its developer policy in April 2022 to state that it would not allow apps in the Play Store to use the accessibility service for call recording. That policy went into effect on May 11, 2022.

The company has even gone so far as to label call recording a type of spyware. “Behaviors that can be considered as spying on the user can also be flagged as spyware,” Google said in its developer policy. “For example, recording audio or recording calls made to the phone, or stealing app data.”

In the past, people were able to find workarounds to Google's block, such as changing the audio source or format, turning the speaker volume as loud as possible, recording manually instead of automatically, and even rooting their phones. Others have since taken to sideloading call-recording apps through an APK file rather than downloading them directly from Google Play.

The version of Android installed on your phone also plays a role in all this. Apps on devices with Android 9 and earlier should still be able to record phone calls without bumping into Google’s latest restrictions. But apps on phones with Android 10 or higher that try to use the accessibility service may run afoul of Google’s new policy.


A Question of Legality

Assuming you’re able to find a working call-recording app, can you legally record a phone call, especially if you don't ask the other person for permission? The answer depends on where you live. United States federal and (most) state laws allow phone recording if just one party (yes, that can be you) gives it the okay.

There are 11 states that require both parties to agree: California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Washington. Transcription app Rev has a blog that goes into more detail on the issue.

Other countries have their own laws, of course. To fully cover yourself legally, ask the other person for permission before recording the call. With all of those limitations, restrictions, and obstacles out of the way, here are some apps that may be able to record your Android phone conversations one way or another.


Phone by Google

Phone by Google
(Credit: Google)

Google’s Phone app offers built-in call recording, but it’s contingent on a number of conditions. The app must be preinstalled on your phone with the latest update. You must be running Android 9 or higher. And most stringently, your region, carrier, and device must all support it, which leaves a lot of phones and locations out of the running.

Make sure your phone uses the Phone by Google app, and not Samsung's Phone app, for instance. If you have the right app, open it, tap the three-dot icon in the upper right and select Settings. Tap Call Recording to set up what types of calls you want to record. If the Call Recording option is not visible, then your phone can’t record calls through the app.

If you do have the Call Recording option, tap the Record button the next time you’re on a call that you wish to record. When done, tap the Stop Recording button. You can access the recording under the Recents section of the Phone app. Tap the name of the caller you recorded, select the recording from the list of calls, and then tap Play.


Google Voice

Google Voice
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Google)

With Google Voice, you choose a dedicated phone number through which incoming calls are routed to your mobile phone. After you set up your phone number and your Google Voice account, tap the app's hamburger icon in the upper-left corner. Tap Settings and turn on the switch for Incoming call options to enable call recording.

The major limitation here is that you can record only incoming calls. When you answer your phone, press the number 4 on the keypad to record the conversation. A message announces that the call is being recorded, so be sure to get the other person's permission beforehand. Press 4 again to stop the recording.

Your recording is saved to your email inbox, where you can listen to the conversation or download it to your computer.


Automatic Call Recorder

Launch Automatic Call Recorder
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Appliqato)

Automatic Call Recorder is a simple but effective recording app. Open the app and grant the necessary permissions to record audio, access your contacts, make and manage phone calls, and access your photos and other media. The app then warns you that due to new Google Play restrictions, future versions downloaded from the store may no longer record calls on this device.

On devices with Android 10 or higher, you’ll need to turn on the accessibility service. Tap the Turn On button. At the Accessibility settings screen, tap Call Recorder and turn on Use Call Recorder. Allow the app to have full control of your device, meaning it can view and control the screen and view and perform certain actions.

Turn on accessibility service for Automatic Call Recorder
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Appliqato)

Return to the app and open the Settings menu. Here, you can enable or disable automatic recording for incoming and outgoing calls. You can also choose to record only certain contacts. In the Recording section, be sure to increase the loudness and turn on the recording volume. There’s also an option to turn on recording if you shake your phone.

Configure Automatic Call Recorder
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Appliqato)

If you leave automatic recording on by default, recording will begin any time you make or receive a phone call. You can then open the app to view the recording. From the options screen, you can save the call as an audio file to your phone, add call notes, delete the recording, or share it via email or social media.

Record a call with Automatic Call Recorder
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Appliqato)

The free version is ad-supported, but the $8.49 Pro version removes ads and kicks in other features. In testing, Automatic Call Recorder worked out of the box on an Android 9 device. When testing with Android 12, the accessibility service needed to be enabled for the app to record calls


Automatic Call Recorder Pro

Launch Automatic Call Recorder
(Credit: Lance Whitney / SMSRobot)

Automatic Call Recorder Pro is a solid app with a variety of options. It first takes you through the necessary setup steps, such as enabling accessibility settings. You can then access the Settings screen and choose to automatically or manually record calls, change the audio source and format, alter the audio quality, increase the volume, or enable an option to start recording when you shake your phone.

If you set the app to automatic, it will record incoming and outgoing calls from start to finish. Tap the recording when it appears onscreen to listen to it in the app. From the recording screen, you can play the file, save it to your phone, share it via email or other services, and delete the recording.

Record a call with Automatic Call Recorder
(Credit: Lance Whitney / SMSRobot)

The app is free and ad-supported, but you can pay $3.49 to remove the ads. In testing, Automatic Call Recorder Pro successfully recorded phone calls on an Android 9 device and an Android 12 device with use of the accessibility service.

The app made no mention of the latest Google Play accessibility service restrictions, but a future version may be unable to record calls due to Google’s new policy.


Cube ACR

Launch Call Recorder - Cube ACR
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Cube Apps)

Cube ACR offers more premium features than the other apps. The basic version is free but displays ads and offers no cloud-based backup for your recordings. If you need the extra features, a subscription will run you $6.99 for six months or $9.99 for a full year after a free one-week trial. However, the free version should get the job done.

As with the other call-recording apps, you must give Cube ACR permission to use the accessibility service in Android 10 or higher. In the app's settings, you can turn automatic recording on or off, exclude calls from unknown numbers, modify the clarity and volume of calls, and enable recording from VoIP apps (if supported on your phone). You can even geotag your recordings to identify the caller’s location.

Record a call with Call Recorder - Cube ACR
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Cube Apps)

To record an outgoing call, simply call the other party as you normally would. If you choose autostart recording, incoming calls are automatically recorded in the background. After the call is finished, open the app to view and play the recordings. You can tag recordings as important, delete them, view the caller’s location on a map, and share them via email or social media.

In testing, Cube ACR was unable to record calls on any Android device out of the box due to a known issue. Fortunately, the developer provides a workaround. A notification advises you to install and set up a Cube ACR Helper app. After installing and configuring the Helper App, I was able to record phone calls on an Android 9 device and an Android 13 device.

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About Lance Whitney

Contributor

I've been working for PCMag since early 2016 writing tutorials, how-to pieces, and other articles on consumer technology. Beyond PCMag, I've written news stories and tutorials for a variety of other websites and publications, including CNET, ZDNet, TechRepublic, Macworld, PC World, Time, US News & World Report, and AARP Magazine. I spent seven years writing breaking news for CNET as one of the site’s East Coast reporters. I've also written two books for Wiley & Sons—Windows 8: Five Minutes at a Time and Teach Yourself Visually LinkedIn.

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