Record and transcribe a meeting on Android

To record a meeting and get a transcript on Android, you need an app that keeps recording with the screen locked and turns speech into text as it goes. On a Pixel, Google's Recorder app does that, and on Pixel 6 and later it can label who is speaking. On any phone with Android 13 or later, TackNote for Android records the meeting, writes the words down on the phone itself, and puts the recording and transcript on a note next to your list, photos and the place it belongs.

Which one fits depends on three things: the phone you have, what you need after the meeting, and whether the audio may leave the phone. The short quiz below sorts that out, and the rest of this post explains each answer, including where TackNote falls short.

What a meeting recorder on Android has to do

A meeting is a bad time to find out an app stopped recording. Before you trust one with an hour of talk, check four things:

• It keeps going with the screen locked. A recording that quietly stopped when the phone locked is the worst outcome, so look for a notification with a timer and a Stop button.
• The words appear as people speak. A live transcript lets you glance down and see the app is hearing the room.
• A crash does not cost you the meeting. If the app or phone closes halfway, the audio up to that moment should still be there.
• You know where the audio goes. Some apps transcribe on the phone, some send recordings to a server. Both can be fine, as long as you know which.

Recorder on a Pixel

Google's Recorder app runs on Pixel 3 and later phones and the Pixel Tablet, and it keeps recording when the screen goes to sleep (Pixel Phone Help). It transcribes recordings, with more transcription languages on Pixel 6 and later than on Pixel 3 to 5a, and on Pixel 6 and later it can label when different people are speaking (Pixel Phone Help).

On Pixel 8 and later it can also summarize a transcribed recording of 5 minutes up to 1 hour, in English, Chinese (Mandarin), Hindi, Italian, French, German and Japanese. Google says the summary feature runs in a secure, isolated environment in the cloud, and that Re-transcribe may process audio files on Google servers (same page).

If you own a Pixel and what you want from a meeting is a searchable transcript, Recorder is a strong fit, and speaker labels are something TackNote does not have.

TackNote for Android

TackNote is a notes app, and recording is one of the things a note can hold. There are two ways to start:

1. From the Record tab. Tap Record, then the big button, and talk. When you stop, TackNote turns the recording and its transcript into a new note and opens it.
2. On a note you already have. Open the note with the agenda or the site checklist on it, and tap the microphone. When you stop, the transcript is added to the end of the note's text, or as a new item if the note is a checklist. Nothing you already wrote is replaced.

While it records, the words land on the screen as they are said. You can lock the phone: a notification shows the running time and a Stop button, and the recording lands on its note when you stop. Long meetings are saved in pieces as they go and joined back into one recording at the end, and the transcript so far is saved every few seconds. If TackNote is closed mid-meeting, the next time you open it, what it had comes back as a note labeled Recovered recording.

The transcript is written by Android's on-device speech recognition, fed with the same audio TackNote is saving. Nothing is sent to us, and once the phone has its language pack, recording and transcription work without an internet connection. On recent phones that support Google's on-device model (such as a Pixel 9, Galaxy S25 or OnePlus 13 and newer), with the phone set to English, Japanese or Korean, a summary button can add three points to the top of the note. That summary is written on the phone too, and the transcript and recording stay exactly as they were.

Why a note, not just a transcript

A meeting rarely ends with only words. There is the list of what is still open, a photo of the whiteboard or the broken part, and often a place: the client's office, the job site. In TackNote all of that sits on one note. You can tick items on the checklist, add photos or a video, file the note in a project folder, and tack it to a place so it reminds you when you arrive there next time. Search on the board looks through transcripts as well as text and checklists, so searching for "drainage" finds the meeting where it came up.

When you need to send it on, a note can go out as plain text with its recordings and photos attached, as a PDF, or as a TackNote file that keeps the checklist, the place and the folder.

Recorder and TackNote side by side

Where TackNote falls short

• No speaker labels. You get one running transcript. If you need to know who said what, Recorder on a Pixel 6 or later does that.
• The transcript depends on your phone. TackNote uses the speech recognition built into Android. The first time you record, Android may download a language pack (about 62 MB in our testing), and recording carries on while it does. If a phone has no on-device recognition, or none for your language, TackNote keeps the recording and says the transcript is not available.
• It records the phone's microphone. It suits a meeting in a room, a site walk or a thought on the way to the car. It does not join video calls as a bot.
• Summaries need a recent phone. On phones without Google's on-device model, the summary button simply does not appear.
• No sync with the computer yet. TackNote for Android keeps its own notes for now, separate from TackNote for Mac and Windows, which is a separate purchase. You can share a note to yourself in the meantime.
• Android 13 or later only.

Which one fits you

These are the same answers the quiz at the top gives:

• A Pixel, and you only need the transcript: Recorder. If the audio must stay on the phone, leave Re-transcribe and summaries alone, since Google says those may use its servers or cloud.
• Any phone with Android 13 or later, and the meeting belongs with a list, photos or a place: TackNote for Android. The recording, transcript and everything else sit on one note, and the words are written on the phone.
• Another Android 13 or later phone, only the transcript, and it must stay on the phone: TackNote for Android. Use the 7-day trial to check how well your phone's speech recognition handles your meetings.
• Another Android phone, only the transcript, and the cloud is fine: a cloud transcription service is a reasonable choice. Before you pick one, read where it keeps your recordings and for how long.
• A phone older than Android 13: TackNote will not install, and Google documents Recorder for Pixel phones. Look for a recorder that supports your Android version.

The TackNote for Android user guide walks through recording, transcripts and recovery step by step, and its summaries section lists what a phone needs for them.

Common questions

Can an Android phone transcribe a meeting without the internet?

With TackNote for Android, yes, once the phone has its speech recognition language pack. Recording and transcription then run on the phone with no connection. The first time you record, Android may need to download that pack, and recording carries on while it does.

Does TackNote keep recording when the screen is locked?

Yes. A notification shows the running time and has a Stop button, and the recording lands on its note when you stop.

Can TackNote tell who is speaking?

No. TackNote writes one running transcript without speaker labels. Google documents speaker labels in Recorder on Pixel 6 and later.

Is TackNote for Android free?

Everything works free for 7 days. After that your notes stay readable, searchable and shareable, and one payment of $24.99 unlocks writing for good. There is no subscription.