Every interview in Transcriber starts as a recording. The steps differ slightly between the mobile app and the Mac, so both are below.
On iPhone and iPad
- Open Transcriber. The My Recordings list appears.
- Tap the round microphone button at the bottom of the screen.
- The recording sheet opens and recording begins. The title and elapsed time are shown while it runs.
- Tap stop when you are finished. The interview is saved and appears at the top of your list.
You can also start one without opening the app at all, using the Record interview widget — see using the widget.
On Mac
- Open Transcriber.
- Click Start Recording in the toolbar — the microphone icon. Its tooltip reads Starts a new audio recording.
- Recording begins in a new document.
- Stop when you are done. The interview appears in your records list.
The Mac toolbar can be switched between List View and Grid View, so use whichever makes your library easier to scan.
Microphone permission
The first time you record, the system asks for microphone access. Without it Transcriber cannot record — the app will tell you so and offer to take you to the right settings screen. On iPhone and iPad you can grant it later under Settings → Transcriber; on Mac under System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone.
Start recording automatically
If most of your recordings are spur-of-the-moment, let the app do the clicking.
On iPhone and iPad, open the side menu and choose Settings → General, then turn on Start recording when starting Transcriber.
On Mac, open Transcriber → Preferences… (⌘,), stay on the General tab and enable the same setting.
The mobile app has one extra option here, Rotate 180° when recording. It flips the view upside down once recording starts, so if the phone is lying on a table between you and the person you are interviewing, the microphone points at them while the screen still faces you.
What happens next
Recording only captures audio. Turning it into text is a separate step: open the interview, set the options in the Transcription setup box and choose Transcribe.
Transcription runs on our servers, so that step needs an internet connection. Recording itself works offline — record now, transcribe when you are back online.