How To Record a Phone Call on iOS 18

On iOS 18, you record a phone call by tapping More during the call, choosing Call Recording, then playing it later from the Call Recordings folder in Notes.

Call recording on iPhone used to involve weird workarounds, third-party services, or an extra device on speaker. With iOS 18.1 and later, Apple finally added a built-in way to record phone calls and even generate transcripts in supported regions. The feature lives inside the Phone app and saves the result straight into a special folder in Notes.

This guide walks you through how to record a phone call on iOS 18 step by step, where the tool is available, what the legal rules look like in broad strokes, and how to manage or share those recordings safely. You will also see what to do when the Call Recording button does not show up or stays greyed out.

Why Call Recording On iOS 18 Works The Way It Does

Apple has always treated call recording as a sensitive area. Recording another person’s voice touches privacy rules and telecom laws, which differ between countries and even between states. That is why call recording on iOS 18 is limited to one-to-one calls, plays an audio notice to everyone on the line, and is disabled outright in a list of regions.

According to Apple’s iPhone User Guide, you can record a phone call with one other person in supported countries and languages, and the iPhone saves a copy to a Call Recordings folder in the Notes app along with an optional transcript in certain languages and regions. The same page lists places where the feature does not work at all, including the entire European Union plus markets such as the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and several others. In those regions the Call Recording control will simply not appear in the Phone app.

Before you count on this tool, Apple recommends checking the iOS and iPadOS feature availability page to confirm that call recording is allowed for your region and language. That page stays updated as Apple expands coverage, and it is the cleanest way to confirm whether your iPhone should show the Call Recording button or not.

How To Record A Phone Call On iOS 18 Step By Step

Once you are running iOS 18.1 or later in a supported region, recording a call is straightforward. The steps below assume a regular cellular or Wi-Fi phone call with one other person.

Start The Call On Your iPhone

Open Phone — Launch the Phone app on your iPhone as you normally would.
Place Or Answer A Call — Dial a contact or number, or answer an incoming call you want to record.
Wait For A Stable Connection — Give the call a moment to connect so audio is clear before you start recording.

Start Call Recording In iOS 18

Tap The More Button — During the call, look toward the top left of the in-call screen and tap the More button (three dots) if you see it.
Choose Call Recording — In the menu that appears, tap Call Recording.
Listen For The Audio Notice — Both you and the other person will hear an announcement that the call is being recorded. This is automatic and cannot be disabled.
Continue Your Conversation — Talk as normal while iPhone records in the background.

Stop Recording And Find It In Notes

End Recording — Tap the Stop button in the call interface, or simply hang up. Either action stops the recording.
Tap View Saved Call — Right after the call ends, you may see an option labeled View Saved Call. Tapping it jumps straight into the new note in the Call Recordings folder inside Notes.
Open Notes Later — If you skip that prompt, open the Notes app, then open the Call Recordings folder to see every recorded call listed as its own note.

Each note contains an audio player for the call and, in supported regions and languages, a transcript that lines up each spoken segment with a speaker label. Apple marks the transcript as a best-effort conversion, so you should listen to key parts when accuracy matters.

Where Call Recording Works And Where It Is Missing

The Call Recording feature in iOS 18 is not universal. Apple’s documentation explains that it works only in certain countries and regions, and only for calls between you and one other person. Group calls or conference calls cannot be recorded through this tool.

Apple also lists locations where call recording is not available at all, including:

Entire European Union — All EU countries currently have call recording disabled at the system level.
Middle East Markets — Places such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Iran, Iraq, and Yemen are on Apple’s block list.
Other Regions — The list also includes Azerbaijan, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, South Africa, and Turkey.

If your iPhone is set to one of those regions, the Call Recording control will not appear in the Phone app, even if the device hardware and iOS build are current. Changing the region setting just to make the button appear is risky, because local law where you and the other person live still applies to the recording.

The feature also depends on language coverage. Some languages only permit call recording without transcripts, while others gain full transcription and even AI-based summaries in Notes. That is another reason to skim the feature availability page before you assume that a recording will include text.

Legal Rules Before You Record Any iPhone Call

Before you hit Call Recording on iOS 18, you need to know whether recording is allowed where you and the other person are located. Telecom and privacy rules vary widely. In many places the law treats recordings differently depending on whether one or all parties give consent.

In the United States, federal law follows a “one-party consent” rule for private phone calls, but several states go beyond that and require everyone on the call to agree. A summary of telephone call recording rules notes that some states follow one-party consent, and others are “all-party” states where every person on the line must agree before the recording starts. In some cases, accepted notice can come from a spoken message, written notice, or a periodic beep tone during the call, as described in an FCC consumer guide on recording telephone conversations.

The table below gives a high-level view. It is not legal advice and does not replace checking the rules where you live.

Location Or Rule	Consent Type	Practical Impact
Many US states	One-party consent	If you are part of the call, you can usually record once at least one party (you) agrees, as long as no stricter state rule applies.
Some US states	All-party consent	Everyone on the call must agree to recording. Secret recordings can expose you to civil claims or charges.
European Union	Strict privacy rules	Recording often requires clear consent and a valid reason under privacy law, which is one reason Apple disables system call recording there.
Regions without iOS call recording	Blocked at OS level	iOS simply does not offer Call Recording. Workarounds can still be restricted or illegal under local rules.

Because rules differ by country and even by state or province, the safest habit is simple: explain that you want to record the call, get explicit agreement, and only proceed once everyone has said yes. When your situation is sensitive or high-stakes, speak with a qualified lawyer in your area before you rely on any recording.

How To Manage, Share, And Delete Call Recordings Safely

Once iOS 18 saves a call into Notes, that audio behaves much like any other note attachment. You can rename it, add context, share it with others, or remove it if you no longer need it. Deleting the audio also removes its transcript, so you should think about backups first.

Rename And Organize Call Recordings

Open Notes — Launch the Notes app on your iPhone.
Open Call Recordings Folder — Tap the folder named Call Recordings to see every saved call.
Rename A Note — Open a specific recording, tap the title at the top, and change it to something meaningful such as the caller’s name and date.
Add Written Context — Below the audio player, type short bullet points with key decisions, timestamps you may want to revisit, or follow-up tasks.

Play, Share, And Export Recordings

Play The Audio — Inside the note, tap the Play button to listen. You can scrub through the waveform to jump to a particular moment.
Use The Transcript — In regions with transcript support, tap Show Transcript to see the text. You can tap a line to play from that sentence or copy portions into another note.
Share Audio Safely — Tap the More button in the note, choose Share Audio, and pick a secure method such as AirDrop or an end-to-end encrypted messaging app.
Save A Copy Elsewhere — Use Save Audio Files to export a copy into Files, iCloud Drive, or another storage provider if you need longer-term archiving.

When sharing call recordings, think about who can access that file later. A forwarded email or a shared drive folder can keep a conversation around much longer than anyone expects. Limiting access and using protected channels keeps control in your hands.

Delete iOS 18 Call Recordings Cleanly

Open The Recording In Notes — Go back into the Call Recordings folder and pick the note you want to remove.
Tap More, Then Delete — Tap the More button, then tap Delete. The audio and its transcript disappear together.
Empty Recently Deleted If Needed — If you want the recording gone right away, visit the Recently Deleted folder in Notes and remove it from there as well.

Deleting recordings you no longer need reduces risk if someone gains access to your device or cloud storage, and it keeps your Call Recordings folder easier to scan during a busy day.

Alternative Options When iOS 18 Call Recording Is Not Available

If you live in a region where Apple blocks call recording, or you use an older iPhone that does not meet the requirements, the Call Recording button will not appear. You still have options, but each comes with trade-offs and legal questions you must handle carefully.

Use An External Recorder With Speakerphone

Place The Call On Speaker — Start or answer the call, then enable speaker so audio plays through the iPhone’s loudspeaker.
Record With Another Device — Use a second phone, a handheld recorder, or your computer’s microphone to capture the conversation.
Test Audio Levels — Make a short test call with a friend to adjust distances so both voices come through clearly.

This method is simple and works anywhere, but room noise and echo can hurt clarity. It also raises the same consent issues as native recording, so tell the other person what you are doing.

Use Apps That Reroute Through A Service

Some call-recording apps create a three-way call: you, the other person, and a recording line that saves the audio on a remote server. Once the call ends, the app lets you stream or download the file. These services can work in regions where Apple’s built-in Call Recording is disabled, because they rely on normal calling and conference features instead of system-level controls.

Before you rely on any such app, read its privacy policy, pricing, storage location, and deletion rules. Many store audio on their own servers by default. If that makes you uneasy, stick with local options such as external recorders or the native feature in supported regions.

Record Internet Calls Instead Of Cellular Calls

In some workflows you can move the conversation into a VoIP app that has its own recording feature. Meeting tools and some business calling platforms offer cloud recordings or local recording on a computer. Again, laws about consent apply just as strongly here as they do to a plain phone call, and every app has its own retention settings that you should review.

Troubleshooting Call Recording Problems On iOS 18

Even when your iPhone should support call recording on paper, the button can stay hidden, greyed out, or fail during a call. Working through a few checks usually reveals the cause.

Call Recording Button Not Visible

Confirm iOS Version — Open Settings, tap General, then Software Update to confirm you are on iOS 18.1 or later, since earlier builds do not include Call Recording.
Check Region Settings — Go to Settings, tap General, then Language & Region. If your region is one of the blocked markets listed earlier, the feature will not appear.
Check Feature Availability — Visit the Apple iOS feature availability page in a browser and look up Call Recording for your country to confirm that it should exist on your device.

Call Recording Button Greyed Out During Calls

Stick To One-To-One Calls — If more than one other person is on the line, Call Recording can refuse to start. Try again on a direct call with a single contact.
Check Carrier And Network — Some carriers may restrict recording on certain call types. Try another call over Wi-Fi Calling if available, or test with a different SIM or eSIM line.
Restart iPhone — A quick restart often clears temporary glitches in the Phone app interface.

Recordings Missing Or Transcripts Not Appearing

Open The Correct Folder — Make sure you are looking in the Call Recordings folder in Notes, not in another notebook or account.
Check iCloud Sync — If Notes uses iCloud, open Notes on another device or at iCloud.com to see whether the recording synced correctly.
Allow Time For Transcription — Transcripts are not instant. Notes may show a message that transcription is in progress for a short period.
Confirm Language Coverage — Some languages only receive audio recording without text. The Apple feature availability page lists which language and region pairs include transcripts.

When nothing seems to restore Call Recording and you are sure your region, language, and iOS build qualify, a last resort is a full backup followed by a clean restore of iOS. In rare cases that clears corrupted settings that block new system features. If that still does not help, reach out to Apple through its retail stores or official contact channels with all the details you have gathered.

Used carefully, call recording on iOS 18 gives you a powerful way to save interviews, phone meetings, and complex instructions in a form you can replay and review. Pair the feature with clear consent, Apple’s Notes integration, and respect for local law, and you gain a practical record without bolting strange hardware onto your iPhone.