Your first voice note

Record a voice note and watch TellDone organize it for you.

The welcome carousel

After you sign up or sign in, TellDone shows a 7-slide welcome carousel, once on each device. On slides 3 to 6 you can also tap Skip at the top.

1. Just speak. TellDone handles the rest. - a short intro. Tap Next.
2. What language do you speak? - scroll through 60 supported languages. The list opens at your detected language so the right option is usually one tap away. This is the language you will speak in your recordings, and it sets the language of your note titles, summaries, tasks, events, and reports. Tap Continue.
3. TellDone needs your microphone - tap Allow Microphone, then tap Allow when your iPhone asks, or tap Not now. If you denied access before, tap Open Settings to turn it on.
4. Stay on track - tap Turn On Notifications to get reminders for your tasks and upcoming events, or tap Maybe later.
5. Record Anywhere - how to record from Control Center and, on iPhones that have one, the Action Button, without opening the app. Tap Got it.
6. Sync your data - switches for Apple Calendar and Apple Reminders, so TellDone adds your events and tasks there right away. Tap Next.
7. Ready? Try your first voice note - your first recording unlocks 30 days of Pro, free. Record your first note, or tap Skip and explore.

tip

If you picked the wrong language, change it any time in Settings > Recording & AI > Content language. This doesn't change your app language.

Record your first note

1. Tap the big microphone button on the Record screen
2. Speak naturally - for example: "Tomorrow at 3 PM I have a call with Maria about the contract, and I need to finish the presentation by Friday"
3. Tap the button again to stop recording
4. Wait while TellDone processes your recording. A short note is usually ready in under a minute. The Record screen shows Saving…, then Uploading…, then Processing…

tip

You can record two ways with the same button: tap to start and tap again to stop, or press and hold while you talk and let go to send. Recording continues in the background - you can switch to another app. You see the recording status in the Dynamic Island and on the Lock Screen.

See what TellDone created

After processing, you'll find:

• A note with an AI-generated title and summary
• A note type (Task, Idea, Info, Status, Meeting, Reflection, or Event) - automatically detected
• Tags (up to 5) assigned based on the content, reusing tags you already have when they fit
• Tasks - one for each action item you mention. In our example, "Finish the presentation" with a Friday deadline
• Events - one for each dated plan you mention. In our example, "Call with Maria" at 3 PM tomorrow

Your new note also shows on a Last note card on the Record screen. Tap the card to open the note. If you'd rather not see it, turn off Show last note on Record screen in Settings > Recording & AI.

Tap the note to see the full detail view: summary, audio player, extracted tasks, full transcript, and an Add by voice button to update the note by speaking. You can also tap a field, such as the title or summary, to correct it by hand. Adding new tasks and events this way works on every plan. Changing what's already in a note by voice works on Basic and up, with Auto-complete tasks turned on (Settings > Recording & AI, on by default).

note

Learn more about the 7 note types and what you can do with your notes in the Notes guide. For details on extracted tasks and events, see Tasks and Events.

Prefer typing?

Tap Text note on the Record screen to type instead of speaking. You get the same note, tasks and events as from a voice recording.

note

Maximum text note length depends on your plan: Free 2,000 characters, Basic 8,000, Pro 20,000, Ultra 50,000.

Other ways to record on iPhone

• TellDone control - add it to Control Center or the Lock Screen and start recording without unlocking your iPhone
• Record voice note widget - start a note from your Home Screen
• Action Button (on iPhone models with an Action Button) - press and hold it to start recording. Set it up in iPhone Settings > Action Button.
• Dynamic Island and Lock Screen - while you record, see the recording status without unlocking
• Siri Shortcuts - dictate a text note with "Hey Siri, add a note in TellDone"
• Share sheet - share an audio file from Voice Memos, Files, or Messages directly into TellDone (up to 100 MB)

Recording tips

tip

For the best results:

• Speak in one language per recording - mixing languages reduces accuracy
• Mention specific dates and times so TellDone can create accurate events
• Use clear task language like "I need to", "I should", "don't forget to"
• On Basic and up, say what you already did, like "I sent the invoice", to mark the matching task done, or to add a completed task if there is none. On Free, it's only noted in the summary
• Speak for at least a few seconds. Very short recordings aren't sent and show Recording too short

If TellDone hears no voice for about a minute while you record, you get a No voice heard notification that offers to stop the recording, and the Dynamic Island turns orange. While the silence continues, the notification repeats every 5 minutes, replacing the previous one. Silence alone never ends a recording, so stop it yourself when you're done.

After you upload, a recording with no voice or no recognizable words never becomes a note and never uses one. The first 3 such recordings each day (your local day) don't use an upload or transcription minutes, and if one of those 3 lasts 10 seconds or more, you get a notice in your Inbox. From the 4th that day, they count as an upload and can use minutes, and no notice is sent.

Recording limits

	Free	Basic	Pro	Ultra
Max duration	5 min	10 min	60 min	90 min
Notes/month	50	300	1,000	Unlimited

note

Need more recording time or notes? See Plans and Pricing for a full comparison.

What's next?

Now that you've made your first recording, learn how to navigate the interface. Or dive deeper into recording features.