AudioField is a voice recorder app for Android that aims to be as simple as possible to use, while also offering some advanced features that those who rely on recordings like these will find useful. For instance, AudioField will record from 32 kbps up to 320 kbps and in the following formats: MP3, AAC (.m4a), PCM (.wav) and AMR (.3gp). These two choices allow users to manage how much storage AudioField takes up, and the inclusion of the ability to skip silence can reduce the amount of time a recording is without losing valuable information from a meeting or something similar. With a built-in upload to Dropbox feature and an editor, this is a simple, yet fully-featured voice recorder for Android.
As with other apps, you’ll need to download AudioField MP3 Voice Recorder from the Play Store. Once you’ve done that, you’ll be greeted with the default settings of the app, this is how the app will record when you first use it.
You can change these right away, and if you’re curious – as I am – you’ll see that there are some thoughtful inclusions in the settings menu.
From the settings menu, you can turn things on such as the upload to Dropbox feature, and change the format and bit rate. Those that have spent time recording voice before, in meetings or lectures for instance, will tell you that sometimes it’s not all about quality. AudioField however, gives you the option to scale quite nicely, choosing a higher quality file or medium quality to save a little on space.
This is a look at what the recording screen looks like when you’re recording something:
You’ll notice that the “Skipping silence” message has taken the place of the timer. This happens when the setting to skip silence is enabled and the app has detected that nothing is happening. This shortens the overall recording length of the final file. Managing your recordings is nice and simple here as well, all you do is swipe to the right and you’ll see a list of them.
When you’re playing a recording, it does so inline so to speak, it doesn’t take you to another view or anything like that. You can also rename things as you listen to them, which makes a lot of sense.
With AudioField, you can also edit your files right from within the app, this is especially useful for splitting long meetings into separate files to better manage the audio or creating soundbites to use in reports and so on.
You can easily export or delete sections of a recording here. This is an add-on feature available in the pro version of the app, but refreshingly the developers are honest about this and let you try it on files 10 times to decide if it’s something you’d use or not.
While spending a little with AudioField, I could instantly understand why this would be such a useful app for those that create a lot of recordings. When interviewing people or listening to presentations I often use a dedicated voice recorder, and I think I’ll still do that, as testing on a G4 things were really quite quiet when recording with AudioField. I don’t think this is the app’s fault though, as these microphones are designed for voices spoken directly into a microphone, not ambient noise, hence why speakerphone is so poor on smartphones. Still, a way to boost sensitivity would be a great addition here. Either way, the app itself is very good, it has thoughtful features that make a lot of sense and add some much-needed functionality without bogging the user down with information they don’t need or want, it’s pretty clever.
Ratings
- Speed (4/5) – AudioField runs great, files are actually saved to storage as the recording is made as well, a smart feature that makes a recording instantly repayable when you’re finished.
- Features (4.5/5) – Voice recorders are not new, and they’re not sexy, but what they are is useful tools and AudioField selects the most useful extras and adds them in to create something fully-featured yet simple to use.
- Theme (4/5) – Everything looks good, and it’s nice to see a voice recorder that hasn’t been born just to jump on the material design bandwagon.
- Overall (4/5) – A solid, reliable and fully-featured voice recorder, AudioField is worth looking into and students and those chairing a lot of meetings should try it out.
Pros
- Easy to get to grips with, there are no hoops to jump through.
- Features a built-in Dropbox upload feature, which is nice to see.
- Allows for easy and quick editing while on the move.
- Skipping silence will help save lots of space and quicken recordings with long pauses.
Cons
- Google Drive and other cloud services would be nice to be included.
- A feature to boost sensitivity could help with quieter smartphones.
AudioField is yet another voice recorder, and while there are already loads of these out there, this is a great addition. It adds the best of the extra features available in other apps to create something that’s easy to use as well as more advanced for those looking to make the most of their recordings.