Apple announces AI-powered iPhone call recordings at WWDC 2024

If you sneezed during Apple's WWDC 2024 keynote, you might have missed what was arguably the biggest announcement of the day: AI-enhanced call recordings on iPhone, right there on your default Phone app.

Apple software engineering lead Craig Federighi squeezed the announcement of call recordings into a section on the numerous enhancements rolling out with the release of Apple Intelligence on the upcoming iOS 18. Just after mentioning AI-powered transcriptions and summaries in the Notes app, he sped through this announcement in under 30 words.

But here are the details.

AI-powered call recordings on iPhone

The option to record will soon be available on the live call screen alongside familiar buttons like "End" and "Mute."

When the user starts recording, the other party or parties on the line will be notified. Naturally you'll still need to follow local laws and norms around consent, meaning you'll need to ask permission, but the promised mandatory disclosure will help smooth over the ethics involved.

It's not totally clear yet whether this notification — or indeed the whole recording feature — will only work when talking to other iPhone users (or even users with iOS 18 only) — or if it will be available across all phone types.

The recording itself appears to be accessible after the call on your Notes app. Transcripts and transcript summaries appear to work exactly like any other Notes app recordings in this upcoming iOS release.

Transcription software companies like Otter.ai are most likely feeling some pressure after this announcement.