Voice memo app wont record for longer then 30 minutes

Try the iTalk app from the app store.

Yeah I agree it's in odd limit to consciously place, unless it's somehow simpler for them to measure it that way in code. Really though I doubt they're going to let you MMS that. Maybe it's a fraction of the space apps are allowed to use? OR maybe it really is just a bug...

you're probably right on both counts. I doubt it's a bug though because the code seems to exit cleanly. And, who knows, maybe the programmer was dyslexic and meant to make his 1204 buffer size 1024!! hehe

But as Lawrence Finch says: use iTalk until they "fix" this.

Message was edited by: everettwolf

I'd been using iTalk for quite a while before the iPhone OS 3.0 release, and never had any trouble from the standpoint of file length. When Voice Memos came out, I was pretty psyched to be able to seamlessly add recordings to iTunes, and never had a file length issue at first - I'd record 90 minutes at a stretch no problem. Between 3.0 and 3.1, they definitely seem to have crippled Voice Memos, and I'm having the same trouble.

The things that are a bummer about iTalk are that you have to manually copy files to your HD and then manually add them to iTunes, and it won't sync them via USB - it's WiFi only. My real $0.02 for this thread, though, is that even with that downside iTalk doesn't cap your file sizes. (Which is a HUGE boon to those of us who record talks, lectures and band practices for home review...)

So, today I tried again, and got:

34:37 (74.3 MB, 77,835,508 bytes)
34:42 (74.3 MB, 77,832,509 bytes) - when I hit 'record' it said 'recording 00:00:00' throughout, though appears to have imported into iTunes just fine.

Others:

77,833,488 bytes
77,833,999 bytes
77,835,738 bytes

Also, I verified that I installed OS 3.1 on 9/9/09, and on 9/8/09 I had recorded a long memo:

1:23:26 (181.4 MB, 190,309,416 bytes)

And ever since my next recording on 9/10/09 after the update, max length ~ 34 minutes, 74.3 MB.

I just add to this list: I cannot record longer than 77MBs, which is in my case 1 hour 20 mins and 3 seconds. If nobody has officially submitted this bug to Apple, I'd be glad to, I just did not find where to. Or have those Geniuses already taken notice? 🙂

Message was edited by: iLac

I had been using this feature to record class notes since 3.0. Now, with 3.1 I have experienced the same ~35 minute limitation. This is extremely frustrating Apple.

Moving back to third party app.

Same problem here since the update to 3.1. Use this daily for lecture recordings and had no issues recording 3 hour classes. Now, 34+ minutes and stops with +faint ding ding sound+. Must be a new 'feature' - or a bug - still no reply from apple

Having the same problem. The problem with 3rd party apps is the file size. I just downloaded Italk and am recording on the high quality setting and will try their Wifi process for downloading to the computer, but my experience with similar apps that use AIFF is terrible. Apple has exclusive rights to direct sync. Any other suggestions would be appreciated, calling apple as soon as they open for their opinion.

I agree with most other people here... I was able to record longer than 30-35 before 3.1, but now I can't. As some of you have stated already, it is probably because of the issues that the iPhone was having in the conversion process of large files from .mov to .m4a. But hopefully things will change. I know is a pain in my side to string these 30 minutes audio files together.

One other thing I noticed that was systematic was downtime needed between recordings. If you try and record another audio file RIGHT after the previous one ends, the iPhone will tell you that is recording for exactly 1 minutes (in my experience) then stop recording automatically. My guess is that it can't convert the previous recording while recording a new voice memo at the same time, which takes exactly a minute to do (given maximum file size)

So, does anyone know if this has been officially filed as a bug with Apple? Or if not, how?

Well, as it took a specific action on the part of a programmer to make it work this way I'm sure Apple considers it a feature, not a bug. You can use the Feedback link at the top of each forum section to express disagreement.

I am French so my English is beginning ... I have exactly the same problem: heavy inconvenience to take my classes. I have reinstalled software that I had before in firmware 2, but the advantage of integrated Dictaphone is that it was. M4a! Make something, and quickly, please!

Apple's marketing department should consider it a bug:

"Voice Memos
Capture a memo, a meeting, or any audio recording on the go. Voice Memos works with the built-in iPhone microphone or with the mic on your headset."

http://www.apple.com/iphone/softwareupdate/

I doubt 35 minutes would be enough to capture a typical meeting at Apple. Steve Jobs, "On his marathon Monday meetings:"

"So what we do every Monday is we review the whole business. We look at what we sold the week before. We look at every single product under development, products we're having trouble with, products where the demand is larger than we can make. All the stuff in development, we review. And we do it every single week. I put out an agenda -- 80% is the same as it was the last week, and we just walk down it every single week."

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/fortune/0803/gallery.jobsqna.fortune/9.html