Voice memo stuck downloading

I have a brand new iPhone 11 Pro Max just bought yesterday, and have a similar issue.

I am using iOS 13.1.2.

On the Voice Memo app, as soon as I started it for the time, there is a memo (named after my location) that says "downloading" but it never finishes. I think it's confused, and I don't actually have any voice memos in iCloud to download.

I also looked on my iPad and I have no voice memos on there in the Voice Memo app, so this must be a bug in IOS 13.

The app appears to work otherwise, i.e. I was able to record a memo, play it back, and delete it etc.

I’ve spent 3 hours on the phone to Apple Care, done a profile log data send to their engineers and even bought a new phone to restore from the oldest backup - still not downloading my memos! The new update was meant to fix this issue according to Apple

Care and it hasn’t... think it’s all gone for good.

I have tried all the ideas to restore the voice memos and none of them worked. Including:

1. Restoring on another iPhone running iOS 13.3
2. Restoring on another iPhone running iOS 13.4
3. Restoring on an iPad
4. Restoring another iCloud backup
5. Wait for 3 days to see if the download can ever complete

Nothing worked. It seems the iOS 13.4 update removed all my voice memos. I hate this. Apple need to seriously look into this.

You may be in luck. There may be a solution and it involves a few clicks. Fairly simple.

Disclaimer: This is a third-party software. I am not affiliated nor do I receive any benefits. This if for educational and research purpose only. Use at your own discretion.

After searching online for a solution to your problem I came across some software but only one stood out to be the best solution. This is a paid program, however, it does you "full-limited access" to "a specific data file" (i.e. Voice Memo). DO NOT SELECT ANY OTHER FILE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Assuming you are using a Mac:

1.) Download the third-party app (https://www.minitool.com/download-center/) MiniTool Mobile Recovery (OS Recovery for Mac 1.4)

2.) Run it (You DO NOT HAVE TO MOVE IT over to your application folder)

3.) Select your backup location (iPhone/Table, iTunes, *iCloud - you will need to sign into your iCloud if you select this option)

4.) Select backup file and it will start to scan. It may take over 5 minutes to complete. Patient. (If your backup is encrypted, you need to put in your password)

5.) Under "Memos & Others, SELECT "VOICE MEMOS" ONLY. DO NOT SELECT ANYTHING ELSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

6.) Press Recover and Select were you to want save your memos.

After completing these steps you should be able to AirDrop or Move to iCloud, or other media device for safe keepings.

Hope this helps. Let me know.

Definitely don’t delete the app then reinstall it doesn’t work my voice memos are all gone now!!

Wow still the same issue!

MacBook Pro 13" Catalina 10.15.4

Why is it so difficult if the problem is known?

FWIW I was able to delete my stuck downloading message through the app. I did it sorta accidentally while messing around with the delete function, but can’t recall exactly what I did. So, I no longer have an errant downloading message and the app is normal again.

I hear ya.

In my case I didn’t actually have any voice recordings to download. But since I bought this phone it has been trying to download one. Now that is finally stopped.

For those who actually do have important recordings that won’t download, I hope this issue can be resolved for you all soon.

That’s unfortunate. I hope they resolve it soon. As I said, I still own my X so I was able to air drop the recordings toy MacBook Pro. I ended up deleting the memos on my 11 that were stuck in perpetual download mode. If you have another device they are on, maybe try what I did? Good luck everyone!

Your fix worked for me. I deleted the voice app and reinstalled it. It started downloading all my pending voice memos.

in my case, I had to manually airdrop the voice memos created in my new iPhone 11 to an old iPhone as those were not backed up to iCloud yet.

Mines were backed up on other devices (i.e. iPad, Macmini, older iPhone) before I uninstalled the Voice Memo app. If you have other devices which were sync, they should show up there. However, to my understanding, since you did a full backup you should be able to do a restore.

If needed more assistance, I’ll do my best.

Thanks

*It highly recommended before proceeding to uninstall any app there is an backup.

Thanks Le-/veno

So this is where my lack of techie knowledge lets me down :( I assumed that as I back up my iPhone to the Cloud that I'd also be able to see my Voice Memos on my MacBook Pro (thinking data would back up to my MacBook at same time). But as I have uninstalled and reinstalled the Voice Memo app on my phone I can only see the few seconds Voice Memo I made earlier today. I can't see my old Voice Memos on my MacBook either.

I don't really want to do a restore from latest back up as had horrendous recent experience. when I got a replacement phone following a screen smash. It didnt' remember any of my app passwords and took me days and days to get everything back to how it was.

Can you "extract" specific items from a Cloud backup instead?

thanks again

To my understanding, "some older" Apple products does not "continuous sync" with iCloud. I have an MacBook Pro late 2009 (OS X El Capitan) which does not sync (bad apple). They only app that still syncs is my iMessages and Notes (only for various reason).

In search for a solution for my previous issue, I've came across articles that stated there are certain recovery software that reads and extracts iCloud backup information. If you take this route, keep in mind that third-party software "may" come with certain risks (i.e. viruses, bloatware, adware, etc.) however, they also are some of the best solutions to specific problems. Due diligence is needed here. I cannot recommend any software due to I have not used any of my own. This will be a journey for you and please update "US" (this community) of your success.

Thanks, Looking forward for an update. :)

Hi - my MacBook is only one year old and running Catalina so does not sound like it's a hardware issue.

I appreciate your suggestion around 3rd party software to try to extract specific items from my iCloud backup. However I don't feel comfortable donign this as dont' have huge amount of tech expeirende and dont' want to risk anything.

For now unfortunately looks like i have lost my Voice Memos :(

There is a solution within this thread. One other person has confirmed..

* Be sure you have your voice memos backed up or stored on another device before you proceed.

Let us know if it works for you too.