Voice memo time limit?

Question

Voice memo time limit?

Is there a time limit to the length of recordings using Voice Memo?
thanks
Pete

iPhone 4 IOS 4.2.1

Mac Book Pro 17" / QS G4 867 / iPhone 4, Mac OS X (10.6.5)

Posted on Dec 30, 2010 1:46 PM

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Answer 1

Apr 22, 2011 3:45 PM in response to Bethabike

Hi,

could you find how to recover this long memos, that iphone cannot play and sync with itunes?

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Answer 2

wjosten

Level 10

95,321 points

Dec 30, 2010 2:03 PM in response to Peter Whitaker

I believe iOS 4.0 removed the limit, which was somewhere around ~33 minutes or so. I believe it was limited by file size more than recording length and thus would vary from about 30 minutes to around 37 minutes max. I know you can go to at least two hours now, but I have not tested recently since iOS 4.2.1.

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Answer 3

Dec 30, 2010 2:16 PM in response to wjosten

great thanks
I want to record a lecture - could be 90 mins
Pete

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Answer 4

Yelisey

Level 1

0 points

Jan 3, 2011 8:40 AM in response to Peter Whitaker

But a bug with long voice memos remained with iPhone 3g in spite of iOS 4.2.1.
A voice memo 1 h 55 min cannot be listened with iPhone nor synced with iTunes.

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Answer 5

paulcb

Level 6

19,239 points

Jan 3, 2011 8:47 AM in response to Peter Whitaker

I suggest doing a 100min test run first.

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Answer 6

Yelisey

Level 1

0 points

Jan 4, 2011 5:47 AM in response to paulcb

I made some tests and found, that the bug is caused not by record length only, but two circumstances together: record length and the way a record is stopped.
If a 2 h record is stopped with the stop key and I waited the iPhone has done its work after stop, the record can be synced with iTunes correctly.
If a 1 h 24 min record is stopped with incoming call, or the process is stopped with the stop key but Voice Memo application is exited immediately after stop, the record cannot be synced with iTunes, nor played with iPhone.
Anyway, slider does not work when a long record is played.
A short record can be synced with iTunes and played with iPhone correctly regardless of the way the record is stopped.
Is this bug inherent to iPhone 4g?

Thanks in advance for your reply.

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Answer 7

Feb 19, 2011 6:52 AM in response to Yelisey

I've noticed the same.

Some long voice memos not playing on the iPhone (slider not moving)
and
These same long voice memos not synching with iTunes so can't be played there either.

I've noticed too that these long voice memos are the ones where I pressed the voice memo on screen stop button, and then the main iPhone stop button quickly straight afterwards and thus not giving enough time for the iPhone to finish thinking (and it might be that longer voice memos require a longer think time after stopping recording that shorter voice memos).

There is no problem with short voice memos. I can stop recording and then abrupty press the main iPhone stop button afterwards and nothing is lost. Presumably this is because the phone doesn't need so much time to think and register properly what it's just recording.

So beware people who want to record long lectures. When you press the on screen stop button to stop recording, allow the phone to think for a bit while still in voice memo app. Don't press the main iPhone button to exit the voice memo app too soon.

QUESTIONS:
(1) Does anyone know if it is possibele to recover these long voice memos despite this?
(2) Can we see if they are taking up memory on the phone?

If so, then there might be something to salvage, but I guess it would have to be salvaged from the phone, given that it's not syncing with the computer.

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Answer 8

TITNTUFF

Level 1

125 points

Feb 19, 2011 7:50 AM in response to Yelisey

I have noticed a voice memo I NEED will not save.
Testing and goofing off records, syncs, and saves fine.

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Answer 9

Apr 30, 2011 2:33 PM in response to Peter Whitaker

I recorded for 1hr:57mins last night. I cannot get the file to be recognized by itunes. The file will not play either. When I try to email I get a message saying it is to long but will email a portion which can be selected.

Does anyone know a way to recover the file?

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Answer 10

May 17, 2011 11:18 AM in response to ksfreeman

Get iphone explorer and bypass itunes completely to get your recordings off the phone. It's a free app and very handy.

http://www.macroplant.com/iphoneexplorer/

You can then launch the app with your iphone connected to your mac and go to media/Recordings in the apps browser window and just drag them to your desktop no syncing needed.

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Answer 11

Jun 11, 2011 5:38 AM in response to Lance Mcvickar

Iphoneexplorer works fine! Thanks for the advice.

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Answer 12

Jun 11, 2011 5:40 AM in response to Peter Whitaker

If u have enough space it can record ultimate

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Answer 13

ihtsham

Level 1

0 points

Jun 16, 2011 2:55 PM in response to Peter Whitaker

Agree to yelsiler.

U have to give enough time to ur phone to save the long memos. I recorded 2:29 hrs long, it played fine.

Today I recorded 2:59hrs, but stupidity I did, I stopes memo and immediately quit the voice memo app. That made file corrupt.

I think better to make many files each 2 hrs, for short save time for phone and without risk, I regret for what I lost very important lecture today.

Even iPhone explorer can't help in corrupted files situation.

I hope in future, no one would make this mistake.

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Answer 14

deBare

Level 1

4 points

Jul 7, 2011 10:35 AM in response to Peter Whitaker

I've recorded successfully (albeit accidentally) for 9 1/2 hours (267.1mb file) that was recognized by both iTunes and Voice Memos. I more typically record for 1-3 hours and it all works great.

However, two days ago my recordings just started stopping after 17mins 5secs over and over again. I'm wondering if anyone has had similar problems and what the potential fix might be? Thanks

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Answer 15

Sep 8, 2011 7:15 AM in response to Bethabike

I am using Apple iPhone 3G. I used my iPhone to record a meeting this afternoon. The apps which I used was voice memo. The recording was about 1hr and 39 mins. After the meeting finished, I pressed the paused button and then touched the stop button. Unfortunately, the voice memo quit without warning. I started the app again, but it just could not play the recording.

Fortunately, I connected it to my ubuntu and I discovered that there were two files created. One was 20110908 XXXXX.m4a, which was corrupted. The other file was 20110908 XXXXX.mov, which could only played for 12 seconds. I then converted the file to mp3 format by using FFMPEG. To my surprise, this free tool recovered my full length recording.

One last mystery remains is the cause of this wierd bug. Can anyone figure it out?

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