What app records phone conversations easily and efficiently for iOS?

There are none.

Use a tape recorder.

Apple doesn't want this feature so it stops developers making apps that do it.

You should probably find another cellphone to use for this, many Android devices support it as do many older non-smart cellphones.

You can search for ways to record calls on iOS, but Apple don't want you do it.

MPalmerDesign wrote:

"Apple doesn't want this feature so it stops developers making apps that do it."

If that's really true, I find that pretty foolish. There are many reasons why someone would want to tape a conversation. I know there was an app named "Total Recall" for the Samsung platform that worked exactly like I'm describing. Perhaps switching over to another phone might be worth it if Apple is standing in the way of developers from making sensible and useful tools on their platform.

And there are many reasons that Apple does not support this feature. The most compelling is that in many US states and many foreign countries it is illegal to record phone conversations.

I also suspect that an app capable of doing so doesn't pass muster from a system security standpoint.

Good point. Imagine law enforcement with a back door to such an app.

Lawrence Finch wrote:

Good point. Imagine law enforcement with a back door to such an app.

I try not to

MPalmerDesign wrote:

"Apple doesn't want this feature so it stops developers making apps that do it."

If that's really true, I find that pretty foolish. There are many reasons why someone would want to tape a conversation. I know there was an app named "Total Recall" for the Samsung platform that worked exactly like I'm describing. Perhaps switching over to another phone might be worth it if Apple is standing in the way of developers from making sensible and useful tools on their platform.

That is the difference between an open & closed platform, Android lets you do what you like (or you can side load apps to do as you please). Apple doesn't let developers do anything they think could be a security risk.

The legality of call recording is not really Apples problem, there are many ways to break the law with an iOS device, in many places consent is all that is required (call centres record calls all day long). Apple already customise the OS to obey local laws (EU volume limits, forced shutter camera sounds etc) they are just very conservative about what they want on their platform.

You probably need to break out of the walled garden to get a better view 🙂.

MPalmerDesign wrote:

The security aspect seems somewhat more plausible, but as Snowden illustrated, the NSA has already been eavesdropping upon us for years. I also find it hard to believe that there aren't back doors to exploit anyway. Perhaps I need a less mothered OS.

But as you can also learn from Snowden, even the NSA has not broken the security of the iPhone. And the FBI has complained to Apple about the fact that they cannot get access to iPhone content. The recent hack of Italy's Hacking Team professional malware for law enforcement company also revealed that they have not been able to gain access to iPhones, despite years of trying. If you want an open platform, by all means get one, but also be prepared for the fact that open platforms are inherently unsecure. One of the major security firms earlier this year reported that over 300 types of malware for Android have been identified and found in the wild. The found 3 for iPhones, and all of them were apps that were removed almost immediately from the app store. And all of them required the user's cooperation to do their dirty work, by responding to a dialog asking if the app could access private data.

MPalmerDesign wrote:

I seem to recall Snowden being distrustful of the iPhone too, but iOS8 certainly is tight. I'm not exactly sure how a discussion about bulkhead OS security relates to simply being able to record your own phone conversations on your own phone, though. This seems to me to be something that is no less risky than the myriad contexts of location service use, downloading apps, emailing, or receiving cookies from web applications. It's just another localized thing you could do on your phone from within your phone. But I'm open to the likely fact I'm just not technically understanding the risk, despite Apple's excellent security.

Yes, but if an app exists that can record phone calls that app can be easily repurposed or subverted. I certainly would never use one if it existed.

There ARE alternatives to recording calls that do not require the iPhone to support it. Google Voice, for example, can record phone calls, and is free. And is available as an app for the phone. It doesn't record your cellular calls, but if you call through your Google Voice number from your phone (or from any phone) you can record the GV call. The same is true for some other other VoIP services. And conference services (I use uberconference, for example).

Snowden's information on the iPhone was that NSA had a program to subvert it, but as of the time of publication they had not succeeded unless they had physical possession of the phone. And that was before iOS 8, which removed the back door that Apple could use to extract the contents of an iOS device to law enforcement. Apple did this for themselves, as well as for users. The were getting an unknown number of requests (classified information) from LE to break into iPhones, and their engineering staff was overwhelmed. There was a waiting list weeks long. So by redesigning iOS to make it impossible for Apple themselves to extract information from the phone there was this dual benefit.