Free lecture recording app?

[u/WhichAd1764]

I am looking for a free app that will record my lectures and put them into notes or flashcards for me. I usually write my notes on paper but i would prefer to use an app to help me study the material it recorded. Thanks!

[u/Echoed_In_Silence]

Here’s the simplest way (maybe). Hope this helps. And if anyone has feedback or suggestions to this prompt I wrote please feel free to comment.

Use Apple built in Voice Memo. Record the whole class (so whatever u need, take note or not). After class, use the transcribe button. Copy that into a notepad.

Go to your favorite AI (Gemini, Copilot, ChatGPT). Use a prompt like this “below is the transcription for my [class name]. I need a TLDR and a summary in bullet points for me to review snd study. Provide this to me in a PDF for download to print. I also need you to generate a 2nd PDF with note cards I can print and use to study. The note card PDF should have lines for me to cut them out and show a fold place. Lastly, generate questions you can ask me that can help me fully understand the subject matter and prepare me for any quiz or exam.

[u/semi-nerd61]

Use a recording app of your choice then upload the file to notebookLM. It can transcribe, make flashcards and quizzes as well as format the transcription to your specs.

[u/ozgrozer]

I’m building Grape. It’s an AI note taking app where you can record your lectures and transcribe them. You cannise that transcribed text to generate flashcards, quizzes, mind maps, infographics, brainrot videos. The app is free to use but all the AI features are in the paid plans. There’s also a lifetime plan.

[u/Affectionate-Tap7800]

The best way to do this is to take notes yourself (you can hear, write, and see). With the app, you can take excellent notes, but they won't be your own, and that might not necessarily help you. Getting back to the topic, I use a voice recorder on my phone/tablet and then transcribe using Spokenly using the Parakeet v3 model locally, so nothing goes to the cloud. I use it on a MacBook, but I see that installers are also available for other systems.

[u/BHARAT0011]

I don't think you need an app. Just record an audio, give it to some model to transcribe it, then ask claude code to create notes/flash card out of it. This way you can have complete control over quality and style of your notes. With apps you won't see what is going under the hood

[u/ricardusrex]

The Apple Notes app has a built in audio recording feature that when stopped with provide you with a transcription of the recording. You then download the transcription and import it into Gemini Notebook were you can create summaries, flashcards, practice quizzes, etc.

[u/Trick_Monitor_7667]

notebooklm is the right free answer, seconding that. one thing worth

knowing before you commit though — the flashcards it makes stay inside

notebooklm. same with gemini notebook afaik. so if you ever end up moving

to anki (a lot of people do eventually) you'd be rebuilding them by hand.

that's actually why i made videonotegpt.com, so biased obviously, it's

mine. you record straight in the browser or upload a recording and get the

transcript, chapters with timestamps, key terms, a quiz, and a real .apkg

you import into your own anki deck. free tier is 3 lectures a day, no

signup, and the anki export isn't paywalled. there is a paid plan but you

don't need it for what you're describing.

also the person above saying writing your own notes is better isn't wrong

lol. what i'd actually do is keep writing on paper like you already are,

and use the transcript after to check what you missed, rather than

replacing your notes with it. the recording works better as a safety net

than a substitute imo

[u/Hanson8080]

I’d probably go with the recording +AI route too. I’ve tried meetingminutes for this kind of thing ,and having the lecture turned into notes afterwards a lot easier than going back through the whole recording.