Google Recorder update can now pick up external mics
For those who need to record conversations, meetings, interviews, etc from their smartphone, the Google Recorder app is one of the handiest tools you can have. While your phone’s microphone is probably the best input for recording, there are times when you may use an external mic or more specifically, a Bluetooth headset. The latest update to the app will now let you choose which input you prefer for recording as it can detect an external mic instead of just the built-in microphone.
Android Police shares that version 2.1 of the Google Recorder comes with a new microphone setting which gives you two options. The first one is auto-detect which will automatically switch recording to any connected mics, whether it’s wired or Bluetooth. The other option is Always use phone mic which means it will always record from your phone’s microphone even if you attach any other external mic.
When you’re making a new recording on the app, you’ll notice that there’s an indicator at the bottom of the screen which shows you which mic is being used for the saved audio. Of course using the built-in microphone will probably still give you the best quality recording, there may be times when you need to move around and you can’t bring your phone with you. This is where wireless earbuds or other Bluetooth headsets can come in handy.
You can also use Google Assistant commands like “Start a voice recording” and you don’t even have to pick up your phone to start the app and start recording. There are some times though when you’ll have to unlock your device first before it will be able to do so. Hopefully, that is something that can be removed in the future so the recording can be even more seamless especially when you cannot hold the phone in your hands for one reason or another.
You can update your Google Recorder to version 2.1 to get these new settings options. The feature that will let you back up recordings to Google Drive should have been in this update as well but it doesn’t seem to be live yet.
