One of the highlights of the Pixel 4 was the recorder app which allowed for real-time transcriptions and audio search — and did it really well which I experienced using it for a 60 minute presentation to new parents of the middle school at my daughters new campus. Now you can install the latest version on just about any Android phone running Android 9 or 10.
Although all supported Pixel phones running the December release will have this app no other phones have it officially. Now you can download and install it yourself. The app can be used to record a conversation, interview or presentation or to just make a few quick notes for yourself.
At this stage the app only supports US English but will work here in Australia assuming you have your language set to English. There is an older version of the Google Record app that will work on non-Pixel devices but if you want the latest you will need to grab the modified version:
Download Google Recorder App:
The requirements for compatibility, taken from XDA are:
Requirements
- Android smartphone running Android 9 Pie or Android 10. The app wasn’t built for Android versions older than Android 9 Pie.
- Android software without significant modifications to the TextView component in the Android framework. It seems that the Google Recorder app fails to work properly on certain devices because those devices are running software with modifications to TextView. There’s no way to tell if this app will work on your device without actually testing it, though, so we went ahead and tested it on a bunch of different phones to save you the trouble:
- Fully Works
- Google Pixel and Pixel XL running Android 10
- Huawei and Honor phones running EMUI 9 (Android 9 Pie) or EMUI 10 (Android 10)
- LG phones running LG UX 8.0 (Android 9 Pie)
- Motorola phones running Android 9 Pie
- Nokia phones running Android 9 Pie
- Samsung Galaxy phones running One UI 1.0/1.5 (Android 9 Pie) or One UI 2.0 (Android 10)
- Sony Xperia phones running Android 9 Pie or Android 10
- Any phone running a custom ROM based on AOSP Android 9 Pie or Android 10
- Partially Works (recording works but transcriptions aren’t visible after saving)
- ASUS phones running ROG UI 2.0/ZenUI 6.0 based on Android 9 Pie or Android 10
- OPPO and Realme phones running ColorOS 6 based on Android 9 Pie
- OnePlus phones running OxygenOS 10 based on Android 10
- Doesn’t Work
- Xiaomi phones running MIUI 10 or MIUI 11
- Fully Works
This new app will not work for all phones unfortunately and until Google decides with make it available and official to other devices then there will most likely always be some incompatibilities. If you do have a supported device I urge you to download the new link from above and check it out — it is a great feature of the Pixel 4 that now you can enjoy.
Thank you for sharing, Scott. Confirming that the Official version (1.0.279) worked flawlessly on my Samsung Galaxy S9 running Android 9. The unofficial version kept force closing.