Add a recording widget to your Home Screen
Two widgets: one that starts a recording, and one that lists what you recorded most recently so you can open it straight from the Home Screen.
Add a widget
- Touch and hold an empty part of the Home Screen until the icons jiggle.
- Tap the + at the top left.
- Search for Voice Recorder.
- Swipe between Quick recording and Recent recordings, pick a size, and tap Add Widget.
The two widgets
- Quick recording — small, plus the circular and rectangular Lock Screen sizes. Tapping it opens the recorder.
- Recent recordings — medium and large. Each row opens that recording straight in the player.
- The Lock Screen sizes go under the clock: touch and hold the Lock Screen, tap Customize, and add it there.
- Both update when your library changes; there is nothing to refresh by hand.
If a widget looks empty
- A new install has nothing to show until you record something.
- Open the app once after installing — the widget reads a snapshot the app writes.
- Remove the widget and add it again if it is still blank.
- Restart the iPhone if widgets across all your apps are stuck, which is usually an iOS hiccup rather than an app problem.
FAQ
- Does a widget record by itself?
- No. Tapping it opens the app, which starts the recording — no app outside itself can hold the microphone.
- Does the widget show my recordings on the Lock Screen?
- The Lock Screen sizes are the compact Quick recording ones. The list of recent recordings is a Home Screen widget.
- Do widgets drain the battery?
- No. They read a small snapshot the app writes when something changes, rather than doing any work themselves.
Record it properly next time
Voice Recorder — Novaz records meetings, lectures and ideas in M4A or WAV, marks the moments that matter, trims and merges, and turns speech into searchable text — all on your iPhone.
Download on the App Store