Articles/Saving

Capture ideas by voice and find them later

Updated 13 October 2026. 2 minute read.

Speaking is about three times faster than typing on a phone, which makes a voice memo the best way to catch a thought while walking, cooking or carrying something. The catch has always been what comes afterwards. A list of recordings called "New Recording 37" cannot be skimmed, and nobody listens back to forty of them to find one sentence.

Transcription changes that. Once what you said exists as text, a voice memo is as searchable as a note.

Recording a memo in Stashy

1. Tap the plus button.
2. Choose Audio.
3. Talk, then stop.

Stashy writes down what you said as you record, on your device. The audio is not sent anywhere to be transcribed. The memo is saved with its recording and its text, and like every other save it gets a short summary and search keywords.

The first time, iOS asks for permission to use the microphone and speech recognition. Both are needed for this and can be switched off again in Settings.

What you can do with it afterwards

• Search for a word you said. Looking for "chair" finds the memo about the chair you saw in a shop.
• Read it, do not replay it. Skimming a paragraph takes seconds.
• Find it next to related saves. The memo about the chair sits in the same library as the link to the shop.
• Be reminded. Set a reminder on a memo that is really a task.

How to speak a memo you will be glad to find

• Start with the subject. "Idea for the newsletter:" gives the summary and your future self something to hold on to.
• Say names and numbers slowly. They are where recognition slips most often.
• One thought per memo. Three short memos are easier to find than one that wanders.
• Finish with the next step, if there is one. "Ask Marta on Monday."
• Mind the background. Wind and traffic cost accuracy. Turning your back to the street helps more than speaking louder.

The built-in alternative

Apple's Voice Memos app also shows transcripts on recent iPhones, and it is the better tool for long recordings such as a lecture or an interview. The difference is where the result lives. A memo in Voice Memos stays in Voice Memos. A memo in your library is found by the same search as your links, notes and documents.

A word on privacy

A voice memo can contain more than you intended: a name, an address, someone else talking in the background. That is a good reason to prefer transcription that runs on the device. See what on-device AI means for what does and does not leave your phone.