Record audio from an app

App recording captures the sound coming out of one app, such as Zoom, Teams, a browser or a video player, directly from macOS. You can add your microphone so your own voice is recorded too. Nothing joins the call and nothing is played back through your speakers.

Free or Pro? Meetings in Zoom, Teams, Slack, Discord, Webex or a browser can be recorded on the free version when TranscribeX detects them: from the meeting popup, with auto-start, or from the meeting app cards on the Home page (see meeting detection). Choosing any app yourself with Recording App is Pro.

Note: If you record other people, tell them first. Recording-consent laws differ between countries and states.

Before you start: Screen & System Audio Recording

macOS only lets apps capture other apps’ audio with the Screen & System Audio Recording permission. TranscribeX asks for it the first time you open the app picker. If it isn’t granted, the picker shows Screen & System Audio Recording is required and these steps:

1. If macOS shows a permission popup, click Open System Settings.
2. In Screen & System Audio Recording, make sure TranscribeX is turned on.
3. If TranscribeX is not listed there, add it manually, then come back and click Refresh.

The Open Screen & System Audio Recording button in the picker takes you straight to that page in System Settings. More in permissions.

Record an app

1. Open the app you want to record.
2. On the Home page, click the Recording App card. The Select an App to record sheet lists running apps. Use Search apps... to filter, or Refresh if your app isn’t there yet.
3. Click the app, then click Select. On the free version, Select opens the Pro upgrade instead.
4. In the App Audio Recording sheet, decide whether to include your voice:
   • Tick Microphone to record your mic as well, and pick which mic from the menu next to it.
   • Untick it to record only the app.
5. Click Record. The sheet closes and the Live Transcription page opens with a live transcript.

If Zoom, Teams, Slack, Discord or Webex is installed, it also gets its own card on the Home page. Clicking it goes straight to the App Audio Recording sheet when a meeting is running in that app, using your meeting mic settings. Apps you add under Settings › Detection get a card too.

Audio or video

By default an app recording is audio only. For the meeting apps listed in Settings › Detection (and any custom apps you add there), you can switch the app to Video to record its window together with the audio. Video recording needs macOS 15 or later. See meeting detection.

When an app is set to video and Settings › Detection › Choose Window for Video Recording is on, the App Audio Recording sheet also shows Window to record when the app has more than one window. Pick one before clicking Record. With the setting off, TranscribeX picks the window for you.

Stop the recording

• Click Stop on the Live Transcription page, or
• click the TranscribeX menu bar icon and choose Stop Recording followed by the app’s name. While the file is being finalized, the menu shows Saving App Recording....

If meeting detection started the recording, or you started it from the meeting popup, it also stops on its own when the meeting ends.

Where recordings go

Recordings are saved in the folder set in Settings › General › Save Destination. The file is named New Recording - plus the app name and the date and time, as .m4a for audio or .mp4 for video. The job appears in the library under Recordings.

What happens next (transcription, speaker labels, summary, export, email) is set in Settings › Automation. See meeting automation.

Mic settings for app recordings

• Settings › Recording › Default Mic for meetings: the mic used for app and meeting recordings. You can also change it from the menu bar Microphone submenu.
• Settings › Recording › Use Mic When Recording a Meeting (on by default): whether the mic is included when you record from a meeting card, the meeting popup or auto-start.
• Settings › Live › Suppress Speaker Echo in Mic (off by default): turn on if you take calls through speakers without headphones. Parts of your mic track that are only the other participants’ voices coming back through the speakers are muted. It only works when the mic is part of the recording, and you can also switch it during a recording in Caption Settings on the live page. Leave it off when you wear headphones.