Recording an MP3, step by step
- Press Record, allow the microphone, and speak. Aim for your loudest words to fill roughly two thirds of the level bar.
- Press Stop. MP3 is already selected under Download as, at 128 kbps.
- Drag the two handles on the waveform to cut the silence or the click of the button at the start and end. Tap the waveform to listen from any point.
- Press Download MP3. The file is encoded on your device and saved with the date and time in its name.
How big the MP3 will be
An MP3’s size depends only on its bitrate and length, not on what you said:
| Bitrate | Per minute | 10 minutes | 1 hour |
|---|---|---|---|
| 64 kbps | 0.48 MB | 4.8 MB | 29 MB |
| 128 kbps | 0.96 MB | 9.6 MB | 58 MB |
| 192 kbps | 1.44 MB | 14.4 MB | 86 MB |
So a ten-minute voice memo at 128 kbps stays under 10 MB. For long recordings, 64 kbps keeps speech clear at half the size.
When MP3 is the right format
Choose MP3 when the recording has to play anywhere without questions: a voice message for someone on an older phone, a file for a school or job application form that lists “MP3” as the accepted format, a podcast host, a car stereo or a USB stick for a media player. If you’re going to edit the sound, cut it into a video or clean it up in Audacity, download WAV instead and make the MP3 last, so it’s only compressed once. The original WebM or M4A is smaller still and plays in browsers and on most current phones.