Voice ID and Speaker Names
Name who said what once, and Wave recognizes those voices automatically in every recording after that.
Wave splits every recording into separate speakers, but it doesn't know their names — so you get "Speaker 1" and "Speaker 2". Name them once, save them as Voice IDs, and Wave labels those people automatically in every recording after that.
Three ways a speaker gets a name
- You type it. Renaming a speaker replaces that label everywhere in the transcript and summary.
- Wave guesses it. Guess Speaker Names infers names from the conversation itself ("Thanks, Sarah"). Those speakers get an Identified badge.
- Wave recognizes the voice. With a saved Voice ID, Wave matches the voice while the recording processes and applies the name before you open the session. Those speakers get a Matched badge and a quality note: Very high match, High match, or Moderate match.
Matching runs on its own for new recordings while Automatic Voice Matching is on. It's deliberately conservative — a speaker needs at least 10 seconds of audio, and Wave leaves someone unlabeled rather than commit to a weak match.
Naming speakers in a session
Open the session and tap Speakers in the action row. Tap the play button beside a speaker to hear them, then type into the Enter name field — or tap Guess Speaker Names and let Wave suggest them. Turn on Update summary with speaker names to have the summary rewritten with the real names, then save.
When some speakers are already identified, the guess button reads Guess 2 remaining — that number is how many still have generic labels.
Saving voices as Voice IDs
Naming a speaker fixes one session. Saving a Voice ID fixes every session after it.
A Save voice IDs banner appears on the session: "Name speakers and Wave will recognize them in future recordings." Tap it to open Speakers.
Once you save names, a Save Voice IDs? sheet appears. Tick the speakers to keep, mark yourself with This is my voice, and tap Save Voice IDs. Anyone already saved shows "Already saved - will improve recognition" — saving again strengthens their profile.
Wave needs at least 10 seconds of a person's speech to build a profile, and uses up to 30 seconds of their clearest segments. Speakers with less audio are skipped.
Merging duplicate speakers
Long or noisy recordings sometimes split one person across two labels. Merge folds one speaker's lines into the other: tap the merge icon on a speaker row on iPhone and Android, use the merge control in Manage Speakers on the web, or click Merge in the desktop transcript toolbar and pick the two speakers.
To move individual lines to a different person instead, see editing summaries and transcripts.
Managing your Voice IDs
Settings → Voice ID, under Personalization. Each card shows the name, a confidence badge, the sample count, and how much audio the profile holds; yours is tagged My Voice. Tap a card to rename it, swipe left to delete it, and use Automatic Voice Matching to turn matching off.
Confidence tells you how well-trained a profile is: Building means limited audio and inconsistent recognition, Good is reliable in most conditions, and Strong holds up across different rooms and microphones. Profiles improve on their own — when Wave recognizes someone with high confidence, that recording's audio is folded into their profile, weighted so recent audio still counts.
Voice IDs live on your account and sync everywhere, so a name you save on your phone is recognized on desktop too.
Voice profiles are stored securely, used only to identify speakers in your recordings, and you can delete them at any time. A profile holds a numeric voice fingerprint plus a short audio clip — the clip is what Play sample plays back.
FAQ
Usually they didn't talk enough — matching needs at least 10 seconds of that person's audio in the recording. Noise and crosstalk weaken it too. Save them from two or three more recordings, then run Match Voice IDs (or Re-match Voice IDs) on the session to try again.
Rename the speaker to the correct name and save. Wave keeps the correction, and the profile improves with the right audio.
Speakers still on generic labels like "Speaker 1" can't be saved — the web app says Rename first. Name them, then enroll. A profile stuck on Building just needs a couple more recordings.
Yes — any session with separated speakers, including imported audio, phone calls, and meetings.
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