All the Ways to Wave

Every way to capture a conversation with Wave — phone, watch, desktop, browser, meeting bots, phone calls, and imports — and which one to reach for.

Wave AI captures audio from just about anywhere — your phone, your wrist, your computer, a browser tab, a meeting you're not attending, a phone call, or a file you already have. However you capture it, the result is the same: one session in your library with a full transcript, an AI summary, and search across everything.

Your phone

The one most people use. Tap the round red record button in the middle of the tab bar and Wave starts recording through your phone's microphone. Use Pause and Resume mid-recording, Stop to finish, or Discard to throw it away. Recording keeps running in the background and on the lock screen, and if you lose signal the audio is stored on the device and uploads when you're back online.

Touch and hold the record button, or tap + at the top right of the Home tab, for every other way to add a Wave: Record, Send meeting bot, Call, Import a file, Add a YouTube video, and Browse podcasts.

Your Smart Watch

Record from your wrist without pulling out your phone. Tap to record on the watch, stop when you're done, and the file transfers to your phone — your phone does the upload, so the session appears in your library once the phone is online.

Recording on Your Smart Watch (Apple Watch and Wear OS compared)
Recording on Your Smart Watch: Apple Watch
Recording on Your Smart Watch: Wear OS (Galaxy Watch, Pixel Watch)

Your computer

Three ways, depending on what you're recording.

The Wave desktop app records your microphone and your computer's system audio at the same time — Zoom, Teams, Meet, a video, anything playing through your speakers. No bot joins the call, there's no length limit, and closing the window doesn't stop a recording. See Wave for Mac, Windows & Linux and desktop audio setup.

Wave for Web needs no install. At app.wave.co, click Record at the top of the sidebar. Browser recording is microphone-only and runs up to 3 hours per session. See Wave for Web.

The Chrome extension records straight from a browser tab. Choose Tab audio, Microphone, or both — handy for web meetings and videos. See getting started with the Wave Chrome extension.

Meetings you'd rather not sit through

Wave's meeting bot joins Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams as a visible participant and records for you, from the Wave mobile app or Wave for Web. Paste a meeting link for a one-off, or have it join the scheduled meetings on your connected calendar.

Phone calls

Dial from Wave's Keypad on your phone or in the browser and the whole call is recorded, transcribed, and summarized. Your verified number shows as the caller ID. You can also bridge a call that's already in progress, so a call you didn't start in Wave still gets recorded.

Recording phone calls with Wave

Wave shows a recording notice before every call and asks you to tell the other person the call is being recorded. Recording laws vary by state and country — that part is on you.

Files you already have

Anything you can hand Wave gets the same transcript and summary treatment.

Import an audio file (video files work too)
Import a YouTube video
Import a PDF
Import podcasts with WavePod

Which method should I use?

Situation	Reach for
Voice memo or an in-person conversation	Phone app
Hands-free, phone in your pocket	Smart Watch (Apple Watch or Wear OS)
Online meeting you're attending on a computer	The Wave desktop app
A browser tab, no install on the computer	Wave for Web or the Chrome extension
Meeting you can't attend	Meeting bot
A phone conversation	Wave phone calls
A file, YouTube video, or podcast you already have	Import

On the free plan you get 30 recording minutes before the paywall, and that allowance is shared across every method above. See Wave plans and pricing.

Everything lands in the same library, so you can record on your watch, review on your laptop, and share from your phone. See using Wave on multiple devices for how sign-in works across all of them.