When a Recording Won't Start

Fix 'Unable to start recording' — usually a phone call or another app holding the microphone.

Only one app can hold your microphone at a time. When something else already has it — an active phone call, a voice assistant, another recorder — Wave can't start, and it tells you why instead of failing silently.

"Unable to start recording"

You'll see one of two messages on the recording screen.

A phone call or another app is using your microphone. End the call (or close the other app), then tap Try Again.

The microphone is held by a higher-priority app. This is almost always a call in progress (including FaceTime and WhatsApp), Siri or Google Assistant, or another recording app that's still running.

Another app may be using your microphone or speaker. Close music, podcasts, or other audio apps, then try again.

Wave couldn't take over the device's audio. Playback apps are the usual cause, and this one often clears on its own a second later — Wave already retries a few times internally before showing you the error.

Under either message you'll see Need help with your wave? with two shortcuts, Learn how to record phone calls and Learn how to record online meetings, because those are the two situations where the fix isn't "close the other app" but "use a different capture mode."

What to do

End the call, or close the app that's using audio — music, podcasts, another voice recorder, a video call.

Tap Try Again. It's briefly disabled and reads Waiting... for a few seconds after each attempt, so give it a moment.

Still stuck? Close Wave completely and reopen it, then try once more.

If the title says Oops! Something went wrong. instead, the failure wasn't an audio conflict. Restart the app (Settings → Help & Support → Restart App) and try again; if it keeps happening, contact support from Settings → Help & Support → Chat with Support.

Recording a call or a meeting

If you're trying to record a live phone call by starting a recording next to it, that's what the error is telling you: the call owns the microphone. Wave has purpose-built modes for both cases.

Phone calls — place or bridge the call through Wave itself. See Recording Phone Calls with Wave.
Online meetings — send Wave into the meeting, or capture it on your computer instead of your phone. See The Ultimate Guide to Recording Meetings with Wave and Wave Desktop.

Microphone permission

The first time you record, Wave asks for microphone access. If you declined it, tapping Record shows a Microphone Permission alert: "Microphone access is required to record audio. Please grant permission in the app settings." Tap Open Settings and switch the microphone on for Wave, then come back and record.

Other reasons Record doesn't do what you expect

The upgrade screen opens instead. Recording is gated by your plan. If your free minutes are used up, the Record button, the widget, and the record menu all open the upgrade screen. See Wave Plans and Pricing.
You land back on an existing recording. If a recording is already running, tapping Record returns you to it rather than starting a second one. Finish that session first.

On Wave Desktop

Desktop doesn't compete with phone calls for the microphone, so the failure looks different: instead of an error, you get no audio sources.

Open Settings → Audio. If you see "No audio sources detected. Grant microphone permission below.", click Check Permissions and allow microphone access, then click Refresh Sources. On macOS, capturing your computer's audio needs screen recording permission as well — "System audio requires screen recording permission on macOS". Full walkthrough in Desktop Audio Setup.

If a recording starts but nothing is captured, see Handling Audio Interruptions During Recordings.