How do I transfer voice memos from my iPhone DIRECTLY to my Macbook (w/o any service inbetween)?

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Level 1

61 points

How do I transfer voice memos from my iPhone DIRECTLY to my Macbook (w/o any service inbetween)?

I found no less than 10 similar questions but no answers to this seemingly simple request.

I really love the fact that I can, almost instantly, initiate a voice recording from my Apple Watch and get a remarkably decent recording... so, I no longer need to carry a separate voice recorder. Love it!

I really want to be wrong about this... so please share with me how it's done. :)

Every instruction I read specifies that I must transfer the voice memos through an intermediary like iCloud, Google Drive, or email.

Why can't I plug my phone into my Macbook and transfer the audio directly to the Mac file system? Please don't say, "because security" because that makes no sense, whatsoever!

It's really inconvenient that I must wait to go home and connect my iPhone to my Windows computer, start up the free tool iFunbox and very easily and quickly download all my voice memos... or anything else.

Thanks for your advise. :)

MacBook Pro Apple Silicon

Posted on Sep 16, 2022 1:12 PM

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Answer 1

MartinR

Level 7

24,167 points

Sep 18, 2022 4:02 PM in response to sdc01

The very excellent app iMazing can do this. (I use iMazing for this & other purposes.)

Also, just FYI, you can share (send) individual Voice Memos via email, messages, and even AirDrop within the Voice Messages app (although I have not tried the AirDrop option myself at this point).

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Answer 2

brbo

Level 8

38,635 points

Sep 17, 2022 12:00 AM in response to sdc01

See if this article from Apple Support helps:

Share a recording in Voice Memos on iPhone – Apple Support

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Answer 3

brbo

Level 8

38,635 points

Sep 17, 2022 4:49 PM in response to sdc01

Thank you for looking through the posts we contributed, and for your replies.

We are all Apple users like yourself, in this community,

If you want to send feedback to Apple, to those who can make software changes,

there's a webform available:

Feedback - Voice Memos - Apple

They will likely not reply, yet if others also send feedback, we may see other transfer options in time.

All the best :-)

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Answer 4

brbo

Level 8

38,635 points

Sep 17, 2022 12:24 AM in response to sdc01

PS:

Intro to transferring files between your iPhone and computer – Apple Support

NB: Choose your iOS version at top of article for accurate info.

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Answer 5

sdc01 Author

Level 1

61 points

Sep 17, 2022 1:02 AM in response to brbo

Thanks, but none of those options are related to my ask. :(

I don't want to "share a recording", rather I want to mass transfer all my voice memos together in a single quick operation. Using the share option involves using airdrop, email, messages, etc. All those methods are significantly slower than a direct USB transfer.

It seems crazy that I can accomplish this on my Windows computer, but not on a Mac... the native hardware.

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Answer 6

sdc01 Author

Level 1

61 points

Sep 17, 2022 1:10 AM in response to brbo

Well, A+ points for at least attempting to answer my question. :)

No, I've already read that article with more disappointment. :(

It covers...

a) Wirelessly - no, too slow!

b) iCloud - no, too slow and it's only an intermediary.

c) Cloud storage provider - same as (c).

d) External storage device. That's just a weird suggestion, but no.

e) File server - same as above. It's just very odd that all of Apple's suggestions avoid the most obvious "copy/move" files directly from iPhone to local computer's harddrive.

f) With Finder or iTunes? That's not possible on the latest MacOS because iTunes is no longer available on MacOS. Both Apple Music and Finder do not reveal the voice memos.

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How do I transfer voice memos from my iPhone DIRECTLY to my Macbook (w/o any service inbetween)?

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