Show HN: I made an app that lets you save audio to your Cameral Roll
justsendrecord.com...because Apple make it too hard to navigate chronologically through anything but your photos. Really they should have let you do this directly from voice memos so that you can share whenever and to wherever you want.
If anyone has any suggestions to make it better, let me know. Thanks.
First off congrats on launching a novel idea and hitting HN front page.
Question / feedback — why is there no way to see what one of these looks like on the website? You have a header that says "see it in action" that literally doesn't allow you to see the video you're saying it produces.
I have an idea in my mind of what it looks like but I think you'd do well to have multiple examples illustrating different situations where this product could be useful.
Very good point - I have embedded a video now. Thank u. Also, thanks so much for taking the time to comment.
I checked the video out and am still unsure - does it simply save a video with an audio visualization? I thought it would be embedding audio into images somehow, based on the title here.
Exactly that. So, I wanted to send voice messages that I pre-record, and then can send later. The easiest way for my workflow was to be able to access and then send them from my cameral roll, which is pretty much where I store everything that I want to send. So, this records audio, makes a simple wave visualisation, and because its a video file and not purely audio, it can be saved to the photos app ie camera roll vs to files.
I think you have a point, I should make this app's intent clearer.
Seconded. I came here to say this.
Same here. I managed to see a video on the App Store. It creates a video with a waveform and the audio you recorded. I like it!
It would be great if I could also add some pictures and have it create transitions while the audio plays. If I only pick one photo, it could just display the image with the waveform on top.
I like sending a picture of myself, or a few of my dogs, cats and gf, because it adds that human touch that IMO is needed when talking to family and friends.
If you could make my mouth move with the audio, I'd definitely be willing to pay more for it.
Great work!
I love this idea, so awesome of you to suggest, I'll implement asap. I would use this feature too.
Yes, that is a good spot so I have embedded a video now. Thanks so much for taking the time to comment.
thanks so much for taking the time to comment I agree and I have embedded a video now so hoping that helps.
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What's the impact on the file size?
Forgive me, as I'm not a heavy Voice Memos user, but I'm a bit confused by problem statement.
Voice Memos seem to be ordered chronologically, and named after the location where they were taken (unless manually named), which seems decent unless you star getting a ton.
From the Voice Memos app I can share them to Messages, Mail, etc. Is the issue that you wanted to be able to select a voice memo to share from within Messages, instead of the other way around? Or is this more for posting audio only to social networks that only support video, and having a waveform instead of a random video of something else?
this is really fair comment. I'm one of those iOS users who's life exists in the camera roll/photos app. Screenshots photos pictures of text all live in my camera roll ready for when I need to send or review or save later. What made no sense to me was that I can't dump my audio files into Photos. I really tried to avoid going into files on iOS because it's so cumbersome. so now literally my problem is solved and hopefully someone else is too that I can just quickly save to my photos and send or review from there when I need. To be fair the visualisation is kind of just a way of not having a blank pictured audio file saved to photos.
Definitely a cool idea ! Some feedback on your page :
The "See it in action" section doesn't really show it in action ? There's a picture but it's abstract, is it representative ? Are there multiple styles ? Is it just an image or a video ? Just looking at this I don't really know. Consider putting a gif/video preview in there so we get a better idea and/or add multiple examples ?
It got more confusing when I got below and saw the "How to use" > "visualize" section below where you have a mountain picture ? So which is it ?
Also maybe add video somewhere when you mention mp4, for non tech users. Visualization (which you use a lot in your text) doesn't convey that to me, but just my 2 cents!
appreciate this comment and I've updated the page now with a video. Thanks for taking the time to reply.
Hi, congrats for Just Send Record! I love the idea of turning voice recordings into shareable visual content. it’s really creative. It would be nice to see a few examples right on the homepage, just to better understand what the final result looks like. Before I buy it I would like to try it, do you have a trial version? Excited to see where this goes!
If you share an email address, I think I could send you a code that lets you have it for free; you wont need to buy in that case.
Not an Apple user so can't try, but wanted to weigh in and share that I think this is a brilliant idea and I can easily see it taking off with creators across many domains. I can also see Apple adding it as a feature in a future Camera app release, so ymmv on the upside.
Thanks so much for the positive comment. It solves a frustration of mine, and I wanted to take it into my own hands.
Interesting idea but the page needs a gallery or something so you can get an idea of what the results look like. Right now there's an abstract image and a picture of a mountain range. Were both of those made with the app?
No, unfortunately placeholders that I have since replaced. Thanks for highlighting this.
I don't get it?
It sounds like it just creates a recording and saves this in a video format with some visual, which is alright I guess.
Perhaps it's because I'm more of an Android person, but does ios really not have a file browser?!?!
The iOS file browser is not fun to use at all. I'm one of those iOS users whose whole entire life exists on his camera roll. Pictures of notes videos and photos. That's why I navigate my life from also, and therefore I made my own solution to saving audio files to the camera roll which I did by adding the audio to a simple visualisation to make a little bit less basic. and exactly the execution is for me acceptable but it's the function of it that provides utility; by passing an annoyance of iOS that you've just can't put an audio file into your camera roll.
I'm really grateful for the time you took to write a comment to me thank you.
You basically hit the nail on the head. This app sounds like it would have no purpose to Android users, since the only purpose is to work around a really dumb limitation of iOS that Android doesn't suffer from.
I think I might defect from ios
Nope, not really for voice memos - those are locked away in the app. Unrelated, but it also has terrible built-in support for playing audio files from the file browser.
so true. And it's just locked away thing that bugs me. If I record an audio in WhatsApp or in Messages or Voice Memos they are locked and I have to go back inside of those apps to access them. I prefer to have easy access to notes that I make in one place so really I just developed my own work around that allows me to do that. Thanks so much for your comments. It's interesting that people notice some problems. Apple file browser is pretty useless and I end up using the app called "Documents" for when I really need to access the file saved somewhere in the file system.
iOS has a file browser called Files.
I believe this is an attempt at trying to level up the Voice Memos feature which has been neglected compared to other OS features.
It just makes you wonder why Apple is so behind with its apps. I remember when Android was the one struggling to catch up, but now the tables have turned. A friend of mine was able to remove people from a photo ages ago, something that only recently came to iOS. Apple spent so much time and money on those 3D avatars, but honestly, who's using them? I mean, 8-year-olds don't even have iPhones, right?
Apple could take inspiration from this little app and build something brilliant using AI and machine learning.
- An app that animates your photos and lets you record a message on top
- Or a feature in iOS that converts any audio into text and lets you summarise 2 or 5 minute voice messages into a paragraph. I don't have time to listen to long audios. And please, don't just add it to Messages, add it to iOS.
- Or an app that turns your voice messages into a video with subtitles for people who can't hear, with animations, background moving, colours, and all the AI jazz.
- Or even better, an app that creates images based on what you're saying in the audio.
I don't know, there are so many cool ideas floating around.
Apple really needs to start showcasing its AI capabilities. Even the camera software feels behind. I keep upgrading the hardware & software and barely see any difference.
Tim, if you are reading this: Stay hungry, stay foolish!
These all really good points. And also really good ideas. I think they're going half heartedly going the way you envisage (i speculate). Mimojis are pretty fun but literally It's an app my 3 year old wants to use. Runway ML has an awesome realisation of some of your ideas, well worth having a look at... Apple allowing developers to access their own AI on device foundation model is apparently a step ahead, but at the same time so much power is being kept under the surface that would be amazing to actually use. I love your thoughts and thinking btw.
I think "behind" because they are risk averse and short of a unifying vision atm. Share holder satisfaction and unimaginative decision making perhaps?
I think big tech companies take risks, calculated ones, and they're masters of prioritisation. Pushing AI to devices was a smart move by Apple. They're great at giving developers cutting-edge tools to keep an edge in app quality.
I just hope Tim's gamble pays off and we start seeing some amazing apps soon. Because Siri was a massive flop (cool tech, but completely useless), the camera software feels outdated compared to some Android phones, and the 3D emojis felt like a bad marketing idea to get kids playing with their parents phones and hooked on Apple (just like McDonald's did with Ronald the clown).
I have definitely some optimism about on-device AI combined with iOS integration ie App Intents. They were really keen on developers making something with this, and I can see why. It gives a chance for Apple to allow us to provide a different experience than Siri when it comes to an AI "powered" OS interface.
It is an honour to be the recipient of such a comment, thanks for taking the time to write. Yes it really is just an app to try and level up an iOS deficiency.
I want to turn on audio or video recording in a way that is not reversible.
Being able to start the camera without unlocking the phone is a good step, but you can also delete the footage just recorded if someone apprehends your device. I would be interested in the option to not be able to delete that footage.
I would also be interested in being able to live-broadcast (maybe just audio?) to someone else's device to prevent the evidence from being destroyed also without having to unlock your phone.
Good idea. I wonder if it exists in their emergency app if not it should.
Is that website design the default template of something? I'm sure I've seen loads that look exactly like this, but with different AI products as content
Looks like generated with Claude
Great spot, Replit and Claude. But, I have just tried to make it less generic so hopefully not a complete embarrassment now.
Yes, Replit linked to claude.
A neat idea that I need (I want my Google Photos to backup my recordings too), but instantly killed the tab when I saw that AI animated character in that "see it in action" video. Call me irrational, but I can't stand the look of those things.
I'll just backup my audio recordings to Dropbox (Android).
I just wasn't in the mood to show my real face in the video, it was too late at night. Gosh, thanks for the feedback, maybe I should have just combed my hair and gone with it. If of any solace, my AI avatar lasts approx 2 seconds. Im interested tho that you even found a potential for utility on Android. Good to know.
The App Store gallery features a short video of how Just Send Record works.
The output video has a “Made with Just Send Record” watermark. Is there an in-app way to omit or remove this watermark?
That image wad from a beta. The version I released has no Watermarks. I figured if I was paying for this app id be a bit annoyed if it had a watermark so I just got rid of it.
Why is there no preview of what these look like on your website? That seems like a critical omission.
Have corrected this, thank u.
Here's what the "stunning visualisation" looks like (screenshot from app preview): https://postimg.cc/FktkRMX8
Erm.... Yeah. I wish people would spend two hours creating an honest webpage for their project instead of letting AI come up with some bullshit.
Yes, I did let AI have too much reign, the site is definitely for SEO, but, i have now included an actual in-app video for you to see. Also, the image includes a watermark as its from beta, i got rid of that in the release.
>Export as MP4
Nitpick, but MP4 is a container format. It doesn't say anything about codecs used. I assume it's h264+aac since this is for Apple people?
Good point. Yes - exactly that. I wish there was more nitpick in life; it is the best way of improvement; observation and comment of detail. Thank you.
this is so obvious when you think about it. Historically sharing audio has been so incredibly difficult because of the DRM of music and its history of sharing since napster. video always gets the pass.
That was my logic when I came to developing this. Thanks for the comment. We should be able to own our own audio vs it being trapped in iOS or Whatsapp or Messages.