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Comment by wincy | Hacker News Reader

Doesn't work on cell phones.

I've always wondered why smartphone apps don't have better access to the telephone portion of the device. Why is it so difficult to do something as simple as recording calls? It would be neat if I could get apps to change my voice or encrypt the audio.

I don't know if this is why, but there are a bunch of laws and stuff about what you can and can't do on a telephone. For example, many states have limitations on who can legally record a phone conversation, with or without various forms of consent. Maybe phone manufacturers don't want to facilitate easily breaking those confusing laws.

They don't seem to mind people using the phone when they drive and that's also illegal in many jurisdictions.

They do mind, there just isn't a clear cut of a solution they can force someone to put into code. You can't reliably detect if the phone is being used by the driver or by a passenger.

Without being able to make that distinction, it's nearly impossible to force phone software makers to write rules preventing "illegal" phone use in situations where it is illegal.

Instead, they punish using verifiable methods such as direct observation (cop sees you doing it).

The situation may be similar for recording calls (I'm not familiar with exact laws in this area), but I'm assuming there are also privacy restrictions in calling which lead to the software restrictions.

http://www.ipadio.com/ lets you record and share your calls with others. It works okay. You basically conference call with a recording phone number.

I remember once using something called HearSayApp, but it disappeared off the face of the internet without a trace. It used HTML5 to place a call, somehow. And the audio was crystal clear.

It's probably got something to do with some kind of regulations. Voice changers are fun, but not when calling 911, for example. Maybe it's a requirement that the sound goes directly to the baseband or something?

It's a big liability because call recording is illegal in many circumstances.

I don't buy that argument. What liability would they have when I choose to do something?

They could get around it the same way Toyota limits their liability from me using the touch screen while I drive - pop up a message saying when and how the feature should be used.

The difference is that fiddling with a screen is a traffic ticket and potential accident where you are at fault for being inattentive.

For call recording, the phone maker is potentially facilitating a felony. It's really complex. Does the phone stop recording when you cross state lines? Does it allow covert recording?

If I'm from California recording a call in DC on vacation and accidentally enter Maryland and get arrested, I'm suing the company.

The phone thing is complex too. Where I live (suburb of Austin), it's legal to use your phone but about five miles down the road it's illegal.

Likewise, if you are in California, you can't send a text while driving, but you can enter an address into the GPS app (probably).

All Apple and Google would have to do is warn you that recording calls may be illegal.

Radio Shack sold phone recorders in every state and AFAIK, nobody ever sued them.

I have Google Voice and Google lets me record calls on that. I'm not sure what the big difference is for when the call is over Android.

Edit: There have been cell phones that had call recorders built in, just none that run Android or iOS (AFAIK). I know a lot of Motorola phones included the functionality.

Well I thought that too, and just googled it and you know what, without actually trying it first, here is the link and it seems very simple.

http://www.howtogeek.com/194839/how-to-record-a-call-on-your...

I've successfully added Lenny to spam calls on my iPhone.

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