How to capture fleeting ideas by voice, without losing them
Record first, transcribe later: FocusFlow saves your voice note even if transcription fails, and you turn it into a task when you are ready. Saving needs no connection, transcription is best-effort, and voice recordings are not part of iCloud sync.
An idea that takes ten seconds to say can vanish in the ten seconds it takes to open the right app. Capture should be faster than forgetting.
Recording comes first
FocusFlow's quick capture accepts typing or voice. For voice, the app first saves your recording as an audio file inside the app, then makes a best-effort attempt to turn it into text with the iOS speech recognizer. If transcription is poor or fails, the recording is still there. We have not verified whether iOS handles recognition on the device or over the network for your language, so check Apple's documentation if that matters to you.
From thought to task
- Capture it. Type it or say it. Do not organise anything yet.
- Review later. Captured ideas wait in the inbox. Ideas older than 14 days get a gentle nudge to decide what to do with them.
- Decide. Turn an idea into a task, or tap Tomorrow to look at it again then.
- Pick a session length. When you turn it into a task you can choose a focus length of 15, 25 or 45 minutes.
Why save first, transcribe second
Speech recognition can misfire. Saving the audio first means the capture itself never depends on it, which matters when the whole point is not to lose the thought.
Sync note
FocusFlow syncs through iCloud automatically when available. Voice recordings are not included in that sync.
Frequently asked questions
Does voice capture need an internet connection?
Saving the recording does not. Whether transcription happens on the device or online depends on iOS and your language, and we have not verified it, so treat transcription as best-effort.
What happens to old captured ideas?
After 14 days without action, FocusFlow shows a gentle prompt to triage them. Nothing is deleted automatically.
Are my voice recordings synced to iCloud?
No. Tasks and progress sync through iCloud, but voice recordings are not part of that sync.
If starting is the hard part, try a focus app built around the first step.
Get FocusFlow on the App StoreFree · iPhone · iOS 17 or later · no account