The 10 best call recorder apps for Android in 2024

Call recording on Android is a finicky thing. It worked fine for many years. Google turned the feature off, then back on again, and finally off for good in May 2022. Thanks to years of workarounds, regional restrictions, Google policy and API changes, and carrier restrictions, there is a lot of information out there, and a lot of it isn’t accurate anymore. It’s not anyone’s fault, but when you change these policies and how stuff works often enough, eventually, everyone’s tutorials don’t work anymore.

We rewrote this list of call recording apps from the top down in November 2022 after Google’s accessibility ban. We can confirm that every app on the list below worked on both of our test devices, and we made over 140 phone calls in total to test apps for this. Here are the best call recorder apps for Android.

The best call recorder apps for Android

Why is Android call recording so difficult?

Call recording is one of the stickiest topics on mobile. It should be relatively easy, but it’s not. It worked well until Android 9, when Google turned it off for the first time. It stayed turned off until Android 11. Technically, the functionality is still there with Android 13. Some OEMs, like Google and Samsung, package call recording in the native dialer app, but only in some regions.

In 2022, Google changed a Google Play policy that prevents apps from using the accessibility permission for call recording. That’s how the developers enabled the feature. Since this was the easiest method, developers have scrambled for workarounds since the May 2022 ban.

So, in short, four things prevent people from recording calls. First, the version of Android your phone runs can prevent it entirely. Secondly, the region you live in can cause features to be turned off. Google Play policies make it hard for developers to release products that actually work. Finally, the lack of root access limits a person’s ability to bypass the previous three issues.

These days, there seem to be three major workarounds. The first is downloading an app from outside the Play Store that still allows accessibility. The second method uses a plug-in or secondary app that uses the Accessibility API while connecting to the original app to record calls, thus bypassing the Google Play ban. The third is root access. Rooting isn’t the most popular thing anymore, so we focus on the other two methods below.

ACR Phone + APH

Price: Free / In-app purchases ($2.99 – $11.99 per item)

ACR Phone is a dialer app in the Google Play Store from the developer of ACR Call Recorder. It has a bunch of features, including caller ID, a call blocker, auto-dialing, and, of course, call recording. APH, which stands for ACR Phone Helper, is an add-on that bypasses the Google Play Store’s accessibility policy and lets you record phone calls. You need to have both installed for it to work. Call recording seems to be free—at least it was during our testing—so you don’t need to pay anything to make it work.

Here’s how I did it. I installed ACR Phone first and enabled all of the necessary permissions. Then, I installed APH and enabled everything there as well. Once done, I made a test call and activated the recording manually. The call was recorded without issue. You can get the ACR Phone app from the Google Play Store using the button below. The APH helper is available in the Samsung Galaxy Store, Huawei’s App Gallery, and as a third-party download here.

Call Recorder by Lucky Mobile Apps

Price: Free / In-app purchases ($7.99 per item)

Call Recorder by Lucky Mobile Apps is another decent solution. It’s a standard, old-school recording app. It doesn’t overtake your dialer but runs automatically in the background. It requires accessibility permissions, so we’re unsure how Google hasn’t removed this one from Google Play. You just set the long list of permissions and let it go. The UI is clean, and the settings are easy to use.

When in use, it automatically records your phone calls. You won’t have to start it manually, but you will have to get rid of old recordings yourself. The app costs $7.99 to remove ads, but the functionality is otherwise free. It’s a reasonably priced, functional solution.

Automatic Call Recorder Pro (formerly CallU)

Price: Free / In-app purchases ($3.49 per item)

Automatic Call Recorder Pro by SMSROBOT (formerly called CallU) offers a hassle-free solution for Android phone call recording. It uses accessibility permissions to record phone calls. We’re not entirely sure how it managed to escape Google Play’s new ban, but it still works as of the time of this writing. The setup for this one is pretty straightforward. You open the app, accept the permissions, give it overlay and accessibility permissions, and then it automatically records your phone calls. The UI is a little clunky, but it’s functional and doesn’t take long to learn.

The recorded calls sounded fine to me, and they’re on par with the others here. It also worked out of the box without any weird manual triggers like many of the others. One of the best perks is the lack of a subscription. You pay a single $3.49 charge to remove ads; otherwise, it works for good. It’s definitely one of the best options in the space, provided it remains on Google Play.

Cube ACR

Price: Free / In-app purchases ($1.99 – $19.99 per item)

Cube ACR is a popular call recorder that seems to still work despite the Google Play ban. It does this with an App Connector plugin that still grants accessibility permission but isn’t part of the main app. That means the whole thing is still available on Google Play with no additional downloads. In terms of usability, it’s quite easy. The app records calls automatically by default, so most of the rest of the settings are just tweaks.

When I tested this one, it seemed to be inconsistent when recording automatically at the beginning of a call. To remedy this, I switched it from notification to widget, which requires overlay permissions. Then, once the call started, I manually turned the recording off and back on again. It worked just fine after that.

The app has a free trial for seven days. After that, there are a few subscription options. We recommend the $1.99 per week option if you only need to record a couple of phone calls or the $19.99 per year option if you intend to keep it longer.

Pixelify Magisk Manager module (root)

Price: Free

Magisk Manager is a tool for root users to expand the functionality of their phones. There are various modules that do various things, and a few of them do call recording. We checked out Pixelify. It adds a bunch of Pixel-specific features to phones, including things like wallpapers, the Magic Eraser, Google Dialer, and a variety of other features. Google’s dialer has call recording enabled, and the module developer also enabled call recording in all regions.

This won’t work on every phone, and the developer says that outright. However, if it does, this is one of the easiest ways for root users to do it while also adding some other fun Pixel features. You need root, Magisk Manager, and Pixelify for this to work, so we only recommend this to knowledgeable users who know what they’re doing. You can download Pixelify here and Magisk by clicking the button below. You’ll have to find root instructions for your device on your own.

All Call Recorder

Price: Free

The All Call Recorder app does what it’s supposed to do most of the time, at the price of watching a few ads. There’s a handy feature to turn the app on and off with a single tap. However, it can cause a few blunders at times. Sometimes, it may stop recording calls out of the blue, and you may need to fiddle with settings to get it working again. So, while the app is good, it’s far from perfect.

Your stock phone dialer (regional restrictions apply)

Price: Free

Some OEMs build a call recording right into the stock dialer. The list includes Google, Samsung, Huawei, and several others. This is the cleanest method to record phone calls since it is first-party and integrated with your default dialer. The only issue is its availability. In some regions, you can only record phone calls from the stock dialer app. Unfortunately, the United States is one of the restricted regions, so I could not test this myself on either my Galaxy S22 Ultra or my Pixel 6. Still, it’s worth looking into your dialer’s settings to see if you can enable it there.

callX

Price: Free/ In-app purchases ($4.49 per item)

callX is another call recorder app that lets you record calls on your Android device. It has a neat, intuitive interface and many features, including a caller ID to help identify incoming calls and avoid spam. This one offers both manual and automatic call recording. With this app, you’ll be able to effortlessly capture both sides of the conversation in high-quality HD MP3 or WAV formats. Managing and organizing your recorded calls is also made easy. You can organize them by phone number or contact name and choose to exclude specific numbers if needed. There’s also the ability to upload recordings to Dropbox or Google Drive and share them via various platforms like SMS, Whatsapp, and Skype. Overall, it’s a good app that checks all the right boxes.

Call Recorder – Auto Recording

Price: Free/ In-app purchases ($0.99 – $69.99 per item)

Call Recorder – Talker ACR

Price: Free/ In-app purchases ($2.49 – $25.99 per item)

Talker ACR is a smart call recording app for Android. The app lets you record both incoming and outgoing phone calls. This also includes popular VoIP services like WhatsApp, Viber, Skype, and more. It has a user-friendly design and lets you choose between automatic and manual call recording. You can even decide to exclude specific contacts from recording. While it comes with free features, Talker ACR also offers a premium option for advanced capabilities like cloud backups, storage management, and enhanced security, but you need to pay for these. However, a downside is that it may not work with calls over WiFi or VOLTE, as these technologies initiate their own recording sessions. There are no ads, but sometimes it may fail to record a call or only record one side.

If we missed any great call recorder apps for Android, tell us about them in the comments. You can also click here to check out our latest Android app and game lists.