Recording memories and transcripts

2 min readUpdated 1 October 2026

A voice says more than a date ever could. Record a grandparent telling how they met, or an aunt describing the house she grew up in, and keep it on their page.

  1. Open their page

    Memories live with the person they’re about. Open that person’s page and tap the microphone beside Memories. Before there are any, the card suggests one thing to ask, such as Ask Margaret how she met Arthur; tap it to start with that question. On iPad or Mac, ⌘R records a memory about the person whose page is open.

  2. Allow the microphone

    The first time, iOS asks for permission to use the microphone. Recordings are saved on your device and never uploaded. If the microphone is off for Family Trees, the recorder says so, with an Open Settings button.

  3. Choose a question

    Swipe through the questions, or tap Shuffle, for one such as Walk me through the house you grew up in, room by room. The first card, Your own story, has no question at all. Fill in Who’s speaking?, and if the story is about one of their photos, pick it under About a photo.

  4. Record, then save

    Tap the record button and let them talk. The question stays on screen, large enough for them to read. Pause whenever you need to; a recording can be up to an hour long. Tap Done, listen back, give it a Title and tap Save Memory. It appears on their page, ready to play.

  5. Read the transcript

    With Plus, Family Trees writes a transcript of each recording, using speech recognition that runs on your device. The words follow along as it plays; tap a line to play from there, or Read Transcript to see a long one whole. Nothing is sent to a server to be transcribed.

Tips

  • Record somewhere quiet and keep the iPhone close to the person speaking. Transcripts come out better that way.
  • Ask before you record someone, and tell them where the recording will be kept.
  • Recordings are part of your backups. Turn on automatic backups to keep them safe; see Backups and restoring.
  • Recording is free on every plan. Transcripts are part of Plus. Memories recorded before you upgrade can be written out in one go: in Settings, under Memories & transcripts, tap Transcribe with the number of memories waiting, such as Transcribe 3 memories.
  • To tell the story behind a photo, open it, tap ••• and choose Record a memory about this photo.
  • On a device with Apple Intelligence, Draft a story beside a person’s Notes writes a few paragraphs about them on your device, from what you’ve recorded. Read it through, then tap Add to Notes to keep it. Story drafts are part of Plus.

Still stuck? Email support@familytreesapp.com and a person will reply.