iOS 12 Beta 2: How Voice Memos Redesign Will Boost Your Creativity

iOS 12 is about to make Voice Memos a whole lot better. On Tuesday, Apple sent out a second beta version of its upcoming software update to developers, giving them a hands-on with the multitude of changes slated for release as a free download in the fall. The iPhone is about to become a memo-recording powerhouse.

Voice Memos is one of the few apps that’s received big changes in iOS 12. The next version of the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch operating system was revealed earlier this month at the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference in California, with a focus on speed and stability. There are some few headline features that stand out, though, like improvements to Siri and a redesigned Stocks app. Voice Memos is one of the few apps getting the Apple treatment this year.

Here’s what you need to know:

iOS 12 Download and Install

The final version will be available as a free update in the fall, possibly alongside a new lineup of iPhone devices.

Those looking to get their hands on pre-release versions have two choices. They can register as a developer, which involves paying a fee of $99 per year and also grants you access to Apple’s broader developer toolset for publishing your own apps on iOS.

The second option is to wait for a public beta. Apple has not yet announced an iOS 12 public beta, but the program is still running for iOS 11.4.1, and it may not be long before Apple announces a similar program for iOS 12.

What’s New in Voice Memos

Voice Memos is one of the few apps Apple is bringing to the Mac in macOS Mojave, as part of a preview of how iOS developers will be able to port their apps easily to the Mac with a new set of developer tools launching next year. What this means is the iOS version has gained a number of features that make working between Mac and iPhone easier than ever.

The iOS 12 second beta includes a new splash screen when a user first starts the app:

The headline feature is iCloud support. This means that memos recorded on one device will be available everywhere. Apple is bringing a version of Voice Memos to iPad on iOS as well, meaning users can move their recordings across all three devices with ease.

On the Mac side, users will be able to import those recordings directly into music creation app GarageBand. This is a big boon to users looking to quickly record vocals, take a brief sampling of an instrument, or get creative and record natural soundscapes for backing in their audio creation.

Quality is paramount in music creation, so with the iOS version Apple has also included the option to record in lossless quality. Unlike lossy formats like MP3 and AAC (the latter used by the default setting), lossless formats like WAV, FLAC and ALAC (Apple Lossless) preserve all the information from a sound recording. That, of course, means more storage used, so there’s a tradeoff.

Apple has also redesigned the user interface in Voice Memos, so users can trim recordings and add fade in and out with ease:

To top it all off, there’s a new icon:

iOS 12 can’t come soon enough.