Google updates Recorder app alongside Pixel 5 launch

The Google Recorder app that’s available for Pixel 2 phones and newer just got a massive upgrade, making it much more useful for professionals.

That said, in today’s weird app climate, it’s harder to watch tech giants re-create features from independent app developers for their own gain.

First up, users can now search for keywords with recordings, and a smart scroll feature highlights important words as users move through longer recordings.

Additionally, you can select a smaller section of the transcribed text like quotes and either edit, delete or share it. If you delete it or share it, the audio will go as well, which is a neat feature for sharing fun memos or song recordings.

Finally, Google says the app and all of these features work without an internet connection, so even when your offline, you can still get the most out of the recorder.

This is a pretty cool feature, and the fact that it’s free and offers AI transcription is really useful for people like me who need to record a lot of interviews.

That said, previously independent companies like Trint and Otter.ai have been the leaders in the AI -recording space. Therefore if Google comes out of nowhere and wipes them out with a free version of their product, it’s the same situation as the Sonos lawsuit against Google and others against Apple.

At least Google is keeping this feature locked to its own smartphones, at least for now, but it’s still a strange feature that doesn’t feel as fun as before in light of the recent tech lawsuits related to similar levels of feature stealing.

Source: Google