Record first, process later
The most effective way to use Signal Recorder SR-7 is to keep capture and processing apart. Record freely, without worrying about structure, titles or where it belongs. SR-7 transcribes and summarizes after the fact, and you come back later with fresh eyes.
Use projects for context
Group related recordings into projects. A project might be a client, a research topic, a journal or a creative brief. Projects give your library structure without making you file anything in the moment: recordings land in the Inbox, and you drag them into projects whenever it makes sense.
Star what matters
Star the recordings you want to come back to. Favorites cut across projects and give you one place for your most important captures.
Let the titles do the filing
With Apple Intelligence switched on, SR-7 writes a title and a one-sentence summary for every recording, which turns a list of recordings into something you can skim. Instead of naming recordings yourself, let SR-7 title them and rename only the ones where it missed.
Markdown files for your notes, on the Mac
On the Mac, switch on the markdown library in Settings, under Library, and every recording becomes a markdown file with YAML front matter, the title, the summary and the transcript. The files work with Obsidian, Logseq or any markdown-based system, so your recordings become part of the rest of your notes. SR-7 manages the folder, so edit recordings in SR-7 and keep your own files outside it.
Hardware recorders
If you use a dedicated recorder like the teenage engineering TP-7, make SR-7 the place its recordings end up. Record on hardware for the feel of it, then import into SR-7 for transcription, search and organization. The hardware import guide has the steps.
Signal Recorder SR-7
A dictaphone for thinking out loud. It records your voice and transcribes it on your iPhone, iPad or Mac.
$7.99 once for iPhone, iPad and Mac. No subscription.