Guide · Voice Memos
What is the best app to organize voice memos for songwriting?
songdrafts is our own product, so weigh this page accordingly. It depends on the problem. To record, the built-in Voice Memos app is fine. To sort hundreds of memos into songs and keep every take together, you need something built for songs, such as a board. Here is what each option does well and where it stops, so you can pick.
Updated 20 Oct 2026
What you are actually trying to fix
- Finding things: memos called New Recording 212 tell you nothing.
- Keeping takes together: five versions of one chorus should sit in one place.
- Seeing progress: which songs are ideas, which are nearly done.
- Sharing: sending the right version without a pile of files.
The options
| Option | Good at | Where it stops |
|---|---|---|
| Voice Memos (built in) | Catching an idea in one tap. Free. Works offline | One flat list, newest first. Each take is its own recording |
| Folders in Files, Google Drive or Dropbox | Storing any audio, backup | You file and rename everything by hand; no stages, no lyrics with the audio |
| A notes app (Notes, Notion, Evernote) | Words, lists, attaching audio to a page | Not built to play through many recordings or stack takes |
| Dubnote | An iPhone recorder for musical ideas | It is a recorder, so it is built around new recordings on iPhone |
| Samply | Sharing tracks and works in progress, with time-coded comments | Built for sending tracks out, not sorting a pile of memos |
| songdrafts | Sorting voice memos you already have into songs, stacking takes, lyrics with the audio, sharing demos | It does not record. Keep recording in Voice Memos or anything else |
Prices and features change, so check each tool's own site.
Which to pick: if you only have a handful of memos, Voice Memos plus folders is enough. If you want to record with sections and tags on an iPhone, Dubnote is built for that. If you mainly send finished tracks out, Samply is. songdrafts is for sorting a big pile of memos you already have into songs, and it does not record.
How to organize voice memos in practice
- Get them out of one big list. Export them or bring them into a tool that can sort them. See how to export voice memos.
- Name the songs, not the recordings. One name per song, with every take under it.
- Sort by stage. Ideas, half written, finished demos.
- Do it weekly. Ten minutes a week beats a yearly clear-out.
Where does songdrafts fit?
songdrafts is a board for the voice memos you already have. Drag hundreds onto it on a computer, or import them on a phone, and sort them into songs by stage. Every take of a song stacks on one card, with the lyrics, key and tempo on the same song, and you can share a take as one link that plays in the browser. It makes its own copy, so your Voice Memos originals stay where they are. For the steps, see how to organise your voice memos.
Common questions
How do I organize hundreds of voice memos?
Bring them into one place, name each song once, and put every take of it together. Then sort the songs by how finished they are.
Can I organize voice memos on my iPhone without an app?
Partly. You can rename memos and use folders in Voice Memos, but each take stays its own recording.
What is the best free way to organize voice memos?
Rename them as you go and save the ones that matter to folders in Files or a cloud drive. It is manual but free.
Does songdrafts record audio?
No. Keep recording in Voice Memos or any recorder, then bring the recordings in.
Is there a Voice Memos alternative for songwriters?
Voice Memos is still the fastest way to record. An app like songdrafts or Dubnote adds what it lacks, depending on whether you want to sort existing memos or record new ones.
Want this done for you? songdrafts is a board for your voice memos: every take stacked on one card, songs that move across stages, merging half songs, and one share link with comments pinned to the second. Works offline, and nothing you upload trains AI. What is songdrafts?