How do I record audio on iPhone with AVAudioRecord

Question

Now that iPhone 3.0 sdk is public, I think I can ask this question for those of you that have already been playing with the 3.0 sdk. I want to record audio in my application, but I want to use AVAudioRecorder and not the older way of recording like the example SpeakHere shows. There are not any examples of how to best do this in the iPhone Dev Center and only reference to the classes. I am a newbie at iPhone development, so I am looking for a simple sample to get me started. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Great Thanks to @Massimo Cafaro and Shaybc I was able achieve below tasks

in iOS 8 :

Record audio & Save

Play Saved Recording

1.Add "AVFoundation.framework" to your project

in .h file

2.Add below import statement 'AVFoundation/AVFoundation.h'.

3.Define "AVAudioRecorderDelegate"

4.Create a layout with Record, Play buttons and their action methids

5.Define Recorder and Player etc.

Here is the complete example code which may help you.

ViewController.h

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#import <AVFoundation/AVFoundation.h>

@interface ViewController : UIViewController <AVAudioRecorderDelegate>

@property(nonatomic,strong) AVAudioRecorder *recorder;
@property(nonatomic,strong) NSMutableDictionary *recorderSettings;
@property(nonatomic,strong) NSString *recorderFilePath;
@property(nonatomic,strong) AVAudioPlayer *audioPlayer;
@property(nonatomic,strong) NSString *audioFileName;

- (IBAction)startRecording:(id)sender;
- (IBAction)stopRecording:(id)sender;

- (IBAction)startPlaying:(id)sender;
- (IBAction)stopPlaying:(id)sender;

@end

Then do the job in

ViewController.m

#import "ViewController.h"

#define DOCUMENTS_FOLDER [NSHomeDirectory() stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"Documents"]

@interface ViewController ()
@end

@implementation ViewController

@synthesize recorder,recorderSettings,recorderFilePath;
@synthesize audioPlayer,audioFileName;


#pragma mark - View Controller Life cycle methods
- (void)viewDidLoad
{
    [super viewDidLoad];
}
- (void)didReceiveMemoryWarning
{
    [super didReceiveMemoryWarning];
}


#pragma mark - Audio Recording
- (IBAction)startRecording:(id)sender
{
    AVAudioSession *audioSession = [AVAudioSession sharedInstance];
    NSError *err = nil;
    [audioSession setCategory :AVAudioSessionCategoryPlayAndRecord error:&err];
    if(err)
    {
        NSLog(@"audioSession: %@ %ld %@", [err domain], (long)[err code], [[err userInfo] description]);
        return;
    }
    [audioSession setActive:YES error:&err];
    err = nil;
    if(err)
    {
        NSLog(@"audioSession: %@ %ld %@", [err domain], (long)[err code], [[err userInfo] description]);
        return;
    }

    recorderSettings = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] init];
    [recorderSettings setValue :[NSNumber numberWithInt:kAudioFormatLinearPCM] forKey:AVFormatIDKey];
    [recorderSettings setValue:[NSNumber numberWithFloat:44100.0] forKey:AVSampleRateKey];
    [recorderSettings setValue:[NSNumber numberWithInt: 2] forKey:AVNumberOfChannelsKey];
    [recorderSettings setValue :[NSNumber numberWithInt:16] forKey:AVLinearPCMBitDepthKey];
    [recorderSettings setValue :[NSNumber numberWithBool:NO] forKey:AVLinearPCMIsBigEndianKey];
    [recorderSettings setValue :[NSNumber numberWithBool:NO] forKey:AVLinearPCMIsFloatKey];

    // Create a new audio file
    audioFileName = @"recordingTestFile";
    recorderFilePath = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@/%@.caf", DOCUMENTS_FOLDER, audioFileName] ;

    NSURL *url = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:recorderFilePath];
    err = nil;
    recorder = [[ AVAudioRecorder alloc] initWithURL:url settings:recorderSettings error:&err];
    if(!recorder){
        NSLog(@"recorder: %@ %ld %@", [err domain], (long)[err code], [[err userInfo] description]);
        UIAlertView *alert =
        [[UIAlertView alloc] initWithTitle: @"Warning" message: [err localizedDescription] delegate: nil
                         cancelButtonTitle:@"OK" otherButtonTitles:nil];
        [alert show];
        return;
    }

    //prepare to record
    [recorder setDelegate:self];
    [recorder prepareToRecord];
    recorder.meteringEnabled = YES;

    BOOL audioHWAvailable = audioSession.inputIsAvailable;
    if (! audioHWAvailable) {
        UIAlertView *cantRecordAlert =
        [[UIAlertView alloc] initWithTitle: @"Warning"message: @"Audio input hardware not available"
                                  delegate: nil cancelButtonTitle:@"OK" otherButtonTitles:nil];
        [cantRecordAlert show];
        return;
    }

    // start recording
    [recorder recordForDuration:(NSTimeInterval) 60];//Maximum recording time : 60 seconds default
    NSLog(@"Recroding Started");
}

- (IBAction)stopRecording:(id)sender
{
    [recorder stop];
    NSLog(@"Recording Stopped");
}

- (void)audioRecorderDidFinishRecording:(AVAudioRecorder *) aRecorder successfully:(BOOL)flag
{
    NSLog (@"audioRecorderDidFinishRecording:successfully:");
}


#pragma mark - Audio Playing
- (IBAction)startPlaying:(id)sender
{
    NSLog(@"playRecording");

    AVAudioSession *audioSession = [AVAudioSession sharedInstance];
    [audioSession setCategory:AVAudioSessionCategoryPlayback error:nil];

     NSURL *url = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@/%@.caf", DOCUMENTS_FOLDER, audioFileName]];
    NSError *error;
    audioPlayer = [[AVAudioPlayer alloc] initWithContentsOfURL:url error:&error];
    audioPlayer.numberOfLoops = 0;
    [audioPlayer play];
    NSLog(@"playing");
}
- (IBAction)stopPlaying:(id)sender
{
    [audioPlayer stop];
    NSLog(@"stopped");
}

@end

Answer 2

I have uploaded a sample project. You can take a look.

VoiceRecorder

Answer 3

I've been trying to get this code to work for the last 2 hours and though it showed no error on the simulator, there was one on the device.

Turns out, at least in my case that the error came from directory used (bundle) :

NSURL *url = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@/recordTest.caf", [[NSBundle mainBundle] resourcePath]]];

It was not writable or something like this... There was no error except the fact that prepareToRecord failed...

I therefore replaced it by :

NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
NSString *recDir = [paths objectAtIndex:0];
NSURL *url = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@/recordTest.caf", recDir]]

It now Works like a Charm.

Hope this helps others.

Answer 4

for wav format below audio setting

NSDictionary *audioSetting = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:
                              [NSNumber numberWithFloat:44100.0],AVSampleRateKey,
                              [NSNumber numberWithInt:2],AVNumberOfChannelsKey,
                              [NSNumber numberWithInt:16],AVLinearPCMBitDepthKey,
                              [NSNumber numberWithInt:kAudioFormatLinearPCM],AVFormatIDKey,
                              [NSNumber numberWithBool:NO], AVLinearPCMIsFloatKey, 
                              [NSNumber numberWithBool:0], AVLinearPCMIsBigEndianKey,
                              [NSNumber numberWithBool:NO], AVLinearPCMIsNonInterleaved,
                              [NSData data], AVChannelLayoutKey, nil];

ref: http://objective-audio.jp/2010/09/avassetreaderavassetwriter.html

Answer 5

Although this is an answered question (and kind of old) i have decided to post my full working code for others that found it hard to find good working (out of the box) playing and recording example - including encoded, pcm, play via speaker, write to file here it is:

AudioPlayerViewController.h:

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#import <AVFoundation/AVFoundation.h>

@interface AudioPlayerViewController : UIViewController {
AVAudioPlayer *audioPlayer;
AVAudioRecorder *audioRecorder;
int recordEncoding;
enum
{
    ENC_AAC = 1,
    ENC_ALAC = 2,
    ENC_IMA4 = 3,
    ENC_ILBC = 4,
    ENC_ULAW = 5,
    ENC_PCM = 6,
} encodingTypes;
}

-(IBAction) startRecording;
-(IBAction) stopRecording;
-(IBAction) playRecording;
-(IBAction) stopPlaying;

@end

AudioPlayerViewController.m:

#import "AudioPlayerViewController.h"

@implementation AudioPlayerViewController

- (void)viewDidLoad
{
    [super viewDidLoad];
    recordEncoding = ENC_AAC;
}

-(IBAction) startRecording
{
NSLog(@"startRecording");
[audioRecorder release];
audioRecorder = nil;

// Init audio with record capability
AVAudioSession *audioSession = [AVAudioSession sharedInstance];
[audioSession setCategory:AVAudioSessionCategoryRecord error:nil];

NSMutableDictionary *recordSettings = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] initWithCapacity:10];
if(recordEncoding == ENC_PCM)
{
    [recordSettings setObject:[NSNumber numberWithInt: kAudioFormatLinearPCM] forKey: AVFormatIDKey];
    [recordSettings setObject:[NSNumber numberWithFloat:44100.0] forKey: AVSampleRateKey];
    [recordSettings setObject:[NSNumber numberWithInt:2] forKey:AVNumberOfChannelsKey];
    [recordSettings setObject:[NSNumber numberWithInt:16] forKey:AVLinearPCMBitDepthKey];
    [recordSettings setObject:[NSNumber numberWithBool:NO] forKey:AVLinearPCMIsBigEndianKey];
    [recordSettings setObject:[NSNumber numberWithBool:NO] forKey:AVLinearPCMIsFloatKey];   
}
else
{
    NSNumber *formatObject;

    switch (recordEncoding) {
        case (ENC_AAC): 
            formatObject = [NSNumber numberWithInt: kAudioFormatMPEG4AAC];
            break;
        case (ENC_ALAC):
            formatObject = [NSNumber numberWithInt: kAudioFormatAppleLossless];
            break;
        case (ENC_IMA4):
            formatObject = [NSNumber numberWithInt: kAudioFormatAppleIMA4];
            break;
        case (ENC_ILBC):
            formatObject = [NSNumber numberWithInt: kAudioFormatiLBC];
            break;
        case (ENC_ULAW):
            formatObject = [NSNumber numberWithInt: kAudioFormatULaw];
            break;
        default:
            formatObject = [NSNumber numberWithInt: kAudioFormatAppleIMA4];
    }

    [recordSettings setObject:formatObject forKey: AVFormatIDKey];
    [recordSettings setObject:[NSNumber numberWithFloat:44100.0] forKey: AVSampleRateKey];
    [recordSettings setObject:[NSNumber numberWithInt:2] forKey:AVNumberOfChannelsKey];
    [recordSettings setObject:[NSNumber numberWithInt:12800] forKey:AVEncoderBitRateKey];
    [recordSettings setObject:[NSNumber numberWithInt:16] forKey:AVLinearPCMBitDepthKey];
    [recordSettings setObject:[NSNumber numberWithInt: AVAudioQualityHigh] forKey: AVEncoderAudioQualityKey];
}

NSURL *url = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@/recordTest.caf", [[NSBundle mainBundle] resourcePath]]];


NSError *error = nil;
audioRecorder = [[ AVAudioRecorder alloc] initWithURL:url settings:recordSettings error:&error];

if ([audioRecorder prepareToRecord] == YES){
    [audioRecorder record];
}else {
    int errorCode = CFSwapInt32HostToBig ([error code]); 
    NSLog(@"Error: %@ [%4.4s])" , [error localizedDescription], (char*)&errorCode); 

}
NSLog(@"recording");
}

-(IBAction) stopRecording
{
NSLog(@"stopRecording");
[audioRecorder stop];
NSLog(@"stopped");
}

-(IBAction) playRecording
{
NSLog(@"playRecording");
// Init audio with playback capability
AVAudioSession *audioSession = [AVAudioSession sharedInstance];
[audioSession setCategory:AVAudioSessionCategoryPlayback error:nil];

NSURL *url = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@/recordTest.caf", [[NSBundle mainBundle] resourcePath]]];
NSError *error;
audioPlayer = [[AVAudioPlayer alloc] initWithContentsOfURL:url error:&error];
audioPlayer.numberOfLoops = 0;
[audioPlayer play];
NSLog(@"playing");
}

-(IBAction) stopPlaying
{
NSLog(@"stopPlaying");
[audioPlayer stop];
NSLog(@"stopped");
}

- (void)dealloc
{
[audioPlayer release];
[audioRecorder release];
[super dealloc];
}

@end

Hope this will help some of you guys.

Answer 6

Its really helpful. The only problem i had was the size of sound file created after recording. I needed to reduce the file size so i did some changes in settings.

NSMutableDictionary *recordSetting = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] init];
[recordSetting setValue :[NSNumber numberWithInt:kAudioFormatAppleIMA4] forKey:AVFormatIDKey];
[recordSetting setValue:[NSNumber numberWithFloat:16000.0] forKey:AVSampleRateKey];
[recordSetting setValue:[NSNumber numberWithInt: 1] forKey:AVNumberOfChannelsKey];

File size reduced from 360kb to just 25kb (2 seconds recording).