Checking whether recording can really be free

I wanted to record my own snoring, but before that I wanted to know whether a free app for it actually exists. An app that turns out to want payment partway through is one I would hesitate to even try.

So I decided to check, with the app I actually use, whether there was any point between starting the recording and reading the morning record where money was asked for. No special preparation is needed, just the phone I already use every day.

Recording sounds like a big step, but there is not much to actually do. Open the app before sleeping, tap once, and leave it alone until morning.

Plenty of apps claim to be free, but you cannot tell how far that free reaches until you actually try one for a night. This time I tried that one night myself.

This article only writes what was left on the morning screen after using it for one night on September 17, and whether money was asked for anywhere along the way. I only say what I could confirm by listening back myself.

I have seen a few apps that say they are free, only for a prompt to appear later asking for payment right at that point. I wanted to check whether anything like that actually happens here too.

I was not asked to enter any payment details before starting either. I wanted to see whether one whole night could be tried without registering anything first.

What was left from the night of September 17

On the night of September 17 I recorded for 8 hours and 55 minutes. I fell asleep around 00:59 and ended the recording at 09:55 in the morning.

Counting back through the past 14 days of records, this was the fourteenth night recorded. I have not recorded every single night, but I have managed to keep it going for a stretch recently.

What was left on the morning screen: loud sound for 6 minutes, peaking at 07:08. How I felt on waking was "ordinary."

Compared with earlier records, this night's 6 minutes is on the shorter side. My loud minutes have been sitting around 12 or so, so the night of September 17 was quieter than that.

The single loudest moment can be played back in my own ears from the app's screen. The second and third loudest moments are kept the same way, and I can check them in order.

A short tag can also be added afterward, based on how that night felt. I did not add one this time, but adding a tag did not require buying anything.

So far, nothing has asked me for money, not when starting a recording, not when opening the morning record, and not when adding a tag.

Your own night, on your own phone.

Recording and your record are free, always. The sound is sent nowhere. Only the loud stretches are kept.

What the free part actually covers

What I actually did was put the phone by my pillow and tap once before sleeping. Screen down, in the usual spot. Recording keeps going after the screen goes dark, and I end it with a long press in the morning.

Nothing during that whole sequence asked me to pay. From starting the recording to reading the loud minutes and the peak on the morning screen, all of it worked within the free part.

For anyone who wants something simpler, recording a whole night with the phone's built-in voice memo app also lets you listen back afterward, and that costs nothing extra either. It just does not total up the loud minutes or the peak on its own, so the only difference is the effort that takes.

Recording and keeping the record are free forever. After trying it for several days, nothing suddenly asked for payment partway through.

There was no trouble of creating an account or registering anywhere either. It is set up so you can put the app on your phone and start recording right away.

Being asked for microphone permission only happened once. It can be changed later in settings, and without it nothing is recorded and nothing is lost.

I have not done anything special about the battery either. Just charging it before bed as usual has been enough; recording has never stopped partway through the night.

On a night I forget to tap before sleeping, that night simply is not recorded, and starting the same way again the next night is enough. Nothing extra needs to be bought to make up for a forgotten night.

What stays, and what does not

Where the sound goes is explained the same way every time, in one sentence: "The sound is sent nowhere. Only the loud stretches are kept." On the night of September 17 as well, the whole 8 hours and 55 minutes of sound was not kept as it is; only the loud 6 minutes and the short stretch right around it stayed on the phone.

The morning screen is not just that night's numbers; there is also a place to line up past nights. I can check whether the loud minutes were more or less than usual, alongside the earlier records.

The single loudest moment can be played back in my own ears. Every other minute, the quiet ones, is never kept at all.

The recording stays on this phone for 14 nights and the oldest is cleared automatically; there is nothing to delete by hand. Even after the sound itself is gone, the numbers, the loud minutes and the peak, stay behind.

Lining up those 14 nights side by side did not bring up any extra prompt either. Looking back over past nights did not need a separate plan or payment.

So far, keeping this record has not cost anything extra.

What Nagi can do is record the night's loud minutes and peak, and let me listen back to them in the morning. It does not judge.

What I know for now

What I learned this time is that, within the free part I tried, nothing asked me for money at any point up through the night of September 17. I cannot assume that will always be true from here on.

That the night of September 17 was loud for only 6 minutes is also something I learned this time. Whether that is a lot or a little is not something one night alone can say.

I plan to keep recording the same way for a few more nights and line them up. Once enough nights are gathered, I may be able to say whether a given night was louder or quieter than usual. Even then, I will not hand out tonight's answer in advance.

I thought a single night might not be enough to tell whether a payment prompt would ever show up. At least up through the night of September 17, I did not run into one.

Trying it for just one night to check whether it can really be used for free: that there is something to learn from doing so is what I found out this time.