Record the audio from FaceTime calls on Mac.

FaceTime audio you can return to

For an interview, a project discussion, or a conversation you want to revisit, echo99 records your voice and the other side separately. It captures the audio playing on your Mac during a FaceTime audio or video call, one-to-one or in a group. It does not record the camera feed, shared screen, or other video.

After you stop, transcription runs locally. You can read speaker-labeled text, play back the call, and generate a summary with a model running on the same Mac.

How to record a FaceTime conversation

1. Set up echo99 using the getting started guide. Allow microphone and system audio recording access and install the models.
2. Start or answer the FaceTime call on your Mac. Use headphones for cleaner audio.
3. Open echo99 from the menu bar and click Record.
4. When the conversation ends, click Stop Recording. Open Recordings to listen back and read the finished transcript.

Make a short test call first and confirm both voices are audible in the saved recording. echo99 records your Mac’s default input (System Settings → Sound → Input), so choose the same microphone in FaceTime. If one side stays silent for about 90 seconds while the other has sound, the menu-bar panel says “Mic looks silent” or “System audio looks silent”. The files are saved in a folder named by the call’s start time inside ~/Documents/echo99/, or wherever you point Config → Storage.

You can also let echo99 start on its own: with Auto-record calls turned on in the menu-bar panel, it begins recording a few seconds after FaceTime starts using your microphone and stops shortly after you hang up.

What about FaceTime’s own recording?

Since macOS Tahoe 26, FaceTime can record a FaceTime audio call with one other person. The recording and its transcript are saved in the Notes app, in the Call Recordings folder, and both participants hear a notice that the call is being recorded. Availability depends on language and region; check Apple’s current documentation for your setup.

echo99 covers what that feature leaves out:

• Group calls and video calls. echo99 records the audio of any FaceTime call your Mac plays, not only one-to-one audio calls.
• Separate tracks. Your voice goes to mic.wav and the other side to system.wav, so you can edit or check each one on its own.
• Your own folder. Plain WAV files and transcripts in a folder you choose, next to your other calls, instead of a note.
• Summaries on your Mac. A local model can turn the transcript into key points and action items.

Keep the conversation on the Mac you are recording

• Stay on this device. If you move the call to an iPhone or iPad, echo99 cannot continue capturing audio that no longer plays on your Mac.
• Audio is the source. Names are not imported from FaceTime contacts. You can name voices, and speaker recognition, on by default, can then recognize people you speak with regularly.
• Other sound can be captured. Pause unrelated audio and silence notification sounds before an important conversation.
• Summaries need a model. Follow the summary setup guide to create notes locally, and check important details against the recording.

Tell people you are recording

echo99 never joins the FaceTime call, so nothing like FaceTime's recording notice tells the others you are recording. Many jurisdictions require the other side’s consent, and your organization or the host may have rules of its own. Say it out loud at the start, before the conversation gets going.

Apple feature details checked in October 2026. See Apple’s FaceTime audio call guide for supported recording features and regional availability.

Related guides: Local transcription, Speaker identification, Meeting notes without a bot, Meeting summaries, Transcribe audio and video files