iOS 18.2 brings Layered Recordings to the Voice Memos app, introducing a unique vocal isolation tool to iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Voice Memos is a built-in voice recording app on iOS, iPadOS, macOS and watchOS. Although fairly minimal in its features, without all of the functionality of a typical mobile DAW, Voice Memos has long been used by many musicians to capture ideas and record vocals. Voice Memos allows you to record, playback, edit, organize, export and share audio. Alongside more Apple Intelligence features and its expansion to more English-speaking countries, iOS 18.2 brings automatical transcripts to all iPhones, as well as Layered Recordings to iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Layered Recordings was first previewed on stage at the iPhone 16 September event, as a “coming later this year” feature. Layered Recordings allows users to play a recorded instrumental track, while recording vocals over the top. Even if the instrumental track was playing through the iPhone speakers, a “Balance” slider allows users to isolate the vocals, removing the need for headphones. This vocal isolation feature is powered by advanced processing and machine learning on the A18 Pro chip.

Voice Memos creates two individual tracks enabling additional mixing and production. With automatic syncing across devices via iCloud, you can import the layered recording to Logic Pro for Mac 11.1 on macOS Sequoia 15.2, or Logic Pro for iPad 2.1 on iPadOS 18.2.

To show off Layered Recordings on the updated Voice Memos app, Apple have released a behind-the-scenes video of multiplatinum entertainer Michael Bublé, country star Carly Pearce, and record producer Greg Wells recording a new holiday song “Maybe This Christmas”. The vocals were recorded on the Voice Memos app on iPhone 16 Pro and produced in Logic Pro.

I don’t think people realize the critical role Voice Memos on iPhone plays in the creation process for musicians. And now with Layered Recordings, if an artist has a moment of inspiration, being unencumbered by the traditional studio experience becomes the advantage, not the limitation. It’s so typically Apple to build something we didn’t know we needed — and now won’t be able to live without.

Michael Bublé

Once you’ve recorded your track in Voice Memos, upload it straight to Apple Music, Spotify and all of the other top streaming services for free with RouteNote!