---
title: "Voice notes to Obsidian on Android (2026): 7 ways compared - Murlivo"
url: "https://murlivo.com/voice-notes-to-obsidian-android/"
language: "en"
description: "How do you get voice notes into Obsidian on Android? 7 ways compared on offline use, setup and where the audio goes, with a source for every claim."
---

# Voice notes to Obsidian on Android (2026): 7 ways compared

Checked 1 November 2026 by the Murlivo team.

Quick answer

If you want spoken notes to land in your vault as text, with the audio kept on your phone and no internet needed, use an app that transcribes on the phone and writes Markdown into the vault folder. Murlivo does this. If a sound file in the note is enough, Obsidian's own Audio recorder plugin does it with no extra app, and if you already pay for an OpenAI API key, a community plugin such as Scribe transcribes inside Obsidian through the cloud. If you only want to dictate a few clean sentences into a note, an on-device voice keyboard such as Yaps types them, and its maker says your voice is not uploaded.

**Murlivo for Android** Records, transcribes on your phone and writes a Markdown note into your vault. Free, no account.

[Get it on Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.odezio.murlivo)

There are seven common ways to turn speech into a note in an Obsidian vault on an Android phone. They differ in three things: whether you get text or only audio, whether the audio leaves your phone, and how many steps it takes each time.

## Which way fits your job?

Compared on an Android phone, checked 20 October 2026; Yaps checked 22 October 2026.

| Way | You get | Works offline | Setup | Where the audio goes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Murlivo | Text and audio in the vault | Yes, after one model download | Install, pick the vault folder once | Stays on the phone, in the vault |
| Obsidian Audio recorder | Audio file only | Yes, it records on the phone | Turn on a core plugin | Stays in the vault |
| Cloud transcription plugin | Text, inside Obsidian | No | Install a plugin, add a paid API key | Uploaded to the API provider |
| Gboard voice typing | Text only, no audio | Not stated by Google | None | Sent to Google, except advanced voice typing on Pixel 6 or newer |
| On-device voice keyboard (Yaps) | Cleaned-up text, typed into the note | Yes, once its models are installed | Install, turn it on as a keyboard | Stays on the phone, its maker says |
| Phone recorder, then copy | Depends on the recorder | Depends on the recorder | 3 or more steps per note | Depends on the recorder |
| Cloud service, then export | Text | No | Account, then 3 or more steps per note | Uploaded to the service |

## Murlivo: text and audio, all on the phone

**Best for:** spoken notes, dictations and meetings that should land in the vault as text.

You pick your vault folder once. Each recording is transcribed on the phone, offline after a one-time speech model download, and added to one Markdown note per day in an `Inbox` folder, with the audio kept in a subfolder. Murlivo does not need the Obsidian app: it writes plain files that Obsidian reads like any other note. A Wear OS watch can start a recording, but the phone alone is enough.[11] Audio, transcripts and notes stay on your devices.[12]

One thing to know: on Android, Obsidian can keep a vault in its own private app storage or in device storage, where other apps can reach it.[3] Murlivo can only write into a vault in device storage.

## Obsidian Audio recorder: the sound file only

**Best for:** short clips you will listen to again, not read.

Obsidian has a core plugin that records audio, saves the file in your vault and embeds it at the end of the open note. Its help page does not mention turning speech into text.[1] Obsidian plays the common audio formats, such as .m4a, .mp3, .ogg and .wav, inside a note.[2]

## Cloud transcription plugins: text inside Obsidian

**Best for:** people who already use an OpenAI API key and are fine with uploading audio.

Several community plugins record or pick up audio in Obsidian and send it to a speech service for a transcript. Scribe uses OpenAI or AssemblyAI and needs an OpenAI API key.[4] Smart Memos uses OpenAI's online models with your own OpenAI API key and lists both desktop and mobile.[5] The services charge for their API, and the audio leaves your phone. Community plugins are third-party code: you install them from Obsidian's settings after turning off Restricted mode.[10]

## Gboard voice typing: dictate straight into a note

**Best for:** a few sentences typed by voice, when you do not need the recording.

You can open a note and use the microphone key on the Gboard keyboard. Google says that with talk-to-text your voice is sent to Google for transcription.[6] On a Pixel 6 or newer, advanced voice typing keeps the text you speak on the device, except when you use its “Fix it” or detailed edit features.[7] No audio file is kept, so you cannot listen again.

## An on-device voice keyboard: Yaps

**Best for:** dictating text with filler words removed, processed on the phone by default, when you do not need the recording.

On Android, Yaps is a full keyboard with voice-to-text built in: you press or hold its button, speak, and polished text lands where you are typing.[13] Its Play listing says it removes filler words such as "um" and adds punctuation, and names Obsidian among the apps it is tested with.[15] Its maker says dictation and notes run on the phone and work offline once its local models are installed, and its privacy policy says it does not send that content to a cloud AI service.[13, 14] Its website says Yaps is free on Android with no account; the Play listing shows in-app purchases and a 7-day free trial.[13, 15] Its Play listing says it supports English at launch.[15]

What Yaps does better: the text appears right at the cursor in any app, already cleaned up, and the same keyboard works for messages and email too. Yaps says itself that it is a keyboard, not a recorder-only app.[13] Pick Murlivo if you want the recording kept next to the text, long recordings, or notes written into the vault without opening Obsidian.

## A phone recorder, then copy the file

**Best for:** people who already like their recorder app.

Record with any recorder app, then share or copy the audio file, or its transcript if the app makes one, into the vault folder. It works with any app, but it takes several steps for every note, and whether the audio leaves the phone depends on the recorder.

## A cloud transcription service, then export

**Best for:** meetings you want shared with others or summarized in the cloud.

Services such as Otter transcribe in the cloud and export to TXT, DOCX, PDF and SRT.[8] Otter lists Amazon Web Services as its cloud and customer data storage provider.[9] You then copy the text into a note in your vault. This needs an account and an internet connection, and the audio is stored by the service.

## How we compared

We make Murlivo and wrote this page, so read it knowing that. We compared seven ways to get voice notes into Obsidian, Murlivo among them, from the public help pages, plugin pages and product pages of each tool, checked on 20 October 2026 (Yaps on 22 October 2026), and every claim about another app links to its source in the References. We did not install and test every app, so where a listing does not say something (for example, whether speech is turned into text on the device or on a server), this page says it is not stated instead of guessing. If anything here is wrong or out of date, write to [support@murlivo.com](mailto:support@murlivo.com) and we will fix it.

## Questions

### Does Murlivo need the Obsidian app?

No. Murlivo writes plain Markdown files into the folder you choose. Obsidian reads them like any other note.

### Does it work without internet?

Yes, after a one-time download of the speech model. Recording and transcription then work offline.

### Does Obsidian transcribe voice notes by itself?

Not that its help page says. The core Audio recorder plugin saves an audio file in the vault and embeds it in the note. Community plugins add transcription by sending the audio to a cloud service.

### Can Murlivo write into any Obsidian vault on Android?

Only into a vault in device storage. A vault in Obsidian's private app storage cannot be reached by other apps.

## Related guides

- [Keep a voice journal in Obsidian](https://murlivo.com/voice-journal-obsidian/)
- [Which Android apps transcribe offline](https://murlivo.com/offline-transcription-android/)
- [How Murlivo compares with Wave](https://murlivo.com/wave-vs-murlivo/)
- [An offline alternative to Otter](https://murlivo.com/does-otter-work-offline/)

## References

1. [Obsidian Help: Audio recorder](https://obsidian.md/help/plugins/audio-recorder), checked 20 October 2026.
2. [Obsidian Help: Accepted file formats](https://obsidian.md/help/file-formats), checked 20 October 2026.
3. [Obsidian Help: Obsidian for Android](https://obsidian.md/help/android), checked 20 October 2026.
4. [Scribe plugin for Obsidian](https://github.com/mikealicea/obsidian-scribe), checked 20 October 2026.
5. [Smart Memos, Obsidian community plugin](https://community.obsidian.md/plugins/smart-memos), checked 20 October 2026.
6. [Gboard Help: Fix problems with Gboard (What Gboard sends to Google)](https://support.google.com/gboard/answer/9058584?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid), checked 20 October 2026.
7. [Gboard Help: Use advanced voice typing features](https://support.google.com/gboard/answer/11197787?hl=en), checked 20 October 2026.
8. [Otter.ai: Transcribe all conversations](https://otter.ai/transcription), checked 20 October 2026.
9. [Otter.ai: Subprocessors](https://otter.ai/subprocessors), checked 20 October 2026.
10. [Obsidian Help: Community plugins](https://obsidian.md/help/community-plugins), checked 20 October 2026.
11. [Murlivo product facts](https://murlivo.com/product-facts/), checked 20 October 2026.
12. [Murlivo privacy policy](https://murlivo.com/privacy/), checked 20 October 2026.
13. [Yaps for Android](https://www.yaps.ai/android), checked 22 October 2026.
14. [Yaps privacy policy](https://www.yaps.ai/privacy), checked 22 October 2026.
15. [Yaps: AI Voice Typing Keyboard on Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ai.yaps.app), checked 22 October 2026.