Record Bluetooth calls for free. Keep both sides, without an Accessibility service.
Record SIM and WhatsApp calls on compatible Android phones, including calls through a Bluetooth headset. Astra uses an audio helper set up through ADB Nexus.
Keep conversations, voice memos and the details that matter together, with searchable recordings, flexible playback and optional backup.
From a conversation to a recording you can find again
Call recording needs the ADB Nexus helper. Ordinary microphone voice memos do not, so you can start using Astra before completing advanced setup.
SIM and WhatsApp calls
Capture both participants on supported phone and Bluetooth routes. The setup screen shows cellular and internet-call readiness separately. Phone model, Android version, carrier and calling app can affect the result, so check a short recording on your own setup.
Automatic recording and voice memos
Enable automatic call recording or pause the recording engine when you choose. Start and stop a manual microphone recording from the timeline for a spoken reminder, meeting note or idea. Manual memos need microphone permission, without helper setup.
A searchable recording library
Search by available caller name or number, star important recordings and switch between Timeline and Starred. Filter by call direction, source app or backup status. Sort by date, duration or file size in either direction.
Playback at your pace
Seek through audio, jump five seconds backward or forward, and choose 0.5x, 1x, 1.5x or 2x speed. Adjust listening volume from 50% to 200%, skip silence or enable playback noise reduction. These listening adjustments leave the original recording unchanged.
Notes and recording details
Add descriptive notes and labelled markers, or enable shake-to-mark during recording with optional vibration. Open a recording to see its start time, duration, file size and backup status, plus location coordinates when geotagging was enabled.
Share when you need to
Send a recording through Android’s share sheet, choose an email app or open the file with an external audio player. You choose the destination. Encrypted files need compatible handling, so check the exported file before sending it to someone else.
Keep Bluetooth connected
Astra’s helper supports two-sided Bluetooth recording on compatible setups, including SIM and WhatsApp calls.
Advanced setup requires Android 12 or newer in the phone’s main owner profile. Once the helper is connected, a live ADB connection is not needed while that helper remains available.
Recording controls for your phone
Different phones need different settings. Astra puts the relevant controls together so you can adjust a test recording and listen to what changed.
- Choose which calls to record. Set included or excluded callers, use include-only mode, or enable the optional Skip Headset Calls rule. Leave that rule off when recording Bluetooth calls. Caller rules depend on the identity available to Astra.
- Configure internet-call detection. Manage individual app switches and check installed-app and notification-access status. WhatsApp is supported on compatible setups; other listed app switches do not guarantee successful two-sided capture.
- Adjust capture and timing. Choose separate phone and internet-call audio sources, with independent start delays from zero to five seconds. Speaker mode, maximum call volume and manual microphone voice-mode controls are also available.
- Choose file and audio settings. Select recording format and quality, echo cancellation, automatic gain control and caller-clarity gain. Availability and effects depend on the device and capture route; helper recording may use M4A when a chosen format is unsupported.
- Keep unwanted files down. Enable silent-recording rejection and set a minimum saved duration from zero to 30 seconds. Manage the monitoring notification from settings.
- Make saved files recognizable. Choose date/contact, contact/date or source/contact/date naming. Select an export folder through Android’s folder picker and add a custom subfolder name.
Local privacy and storage controls
Protect access to Astra
Set a four-digit app PIN and enable biometric unlocking on supported devices. Optional local audio encryption is available for new recordings; check each recording’s protection status. Switching it on does not automatically encrypt your existing library.
Manage space deliberately
The privacy dashboard shows recording count, storage use, starred items, recycle-bin count and pending uploads. Enable the recycle bin to restore deleted recordings, or empty it permanently. Automatic retention can remove non-starred recordings older than seven, 30 or 90 days, or remain disabled. Its cleanup schedule starts with call monitoring.
Choose optional data features
Enable location tagging only when you want coordinates attached to recordings in Astra. Control optional usage analytics and crash/performance reports, with separate advertising choices where available. Audio stays local unless you choose to share, export or back it up.
Read the Astra Recorder privacy policy for how local data, optional services and advertising are handled.
Optional backup, with visible upload status
Connect Google Drive using Google’s account picker. You do not need a separate Astra account or password. Start a sync, review pending or failed uploads, retry failed jobs, remove queued items, change the connected Google account or sign out.
Choose Wi-Fi-only backup and, if you want to save space, local-file deletion after a successful upload. These are upload features; Astra does not present them as a full phone migration or automatic cloud-restore service.
Where available in settings, configure an FTP host, port, credentials and target folder for your own server. Drive transfers use HTTPS. The FTP option is plain FTP, without transport encryption, so use it only on a connection you trust. Exported filenames can contain caller names or numbers.
Set up your first Bluetooth call recording
Prepare Astra
Install Astra from Google Play and open the call-recording setup. Use Android 12 or newer in the main owner profile. Allow microphone and phone access for cellular calls, and notification access for supported internet-call detection.
Connect the helper
Follow Astra into ADB Nexus. Its guided flow takes you through the phone settings, wireless-debugging pairing and helper activation. Return to Astra and check that the helper and the call type you want are ready.
Record and listen
Enable call monitoring, connect your Bluetooth headset and make a short test call with the other participant’s permission. Listen for both voices. Test SIM and WhatsApp separately, and repeat after changing your phone, headset or call route.
Watch Astra and ADB Nexus in action
A full walkthrough of the current release: the permissions Astra asks for, the one-time ADB pairing, and an incoming call that records itself. No Accessibility service is used anywhere in it.
A few practical details
Will both voices record on every Android phone?
Compatibility depends on your device, software, calling app and audio route. Astra supports two-sided SIM and WhatsApp Bluetooth recording on compatible setups, but your own test recording is the check that matters.
What if call recording stops after a restart?
Check helper readiness in Astra and reconnect through ADB Nexus when prompted. The timeline flags a missing helper because calls can otherwise be silent. Do not assume a restart preserved the connection.
Can I reduce ads or get help?
An optional rewarded video grants 24 hours without pop-ups and one hour without banner/native ads. The app shows the remaining pass time. About & Support includes feedback with attachments you choose, rating and update links, legal information and open-source notices.
Get Astra Recorder
Bluetooth calls, everyday voice memos and a recording library you control.
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