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API key required. The AI summary that follows each recording uses your configured AI provider. Set one up in Settings > AI Setup.

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Starting a Recording

There are three ways to start a recording. Before starting, review the recording settings under the gear icon at the top right of the Notes page if you need to change the microphone, transcription model, summary template, or any other option.

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From the app

Open the Notes page in the Vowen app and click Start Taking Notes in the top right.

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From the menu bar

Right-click the Vowen menu bar icon and select Start Notes.

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Via shortcut

The default shortcut is Cmd+Shift+N (macOS) or Alt+N (Windows). The shortcut is off by default; enable or rebind it in Settings > Shortcuts.

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Automatically, when a meeting is detected

Meeting auto-detection is a Pro feature.
When Vowen notices you’ve joined a call in a meeting app, it pops up a “[App] meeting detected — want to start recording?” banner. Click Start Recording to begin, or dismiss it to ignore. Before you start, a row of template chips lets you pick which summary template to use for this session — handy when the meeting type differs from your usual default. The choice applies to that recording only and doesn’t change your global default template.

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What Gets Captured

When a recording is active, Vowen captures:
  1. System audio: everything playing through your speakers or headphones, including other participants and any shared audio
  2. Microphone: what you say during the meeting
Both streams are combined into a single recording for transcription. No bot joins the call and no banner is shown to other participants.

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During the Recording

  • A recording indicator appears in your menu bar (macOS) or tray (Windows) and inside the Vowen app
  • You can continue using your computer normally
  • Regular transcription (push-to-talk) still works alongside an active meeting recording
  • Your system is prevented from sleeping for the duration of the recording

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Real-time preview

Real-time preview is a Pro feature, available with streaming-capable cloud models.
When enabled with a streaming-capable cloud model, the transcript appears live during the recording so you can follow along, catch issues early, and copy excerpts mid-meeting. Enable it from Settings > Recording > Real-time preview.

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Recording indicator

While a note is recording, a small floating pill (the recording indicator) sits in the corner of your screen with a glowing halo so it’s easy to spot at a glance. Hovering it reveals quick pause and stop controls plus a panel for adding context and asking AI. You can drag the pill anywhere, and it remembers where you put it. If you’d rather not see it, turn it off under Settings > Meeting Notes > Settings > Recording Indicator with Show floating indicator while recording. With it off, the pill never appears during a session.

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Add context mid-meeting

Hover the recording indicator and use the Notes tab to jot quick context for the AI while the meeting is happening — “this is a follow-up to last week’s pricing call,” “Priya is the new PM,” and so on. The text auto-saves and is fed into the summary prompt after the recording stops, so your notes shape the generated summary.

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Ask AI live during a meeting

Asking AI live is a Pro feature, available only while real-time transcription is active.
When real-time preview is running, the recording indicator gains an Ask AI tab. Type a question into the “Ask anything…” box and press Enter. Each question automatically pulls in the latest live transcript as context, so you can ask “what did they just decide?”, “summarize the last few minutes,” or anything unrelated to the meeting — answers stream back token by token.
  • Press Stop to cut off an in-progress answer, or Clear chat to reset the conversation
  • The Ask AI tab only appears when real-time transcription is actually active; if it’s off, the tab is hidden
  • This is distinct from Chat with Transcriptions, which runs on a completed note or transcript after the meeting

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Pausing and Resuming

The Pro plan unlocks pause and resume controls, so you can stop an active recording temporarily and pick up where you left off. No audio is captured while paused.
  • Pause: open the tray or menu bar menu and click Pause Meeting Notes, or use the pause control on the Notes page in the Vowen app or on the recording indicator
  • Resume: open the tray or menu bar menu and click Resume Meeting Notes, or use the resume control on the Notes page or recording indicator
When you pause, the recording indicator and its timer pause too, so the on-screen state always matches what’s actually being captured.

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Mute Background Audio

Pro users can mute background audio (music, system sounds) while a recording is in progress, so it doesn’t leak into the captured stream. Toggle it from Settings > Recording > Mute background audio.

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Import an Audio or Video File as a Note

Pro users can import a pre-recorded audio or video file and have Vowen produce a full meeting note (transcript + AI summary) from it, just like a live recording. Use Notes > Import to pick a file. The import dialog has an optional Meeting date field. Leave it empty to use the current time, or set it to when the meeting actually happened so the note sorts and groups correctly in your date-organized Notes list.

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Stopping the Recording

  • Click the stop control on the Notes page in the Vowen app
  • Or open the tray or menu bar menu and click Stop Meeting Notes
  • Or press the Start Notes shortcut again to toggle the recording off

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Auto-stop when the meeting ends

Auto-stop is a Pro feature, currently in Beta.
Vowen can detect when your meeting app releases the microphone — meaning the call ended — and stop recording for you. When that happens, an “Ending meeting notes” banner appears with a 15-second countdown and two choices:
  • End now — stop immediately and process the note
  • Keep taking notes — cancel the auto-stop and keep recording (Vowen re-arms detection for the next time the mic is released)
If you don’t respond, recording stops automatically when the countdown finishes. Turn this on under Settings > Meeting Notes > Settings > Meeting Detection with Auto-stop notes when meeting ends. It’s off by default.

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After Recording Stops

1

Transcription

The full recording is transcribed using your selected model. This may take a moment for longer meetings. You can regenerate the transcript later with a different model.
2

AI summary

The transcript is sent to your configured AI provider, which generates a summary based on your selected template (overview, key points, action items, and decisions). The summary can also be regenerated later with a different model or template.
3

Storage

The note is saved with its transcript, summary, and audio file. Find it in the Notes section of the Vowen app.

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Working with Your Meeting Note

Open a meeting note from the Notes list to review, edit, and reprocess it.
  • Switch between Summary and Transcript using the toggle at the top of the note to flip between the AI summary and the full transcript
  • Map speaker names in the right sidebar if you recorded with diarization turned on. Speakers are labeled Speaker 1, Speaker 2, and so on by default; replace them with real names and click Save
  • Regenerate Transcript with a different transcription model from the right sidebar. The saved audio file is re-transcribed by the model you pick, producing a fresh transcript
  • Regenerate Summary with a different AI provider, model, or template from the right sidebar. The latest transcript is re-summarized with your chosen options, replacing the previous summary
  • Chat with the note to ask AI questions about what was discussed: pull out action items, surface a decision, or summarize a section. See Chat with Transcriptions
Pro tip: If a summary feels cut short or off-target, try Regenerate Summary with a more capable model (for example, Anthropic Claude Sonnet or OpenAI GPT-5) before re-recording the meeting.

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Exporting a Note

Exporting is a Pro feature.
Open a meeting note and click Export to save it outside Vowen. The export dialog lets you choose what to export and in which format, with a live preview:
  • Summary or Transcript as a PDF, plain text (.txt), or Markdown (.md) document. Toggle Include title & date to add a header.
  • Transcript as subtitles — SubRip (.srt) or WebVTT (.vtt). Subtitles are timed from the transcript’s segments (one cue per spoken segment, with speaker names when available) and are only offered when the transcript has per-segment timing.
  • Audio recording as MP3, M4A (AAC), or WAV, with a quality option (High 256 kbps / Standard 128 kbps; WAV is lossless). An estimated file size is shown before you export.

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Export all notes at once

To back up your whole library, use Export all notes in Settings > Meeting Notes. Vowen writes every note into a single ZIP archive, one folder per note, containing summary.md and/or transcript.md (you pick which) plus an index manifest. Progress is shown and you can cancel mid-export.

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Audio File

The audio for every meeting note is saved locally to Documents/Vowen Recordings in your home folder, on both macOS and Windows. This file is the source of truth for the note: every transcript or summary regeneration starts from this audio. The saved file lets you:
  • Play back specific sections
  • Regenerate the transcript with a different model
  • Re-summarize with a different AI provider or template
You can delete the audio file at any time from your file manager. Once deleted, the note’s existing transcript and summary stay in place, but you can no longer regenerate either of them.

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Tips

  • Start recording before the meeting begins to capture greetings and context
  • Use a cloud model with diarization support and turn on Identify Speakers for any meeting with more than one person
  • Keep your microphone unmuted during the meeting so your voice is captured alongside the others
  • Bluetooth headphones work fine: both system audio and your microphone come through the same device

Set up an AI provider

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