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Can I start a recording without opening the app?

Yes. Put a recording button on your device ahead of time and a recording starts in one tap, without finding and opening the Tiro app. Every entry point lets you pick between offline recording and live transcription, and tapping it opens the app and immediately starts a recording in that mode.
These entry points are available in the mobile app. In the desktop app you start a recording with a keyboard shortcut while the Tiro window is active: Cmd+N or Ctrl+N for live recording, Cmd+O or Ctrl+O for offline recording. The web has no such shortcut. See App guide for the conditions and the full list.
For the difference between the two modes, see Offline Recording and Live Recording. Home screen widgets are a separate entry point and are covered in App guide.

Create a recording entry point on iPhone or iPad

On iOS, Tiro registers two actions with the system: [Start offline recording] and [Start live transcription]. The Shortcuts app, Siri, Control Center, and the Lock Screen all use these same two actions.

Start from the Shortcuts app or Siri

This works on iOS 16 or later with no setup. Open the built-in [Shortcuts] app and look for Tiro: you’ll see [Start offline recording] and [Start live transcription]. Tap one and the app opens and starts a recording in that mode. You can also ask Siri. These are the phrases Tiro registers:
  • “Start offline recording with Tiro”
  • “Start live transcription with Tiro”

Put a recording button in Control Center and on the Lock Screen

On iOS 18 or later you can place a recording button in Control Center and in the bottom row of the Lock Screen.
1

Open Control Center editing

Open Control Center, touch and hold an empty area to enter editing, then choose to add a control. How you open Control Center depends on your model.
2

Find the Tiro controls

In the control list, pick [Start offline recording] or [Start live transcription]. You can add both.
3

Add it to the Lock Screen too

The buttons at the bottom of the Lock Screen come from the same control list. Touch and hold the Lock Screen, go to customize, and replace one of the bottom buttons.
Control Center shows a description with each control. [Start offline recording] reads “Start an offline audio recording.” and [Start live transcription] reads “Transcribe a conversation in real time.” Use these descriptions when you can’t tell which one you added.

Add the actions to your own shortcut

Build your own shortcut in the [Shortcuts] app with one of Tiro’s two actions, and you can trigger a recording from anywhere iOS runs a shortcut. Depending on your iPhone model and your iOS settings, that can include the Action button, Back Tap, and NFC tag automations.
The Action button, Back Tap, and NFC tags are ways iOS runs a shortcut, so which ones you can use depends on your device and iOS settings. What Tiro guarantees is that the two actions appear in the [Shortcuts] app and that running one starts a recording in that mode.

Add a recording shortcut on Android

On Android you add shortcuts from inside the app. Go to [Settings] → [Management] → [Add recording shortcuts] to open the screen for each destination. Because the feature is new, the row also shows a new badge. The screen has two destinations, and each one has an [Offline recording] row and a [Live transcription] row. Tap [Add] on a row to open the system dialog. Under each destination there is an [Example] preview so you can see how the shortcut will look once it’s added. Swipe through the three examples: Google Pixel, Galaxy One UI 9, and Galaxy One UI 7.0.

Add a shortcut to the Home screen

Available on Android 8.0 or later.
1

Open the shortcut screen

Go to [Settings] → [Management] → [Add recording shortcuts].
2

Pick a mode

Under [Add to Home screen], tap [Add] on the [Offline recording] or [Live transcription] row.
3

Accept the launcher dialog

Your launcher asks whether to add the shortcut to the Home screen. Accept it and a [Start offline recording] or [Start live transcription] icon appears on your Home screen.
Accepting the dialog does not produce a confirmation message. Go to your Home screen and check that the icon is there. If your launcher doesn’t support pinned shortcuts, [This launcher or device does not support adding this shortcut.] appears at the bottom of the screen.

Add a tile to Quick Settings

Available on Android 13 or later. Quick Settings is the panel you get by swiping down from the top of the screen.
1

Open the shortcut screen

Go to [Settings] → [Management] → [Add recording shortcuts].
2

Pick a mode

Under [Add to Quick Settings], tap [Add] on the [Offline recording] or [Live transcription] row.
3

Accept the tile dialog

The system tile dialog opens. Accept it and an [Offline recording] or [Live transcription] tile appears in Quick Settings.
If you try to add a tile you already have, [This tile is already in Quick Settings.] appears. If adding fails, [Could not add the shortcut. Please try again.] appears.
On a device older than Android 13, the [Add to Quick Settings] section doesn’t appear on this screen at all. Use the [Add to Home screen] section instead.
If you tap the tile while the screen is locked, Android 13 asks you to unlock first. On Android 14 or later the recording screen opens right after you unlock.

Touch and hold the app icon to pick a mode

On both iPhone and Android, touching and holding the Tiro app icon on the Home screen shows [Start offline recording] and [Start live transcription]. No setup is needed, and it works as soon as the app is installed. Tap either one and the app opens and starts a recording in that mode.

When tapping doesn’t start a recording

Every entry point requires you to be signed in. Check these in order.
  1. If the sign-in screen appears, finish signing in. Your request continues on its own once you’re signed in and the recording starts in the mode you picked. You don’t need to tap again.
  2. If another recording is already in progress, nothing happens. While a recording is running, paused, or interrupted by something like a phone call, the request is ignored to prevent a duplicate recording. To start a new recording, finish the current one first. To carry on with a recording that stopped, use the resume button on the note screen instead of the shortcut. A resumed recording counts as in progress, so the shortcut stays ignored.
  3. If [Failed to start recording. Please try again.] appears, tap once more. If it keeps failing, update the app to the latest version and try again.
  4. If adding the shortcut itself fails on Android, check your Android version and launcher. Home screen pinning needs Android 8.0 or later, and Quick Settings tiles need Android 13 or later.
For problems that happen after the recording starts, see Live recording fails.

Frequently asked questions

Which mode does the shortcut record in?

The mode you picked when you added the shortcut. [Offline recording] saves to your device first and uploads later; [Live transcription] shows the transcript on screen as you talk. There is no mode picker in between, so if you use both modes, add two shortcuts.

I can’t find “Add recording shortcuts” in Settings on my iPhone.

The [Add recording shortcuts] screen is Android only. On iPhone and iPad you create entry points on the iOS side instead: use the [Shortcuts] app, Control Center editing, or Lock Screen customization to add Tiro’s two actions.

How is this different from a Home screen widget?

Tapping either one starts a recording, so that part is the same. A widget is a card that takes up space on your Home screen (on iPhone and iPad it can also sit on the Lock Screen; Android has no Lock Screen widget), while the shortcuts on this page live in device features such as Shortcuts, Control Center, Quick Settings, and the app icon menu. App guide covers what the widgets are. Placing a widget on your Home screen is a device feature, so follow your iOS or Android Home screen editing steps.

Can I start a recording straight from a smartwatch?

On Apple Watch, yes. Installing Tiro on your iPhone also installs the Tiro Watch app, and recordings made on the watch are sent to your iPhone. See Apple Watch recording. A Tiro app for Wear OS watches such as Galaxy Watch isn’t available yet.

Can I start without opening the app on the web or desktop app?

In the desktop app you start with a keyboard shortcut while the window is open and active: Cmd+N or Ctrl+N for live recording, Cmd+O or Ctrl+O for offline recording. These work in the note list, the note preview, and full screen, but not in the wiki or the recording recovery screen. The web has no such shortcut. In a browser the same keys run browser features such as opening a new window or a file. The full list is in App guide.

How do I remove a shortcut I added?

Remove it from the device side. The app has no screen for undoing shortcuts you added.
  • Home screen shortcut: touch and hold the icon to delete it.
  • Quick Settings tile: remove it from Quick Settings editing.
  • A control in Control Center: remove it from Control Center editing.
  • A button on the Lock Screen: remove it from Lock Screen customization, not Control Center editing. The two places are managed separately.
Related pages: Offline Recording · Live Recording · App guide · Apple Watch recording