With finals looming over students’ heads, they grab their scribbled notes and study as much as they can from often incomplete lecture notes. However, with a newly released app, students can easily record lectures for later use.
TinyVox, a free iPhone tape deck app, offers students a new way to take notes in class. The app features a big record button; it also allows students to email themselves an MP3 of the recording and listen back to the lecture for later study use.
With TinyVox, one can record class lectures instead of skipping notes or typing frantically.
Srini Kumar, creator of the TinyVox app, came up with the idea when he was getting his MBA at the University of North Carolina.
“I discovered that writing papers was easier if I talked out my paper,” Kumar said. “The same concept goes with recording classes — if you can hear the professor speak, then studying or writing a paper is not a problem.”
Amanda Turner, a freshman majoring in business, finds it challenging to take notes in many class settings.
“In certain classes it’s difficult to take notes because a lot of professors speak faster than normal, and it’s hard to write it all down,” Turner said. “I think the (TinyVox) app would be helpful for recording lectures, but I probably wouldn’t listen to them for very long.”
Annie Scott, a sophomore majoring in exercise science, thinks that TinyVox would probably be more beneficial to use in history and English courses.
“In math and science classes, I tend to write down my notes, which helps me to remember the material better,” Scott said. “However, for history or english classes it would be really helpful to have something to record (the lectures).”
Kumar said the app differs from the iPhone’s built-in “voice memo” feature by offering better audio quality, an MP3 option and the ability to make “new tapes” at any time.
“Voice memos on the iPhone is a very old concept, and we are the better voice system app,” Kumar said. “It’s sort of like how Instagram is a better photography app. TinyVox is the better voice system app.”
Students can also make voice announcements using TinyVox on social networks, including Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Soundcloud. Voice recordings can also be sent via email or iMessage to anyone in the world.
