Product stories
Hear My Voice, Then Try Again — How I Built HearMyVoice
It started with a wish to make recording and listening a little easier. Here is the story behind the features I added to keep practice flowing.
Hello. Today I would like to introduce HearMyVoice, a voice practice app I made.
One day, while practicing my own voice, I had a thought.
I wish recording and listening back were a little easier.
A basic voice recorder works well, but I wanted to move from listening to recording again as quickly as possible. I wanted to hear a take while I still remembered how I had said it, then put what I noticed straight into the next one.
That wish for quick feedback is where development began.
So organizing would not interrupt every practice session
Recording and playback alone still felt like they were missing something.
As you keep practicing, recordings pile up. I thought it might become hard to find a particular take later, even if you wanted to hear it again. So I added categories and tags.
But choosing a category and adding tags every time you record could break your concentration. I did not want even a brief task to get in the way of practice.
That is why I added presets.
Set up the categories and tags you use often, and they are applied when you record. You can focus on practicing now and find the relevant takes together when it is time to listen back.
Keep the thought along with the voice
I also made it possible to rename recordings. I wanted a name to be enough to remind you what you were practicing.
Then I added notes for individual recordings. Listening and recording again matters, but I thought keeping a few thoughts from practice could help too.
“I lost energy at the end of the sentence.”
“Try saying this part a little more slowly.”
With a note attached to a recording, you can come back much later and remember both what you were working on and what you wanted to try next.
When all you have in your hand is your phone
Next, I pictured someone practicing with just a phone in hand.
You might have a script to read, a sentence you practice often, or something you want to write down before recording. So, separately from recording notes, I added practice notes for the words you want to say.
You can keep these notes on the main screen or hide them in options when you do not need them. I wanted people to be able to choose what suits their way of practicing.
I also thought about longer notes. In Hold & Loop mode, you record while holding down the record button. Scrolling a long script with that same hand could be difficult.
So I made it possible to scroll the notes by moving the record button up or down while holding it. You can keep reading and practicing without changing hands or lifting your finger from the button.
If there is something you want to hear alongside your voice
Sometimes you may want to speak over background audio, or keep a voice you want to imitate playing as you practice.
That is why I added accompaniment.
Choose an imported audio file or a recording, and you can listen to it while recording your own voice. It is there for the times you want background sound or a reference voice alongside your practice.
Your voice then, and your voice now
Once you have a collection of recordings, you may want to compare an earlier voice with your voice today. So I added comparison, which lets you select several recordings and listen to them.
You can hear how you said the same sentence differently, or what changed as you practiced.
In your recording history, filters help you find the takes you want. The categories and tags applied through presets come in handy here too.
I wanted it to stay easy to find a practice recording you wanted to revisit, even as the collection grew.
Listen first, then say it in your own voice
More recently, I added listen-and-repeat practice.
Accompaniment lets you record while audio plays. Listen-and-repeat practice works differently: you hear the original first, then say it yourself for the same length of time.
When you finish, a comparison screen lets you listen to the original and your voice. You can switch between them with one tap, and there is a repeat playback option too.
Turn on repeat playback in the comparison screen to spend more time listening to both voices. Leave it off, and practice continues through listen to the original → say it yourself → listen to your recording.
I also linked the original to recordings made this way, so you can find both together later.
Sometimes, look back on the practice you have kept up
Finally, there are statistics.
This was not a feature I had planned from the beginning. Still, I thought some people might occasionally want to see how much they had practiced.
You do not have to check every time. I just wanted there to be a way to look back when the thought crossed your mind.
Alongside your practice
Throughout development, I kept coming back to one thing: staying out of the way while you practice.
I hope recording, listening, and trying again feel a little easier. And I hope that helps you get to know your own voice and move toward the sound you want.
If you have thoughts after using the app, or a feature you would like to see, please email me. I will keep listening to your feedback and suggestions as I refine it.
I am also preparing more features for the Mac version. I hope you will look forward to what comes next.