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How to record meetings on your computer with the Meeting Recorder

The Meeting Recorder is the Sally app for Windows and macOS. It runs in the background, notices by itself when there is a conversation going on your computer, and asks whether Sally should take notes. The recording then goes to Sally on its own, ready to be transcribed and summarized. Sally does not join the meeting as a bot for this, the recording happens right on your computer.

Next to recording in the browser, this saves you two things: no tab to keep open, and no browser permission to confirm every time you record. That makes it a good fit if you often talk at your computer, whether that is an online meeting or a phone call.

Quick navigation

  1. Get the app and sign in
  2. Recording
  3. Upload the recording
  4. An interrupted recording
  5. Account and settings
  6. Common questions

1. Get the app and sign in​

You download the app from inside Sally, and one page serves both systems:

  1. In the sidebar under Record, open Record In Browser.
  2. Scroll down to Do you have meetings on your computer often? and click Download Sally Recorder. Underneath the button it says what you are getting: For Windows and macOS.
Page for recording in the browser with the marked sidebar entry and the marked Download Sally Recorder button
Figure 1: The way to the download, from the sidebar entry to the button at the bottom of the page
  1. Available versions puts Windows and macOS side by side, each with its version, the size of the download, and what it asks of your machine: Windows 10 or newer on the one side, macOS 12 or newer on the other, for Apple Silicon as well as Intel. Whichever system you are sitting at right now is marked Your system. Download fetches the installer.
Sally Recorder download page with the framed Windows and macOS versions and their download buttons
Figure 2: Both versions are on the same page, and the one for your system is marked
A note on the first launch

On Windows, Windows may ask you to confirm the first time you run the app. It is signed by Aliru GmbH, so you can confirm the installation.

On macOS no window comes up at all, the app sits in the menu bar. It asks twice for a permission and then has to be quit and started once more, because macOS only takes the screen recording on after a restart.

  1. Start the app and sign in with your Sally account, either through Apple, Google or Microsoft, or with your email address and password.
Sign-in window of the Sally Recorder with Apple, Google, Microsoft, and email sign-in
Figure 3: Until you sign in, the app has no idea which account the recording belongs to
The screenshots show the Windows app

Both versions do the same job and are put together the same way. The difference is where the app lives while it waits: in the taskbar on Windows, in the menu bar on macOS.

2. Recording​

You can record in one of two ways: you start the recording yourself, or Sally asks as soon as she notices a conversation.

2.1. Start a recording yourself​

Open the app and click Start recording. Above the button, Recording sources shows you what is about to be picked up: your microphone for your own voice, and Computer audio for the other side. A source marked ready can be recorded.

Meeting Recorder window with the recording sources microphone and computer audio and the Start recording button
Figure 4: Both sources are ready, so the recording can start
Ask for consent

The app says so itself: by law you need the consent of everyone involved before you record a conversation. Tell people up front that Sally is taking notes.

2.2. Sally asks on her own​

With the app running in the background, it lets you know as soon as it hears a conversation on your computer. Someone is speaking appears in the bottom-right corner and asks whether Sally should take notes. Record now starts recording, Not now dismisses it. If you do nothing, it closes again after a few seconds.

Message Someone is speaking over a running presentation with the buttons Not now and Record now
Figure 5: Sally notices the conversation and asks, without getting in the way of the presentation

2.3. While recording​

Once you are recording, the window shows Recording, the elapsed time, and a level meter for the audio. The two buttons pause the recording or stop it.

Recording window with elapsed time, level meter, pause and stop, and the marked Shrink to compact bar link
Figure 6: Shrink to compact bar cuts the window down to a strip

To get the window out of your way, click Shrink to compact bar. You are left with a thin strip in the bottom right corner showing the time and the level, plus pause and stop. The button on the far right makes the window big again.

Compact bar of the Meeting Recorder in the bottom right corner of the screen over a presentation
Figure 7: The compact bar stays in view without covering anything up

2.4. End of the meeting​

If it goes quiet for a while, the app asks you: The meeting seems to be over. Stop and upload the recording? That way a recording cannot run for hours unnoticed.

Recording window with the marked question The meeting seems to be over. Stop and upload the recording?
Figure 8: After a long silence the app offers to wrap the recording up

3. Upload the recording​

The moment you stop recording, the app asks for the few details Sally needs.

3.1. Details of the recording​

At the top you get the length and the file size. Below that you can give the recording a name and link it to an appointment, either by searching or by picking one of today's. Both are optional, so the recording goes up without an appointment as well. Advanced settings adds four dropdowns:

  • Language of the recording, set to Detect automatically by default
  • Speaker detection mode, either Automatic or Manual. With Manual you enter how many people spoke, a number from 1 to 20
  • Meeting template, which shapes the summary
  • Transcription model
Upload form with name, appointment link, and the advanced settings
Figure 9: A name and an appointment make the recording easier to find later, and the advanced settings come prefilled

The meeting template you pick is what decides how the summary is put together.

3.2. Uploading​

Upload sends the recording off to your account. You do not have to wait for it: Continue in the background keeps the upload running while you get on with something else.

Upload progress with the name of the recording and the Continue in the background link
Figure 10: Continue in the background keeps the upload running

Once it arrives, the app tells you Recording is in Sally, and the transcription and summary run from there. Open in Sally takes you straight to the recording, Record another starts the next one.

Confirmation Recording is in Sally with the buttons Open in Sally and Record another
Figure 11: Sally takes over the transcription and the summary from here

3.3. Discard a recording​

If you do not want to keep a recording, click Discard recording. The app asks for confirmation first, because the file only exists on this device and is irrevocably deleted, with no way to get it back.

Confirmation dialog Discard recording with the note that the recording exists only on this device
Figure 12: There is no undo once a recording is discarded

4. An interrupted recording​

If a recording is cut short because the computer shuts down or the app closes, you have not lost it. Next time you open the app, a panel at the top of the window shows the interrupted recording with its length. You have three choices: Continue picks up where you left off, Upload sends what you already have to Sally, and Discard recording deletes it.

Note about an interrupted recording with the options Continue, Upload, and Discard recording
Figure 13: An interrupted recording waits on the device until you decide what to do with it

5. Account and settings​

The top-right corner tells you which account and which organization you are working in. Click it and you get Settings, Open account in Sally, and Sign out. If you work across several organizations, this is where you switch.

Open account menu of the app with organization, Settings, Open account in Sally, and Sign out
Figure 14: The account menu is your way into the app settings

Click Settings and the app opens its own settings. They apply to this device only, not to your account. Three toggles and two more sections:

  • Start with Windows: Sally is running in the background from the moment you sign in.
  • Detect meetings: the app asks whenever it hears a conversation on this computer. With the switch off, Sally no longer asks on her own whether she should record.
  • Record computer audio: the other side gets recorded too, not just your microphone.
  • Waiting recordings: if you were offline when you finished, Sally uploads on her own as soon as you are back. Try again now starts the upload immediately.
  • Updates: shows which version you have, and Check for updates looks for a newer one. Beyond that you have nothing to do. The app fetches a new version in the background and puts it in place as soon as nothing is being recorded and no upload is waiting, so you never have to go back to the download page.
App settings with Start with Windows, Detect meetings, Record computer audio, waiting recordings, and updates
Figure 15: These settings belong to the device, not to your account

6. Common questions​

6.1. Compared with recording in the browser​

Both routes give you the same result, a recording in Sally. What the app saves you is the tab you would otherwise keep open and the browser permission you would otherwise confirm. In return it wants to be installed once. For the occasional conversation, recording in the browser is enough.

6.2. Recording without a connection​

The recording stays on your device at first. If you are offline when you finish, it waits there and Sally uploads it as soon as you are back online. The settings show how many recordings are still waiting.

6.3. Where the recording ends up​

In whichever account and organization the top-right corner of the app is showing. Once uploaded, you will find it under Recordings, alongside anything you recorded in the browser or brought in as a file upload.

6.4. Method blocked by the administrator​

Owners and admins can switch off individual recording methods for a whole organization, including the Meeting Recorder app. With the method blocked, the app will not record for that account. You can see which methods are open under recording sources.

6.5. Which systems the app runs on​

On Windows 10 or newer and on macOS 12 or newer, and on a Mac with an Apple Silicon or an Intel processor either way. Both versions come from the same download page in Sally, and the page marks the one that matches the system you are on. There is no Linux version, and for a phone or tablet there is the Sally app instead.