[Productivity Tool Review] VoicePal (Amazing for Journalling & Content Creation) 🧠✨

Hey besties! Pamela here. 👋 You know how it is – another day, another shiny new app promising to solve problems you didn't know you had. As a fellow content creator being overwhelmed with countless AI-enhanced tools, I totally get the hesitation. "Do I really need another app? Even if it is from Ali Abdaal. Really?" That's what I have been thinking everytime he brought this up in his videos.

Even now, I am not sure I will purchase the subscription, but I have given it a try so lemme share my honest thoughts with you all!

The TL;DR (For My Fellow Busy Bees 🐝)

What does it do: Think of VoicePal as your super-powered voice note-taker that not only listens to your rambling but magically turns it into clean, readable text. ✨ Rephrasing done!

How is it: Okay, real talk – I was totally surprised by this one! I went in thinking, "Ugh, another voice app," but honestly? Just talking my ideas out with VoicePal feels incredibly freeing and way faster than my two thumbs pecking at a keyboard. It's like the floodgates opened in my brain – ideas just pour out! I even find myself saying things I'd normally be too lazy to type out, and you know those thoughts that vanish mid-sentence when you're typing? Saved! This app is a real game-changer for getting those thoughts out of your head before they vanish into the void. 💨

Issues? Yep, not gonna lie. There are some frustrating limitations.. The usual suspects that make us PKM nerds raise a skeptical eyebrow 🏴‍☠️.

What Makes VoicePal Special 🌟

Story Time: How it works for me

I've always been someone with too many ideas bouncing around in my head, often losing track of them before I can capture them effectively. This challenge has led me to create systems for thought capture – keeping little notebooks around my room, at my table, and in my bag so I can write down ideas as quickly as possible. I even have Apple Notes on my phone's home screen, on the first page, for quick digital capture.

When I try to use Siri, it sometimes fails to register my notes properly, which has been a significant problem. But recently, I found a solution that seems to work well for me: VoicePal. This tool allows me to capture my ideas before they vanish into the ether.

I've realized I struggle with blank pages, which often prevents me from journaling effectively, and I find that I can generate thoughts much more easily through speaking than writing. You don't realize this until you try it. Additionally, as someone interested in working with large language models (LLMs), speaking enables me to create much more text and provide more context to feed into these models compared to writing it all down.

This app has transformed how I journal and create content. It might be for you if you:

• Find your brilliant ideas vanishing before you can write them down 💭

• Feel intimidated by blank pages when trying to journal ✏️

• Process thoughts more naturally through speaking than writing 🎙️

• Create content but struggle with the initial writing phase. Have ideas, but it is hard to get them out. 📱

The Reality of Capturing Thoughts ⚡

And you know how sometimes an idea pops into your head while you're doing something totally unrelated. Shower thoughts. You're on a walk, maybe brewing some coffee, and BAM! A brilliant idea hits you – a new way to connect your notes in Obsidian, a killer topic for your next YouTube video, or a genius structure for your newsletter. But then you reach for your phone, open up that notes app, then... stare at that blank note, and... then that sinking feeling of "What was I thinking about?" 💨

This used to happen to me ALL. THE. TIME.

It still happens to me, but with VoicePal, I can chant the idea in my head, and once I get to the record part, it all comes out in a braindump. When I talk instead of type, my thoughts just flow so much faster and more naturally. It's like bypassing that inner editor that loves to freeze my writing. Or maybe, it is just so fast, that I don't lose track of new ideas I get while I am trying to finish typing my current sentence.

Being able to talk it out before it vanishes into the abyss of my scattered ADHD brain. It's like having a little idea-catcher in my pocket.

They Keep the Original Audio! 🎧 (Phew, What a Relief!)

Okay, this might seem like a small thing, but it's actually a HUGE deal for my peace of mind. VoicePal keeps the original voice memo alongside the transcription. Why is this so important? Well, if you're anything like me, you've probably had frustrating experiences with voice-to-text tools (looking at you, Siri! 👀). Sometimes they just don't activate properly, or they mishear you, and poof! Your brilliant idea is lost forever. This has happened to me with Apple dictation, Google Home and even Superwhisper more times than I'd like to admit.

Knowing that I have the original audio recording in VoicePal gives me so much reassurance. Even if the AI transcription isn't perfect, I can always go back and listen to exactly what I said. This is especially crucial for me to even use this tool, because you need to be able to trust your tools, otherwise you won't reach for them, and will just stick to a voice memo app.

Speaking Creates a Natural Flow of Ideas 💬

When I talk instead of type, my thoughts emerge more completely and authentically. There's something about speaking that bypasses the inner critic that often freezes my writing.

Recently, I wanted to write a "letter to my younger self" to journal and reflect. Instead of staring at a blank document feeling overwhelmed, I took a walk in the garden and just started talking into VoicePal:

I spoke for about 11 minutes, sometimes just thinking quietly, sometimes with my my words rushing out. The words flowed in a way they never would have if I'd been typing. By the end, I not only worked out that I wish I explored a lot more random things, and still want to do this— I also felt emotionally lighter, like I had a really good yoga session.

For me, the biggest win with VoicePal has been how easily ideas just flow when I'm talking. It's like my inner editor takes a little nap, and I can just ramble out whatever's on my mind. This has been a game-changer for journaling, brainstorming newsletter topics, and even just figuring out what I actually think about something.

The Gentle Nudge of the Record Button 🎯

Okay, this might sound a little weird, but there's this subtle pressure when you hit record to actually keep talking. Unlike typing, where I might stare at the cursor for minutes, the awareness that silence is being recorded encourages me to keep talking. It's different from typing, where you can easily pause and stare at what you have already written, hesitating and even editting (guilty!). With VoicePal, that little timer ticking down feels like it's prodding me to keep going, which is actually super helpful for overcoming that initial hesitation of 'what am I saying, is it nonsense'?

Because you're talking instead of typing, you naturally give way more context. It's like you're telling a story to a friend. This is HUGE for me because sometimes I self-censor too much, and when typing them, I stop, half the nuance is gone, but I don't know how to phrase. With VoicePal, I can just talk it all out and capture the full picture before those precious details fade away. Ramble a ton and let the AI sort it for me.

AI That Cleans Up Your Rambles ✨

TLDR: VoicePal doesn't just transcribe—it thoughtfully refines what you've said.

So when I'm just brainstorming, my thoughts can be a bit… all over the place. Lots of "umms," "likes," and half-finished sentences. But VoicePal has this automated AI transcript feature that cleans all that up without making it sound like a robot wrote it. They save your voice recording, and have the original transcript, but you are shown the polished AI-transcript.

• ✅ It magically removes all those filler sounds that sneak into my speech.

• ✅ It tidies up my sentences so my rambling actually makes sense.

• 🤔 It mostly keeps my authentic voice. The summaries are still a bit too clean (words I won't use) but they don't change the meaning of each sentence and keeps it in order.

((Screenshot: Side-by-side view in the VoicePal app showing the original messy transcription next to the AI-enhanced, polished version))

Interview-Style Prompts to keep that momentum

After you finish recording, VoicePal suggests follow-up questions based on what you've said, which is perfect for those moments when you're not sure where to take your thoughts next. Sometimes they're a little generic, but other times they've actually sparked completely new ideas and helped me keep talking. What this does is getting me to just talk more, and the more I talk, the more I understand my own opinions. It is puzzling out your own thoughts, by giving them voice and making them real.

((Sonke Ahrens - Writing is thinking Quote))

VoicePal also provide a bunch of 'topics you can talk about' that I treat as journalling prompts. This feature has been a game-changer for my journalling.

For example, after I rambled about my initial thoughts on 'How scientific thinking affects our strong belief in there always being a solution + examples of the science we know today being biased', it asked me, "How do you think the influence of historical thinkers shapes our current understanding of knowledge and science?" That simple question was missing that I did already speak about this, but it did prompt me to come up with more examples, and from there, I worked out a bunch of things to possibly write about. I find that I tend to go off on tangents unrelated to the question anyways.

The main value here is that, talking to VoicePal can feel like chatting to a friend or being interviewed, so you feel that push to keep talking, the explanations so they can understand pours out and it is way less stressful than trying to type it all out perfectly from the start.

That is the single most important thing for a content creator. To get your ideas out of your head, and make them concrete. The crappy first draft, 750 words morning pages and even nanowrimo's 50000 words, the key here is 'get a lot of content out, and then edit after you are done making something to work on'.

LLMs Love Context (and So Do I!) 🤖

As someone who's deep into the world of AI, I've been playing around with feeding my VoicePal transcripts into Gemini & Claude. And let me tell you, they love all that extra context you naturally provide when speaking. It makes the AI's responses and outputs so much richer and more aligned with what I was actually thinking. It's like giving the AI a super detailed prompt without even trying!

((TODO a post comparing with and without properly giving system prompt to AI))

Speed! Lazy Content Creation 💨

Talking is just way faster than typing for most of us. VoicePal has definitely sped up my content creation process, especially in the initial idea-drafting phase. It's like I can get all my content points out in minutes just by talking through my thoughts.

Then into AI for summaries, and I am already drafting out a new post. I may be able to do twice weekly blog posts at this rate.

More on my workflow with this later.

Why This Works (The Brainy Stuff 🧠)

You know how sometimes it feels like your thoughts are just racing, and your fingers can't keep up? Well, there's actually some cool neuroscience behind why speaking can unlock creativity and idea generation!

Speaking often engages different parts of your brain than writing. It can feel more natural and less constrained, allowing for a more fluid flow of ideas. Think about it – when you're talking to a friend, you're not constantly editing yourself in the same way you might when you're writing. This "talk flow" can bypass that inner critic and help you tap into your subconscious thoughts more easily. Plus, the act of hearing your own voice can sometimes spark new connections and insights that you might not have had otherwise. It's like having a conversation with yourself, but with the added benefit of AI to help you organize those thoughts later!

Where It Made Me Go "Hmm..." 🤔

No Mac Love? Seriously? 💻➡️📱💔

The inability to sync between my iPhone and my Mac is a real bummer. I do a lot of my content creation on my laptop, and having to manually transfer notes is just not ideal. It breaks my flow and adds an extra step that I am just not going to do.

The Export Process is a Big Yikes 🙅‍♀️

As someone who lives in Obsidian for knowledge management, this is my biggest frustration. Why, oh why, can't I just easily export all my precious voice notes into my own personal knowledge management system?

Right now, you can export each note individually, which feels super clunky. This is exactly the kind of tedious task that my brain rebels against—especially when I've created multiple recordings in a day.

And the fact that there's no easy syncing or way to export all the notes? Red Flag 🏴‍☠️. I really believe in owning my notes, and the thought of them being stuck in an app makes me a little anxious, not gonna lie. 😬

((Graphic: Illustration showing the current multi-step export process vs. an ideal one-click export to Obsidian))

Little Annoyances That Add Up 🤏

It's the little things, you know?

• The waveform visualization are these fat dots that don't always react to my voice (is this a glitch or bad design?), so I'm left wondering if it's actually recording my brilliant thoughts. 😅 Stress.

• The record button feels surprisingly tiny for an app whose main selling point is recording.

• And honestly, why is there even a text option for creating content? I have like a million other apps for typing! This app's superpower is voice! They should really put the record button front and center and maybe ditch the text option altogether for now to keep things focused.

That Subscription Price Tag 💸

Let's talk about the elephant in the digital room: the price. At over $129.98 per year, VoicePal isn't exactly cheap. As a content creator who's trying to be mindful of my expenses, that price point makes me pause. There are so many apps demanding subscriptions nowadays, that I just outright reject.

While I see the value for thinking, it might be a barrier for a lot of folks. This feels pretty steep for a voice note-taking app that is iOS only and has very easily replicable features.

And honestly, the "locked in at this price for life" thing they put there, feels a bit off when it's already quite expensive. Honestly, if the cost is due to the AI processing, I'd almost prefer the option to connect my own AI subscription.

A one-time purchase option would be much more appealing for those of us who are trying to minimize recurring expenses.

How I Want My AI-Powered Notetaker to Work for Me 🧠✨

So, how could a tool like this really become my daily sidekick? Let me paint you a picture of my ideal scenario:

Journaling & Life Organization 💖

This is where I see an AI notetaker fitting into my personal routines and helping me stay grounded.

• ☀️ Morning Brain Dumps & Intention Setting: Starting the day by speaking my thoughts and intentions helps me get focused and clear my head.

• 🚶‍♀️ Walk & Talk Therapy: My walks are like my thinking time, and I'd LOVE to just chat with my AI and capture all those brilliant.

• ✅ Turning Thoughts into Actionable Plans: If this thing could just magically turn my morning voice notes into a structured to-do list that actually gets things done, that would be EPIC!

• 🌙 Evening Download & Level Up!: At the end of the day, I need a space to just talk about what happened, the good, the bad, the "OMG" moments, and what I learned, to helps me process everything and clear my mind.

The morning and night recordings would be substituting the Stoic app, using this note-taker. I think it would be good for adding personal context to my content if I had the notes in the same app.

Day to day usage that is not tied to time 🚀

These are the ways I'd use an AI notetaker whenever inspiration strikes or I need a little mental boost.

• 📱 Idea Ninja Mode! When that random spark of genius hits (usually at the most inconvenient time!), I need to be able to whip out my phone and capture it instantly!

• 🎧 Capturing Thoughts While Consuming Content: When I'm learning from courses, podcasts, or articles, I want to easily record my thoughts and connections without interrupting my flow. Having the app open (my phone is set right under my monitor) and easily pressed to insta-record is good.

• 💡 Brainstorming in a way that works for me: Sometimes you just need to move around to get the ideas flowing. Being in a different space can be very helpful. I'd go to another room to talk through ideas. This only works if you have another private space or don't mind speaking through idea drafts in front of others.

• ✍️ Overcoming Writer's Block: When I'm stuck on a piece of content, I need to be able to just talk it out.

Desired AI Features 🧠✨

These are the specific functionalities that would make this AI notetaker truly amazing for my workflow.

• 📂 Organized Personal Insights: I need a smart way to keep my personal reflections and my content ideas separate and easy to find!

• ✨ To-Do List Sorcery! The AI should be able to take my spoken thoughts and turn them into a clear and actionable to-do list.

• 💻 Desktop Recording Power (Secret Shortcut! Alfred Integration?): A reliable desktop transcription tool with a quick shortcut to start recording – maybe even integration with Alfred for super speedy capture!

• 📱 Seamless Mobile Recording & Syncing: This is non-negotiable! I need to be able to record on my phone and have it instantly sync across all my devices.

• 🧠 Customizable AI Prompts: Giving me the ability to tweak the AI's processing (prompt-crafting) to perfectly fit my needs. Whether it is transcription refining or turning that into content.

• 🦺 Local LLMs: Rather than relying on Cloud AI, for the privacy of my transcriptions, and not having to worry about the costs, I want to run my own local LLMs for this.

Note: This is my ideal AI-notetaking app usage, and more for what I would like to have from VoicePal rather than the actual app itself. I plan to code myself something to serve this purpose instead of waiting for the devs to code out syncing + customization.

The Bottom Line: Who Will Love This App? ❤️

VoicePal Shines For:

• Journal-keepers who prefer speaking to writing ✍️

• Content creators needing to capture ideas on the go 📱

• ADHD-ers that forget ideas, just as they are about to record them 💡

• People who stare at a blank page 📄

• Writers working through emotional or complex topics 📚

• Creatopreneurs who value low-friction workflows 🚀

• Researchers brainstorming complicated concepts 🎙️

You Might Be a VoicePal User If:

• You find it easier to express yourself through speaking 🗣️

• You're constantly losing brilliant ideas before you can write them down. 💭

• Your brain works faster than your fingers can type. 🚀 and there goes the train of thought.

• You're curious about how AI can enhance your creative workflow 🤖

• You value having the original audio recording as a backup 🎵 but rather have the transcript for general usage.

• You aren't tech-savvy enough to hook up your own 'memo saving' + 'speech to text' + 'ramble text cleanup script' + 'export sync functions'. Also if this just sounds exhausting, and you have the money to spend on a nice smooth solution. 🏦

The Bottom Line:

✨ Benefits

• It's amazing for turning your spoken thoughts into usable coherent text. ✨

• The gentle accountability of recording can help keep your ideas flowing. ⏱️

• The AI features are pretty helpful and solid. 🤖

• The follow-up prompts can help motivate your thinking. 💭

• Keeping the original audio is a great safety net. 🎵

Limitations

• Clunky export process that fragments your system 🔄

• No Sync for cross-platform workflows 💻

• Subscription pricing that feels steep for the functionality 💰

Don’t just take it from me 🐥

Here are a bunch of other creators that have reviewed VoicePal.

To begin with, here is the official Ali Abdaal walkthrough of the app, that covers what it actually looks like and how he uses it. A short for those of us with short attention spans.

This is another creator slowly walking through using the ‘convert to a post’ feature:

Their twitter is also really encouraging.

What's Next? My VoicePal Remix Project 🛠️

While I'm enjoying using VoicePal, that lack of seamless sync & obsidian integration is definitely something I'm still thinking about. In the next month, I'll be sharing my plans to create my personal AI-notetaking app with some key improvements:

• Using different models for generating content

• Editing the prompts that transform the original transcription

• Testing various speech-to-text models to find the optimal one

• Fixing the speaking indicator (this is essential!)

• Creating seamless mass export / sync to Obsidian

• Developing a desktop version for cross-platform use

This will be more of a hobby project, and I am sure it is not easy to rig up a proper solution that doesn't involve running shell commands, but I will do my best to share a breakdown of what the process involves.

I did still enjoy using VoicePal and would recommend supporting this app if content-creation or journaling is a major part of your life right now. According to their twitter, they are releasing a laptop-compatible browser version:

If you're curious to try VoicePal out for yourself and see if it clicks for you, they have a 24 hours free trial (a bit short, I know). Here is a referral link that'll get you a 10% discount, VoicePal.

I plan to try out a few other AI note-taking assistants in the future like @auri_ai that posted on the VoicePal twitter feed 😅. I'd love to hear from you! Have you tried other AI notetaking tools for your writing or journalling? What are your biggest frustrations or favorite features? Let's chat in the comments below! 👇

~ Pamela Wang ✨

Edit: Here is Part 2 🎉