Keep the tape. Here is how.
How to record meetings and interviews without handing a copy to anybody, what to buy, and what to stop paying for.
Your recordings are a folder you can read without us
The vault is a plain directory of FLAC and text files. Put it on iCloud, a NAS or a USB stick, and keep two machines in step with no sync server.
Now the toilet has a subscription
Casana sells a smart toilet seat for $199, then a monthly bill to keep reading your own blood pressure. The clearest picture of where the rent model ends up.
Reading Meetily's Pro tier: $120 a year, one device
Meetily is the best local meeting recorder that is not mine. What Pro costs, what it gates, and how a €69 one-time licence lands differently.
What a €69 app has to refuse
A price charged once cannot fund an endless roadmap. What yapyap will not build (no video, no team admin, no meeting bot) and what each yes would cost.
What €69 once actually buys you
The licence behind the price: every update included, two devices, a free week with no account, and what still works when the licence cannot be checked.
How journalists record interviews privately
Source protection, consent and transcription for reporters on their own budget: what to record with, what never to upload, and how to keep every copy with you.
What happens to your recordings if I disappear
yapyap is closed source and built by one person. Here is what keeps working if that person stops, and how to check the privacy claims in ten minutes.
Otter vs Granola vs yapyap: which one keeps your data safe
Three meeting tools compared on what privacy-conscious people ask: where the recording lives, whether a bot joins, and what happens if the company shuts down.
The arithmetic of selling software once
yapyap costs €69 once, every update included. What that price has to cover, why Screen Studio's one-time price collapsed, and why Rogue Amoeba's has not.
Record Microsoft Teams without a notetaker bot
Your IT team blocked the bot and the meeting still needs minutes. How to capture Teams from your own computer, and what to say to compliance.
How to record a Google Meet without a bot joining the call
Capture a Meet from your own computer, keep the guest list clean, and get the transcript locally. Six steps, plus fixes for headphones and dial-in callers.
Why your transcript puts the wrong name on the wrong line
Speaker labels are where transcription still goes wrong. Why it happens, what you can do about it in five minutes, and when to stop trusting them.
Three free voice apps, and the job each one actually wins
Handy, Verenu and Speakr are free and run on your own machine. We read their source rather than their marketing pages. Here is what each one is for.
What a meeting bot is, and why people are banning them
The extra guest called "Notetaker" is a real account with a real recording. What it does, why legal and IT teams block them, and how to get notes without one.
Do not buy the recorder. Your phone is the microphone
Clip-on AI recorders cost €120 to €200 and duplicate hardware in your pocket. How to use the phone instead, and when a separate recorder still wins.
One recording, any write-up: how lenses work
The same meeting becomes minutes, an action list, a quote sheet and a client brief without you listening to it again. Here is how, and what it costs you.
The real cost of cloud transcription over three years
A $100-a-year transcription subscription costs $300 by year three. A local app costs $25 to $250 once. The arithmetic, plus the local bill nobody prints.
Local-first transcription tools: nine compared
Nine desktop apps that transcribe on your own machine, what each costs, which profession each suits, and the three where a rival is the better buy than yapyap.
Why your meetings should never leave your computer
Uploading a recording hands a copy to a company, its subprocessors and anyone who subpoenas them. What that costs you, and how to record on your own machine.
I bought a €120 recorder that needed a subscription
A €120 AI recorder turned out to need an account and a paid plan, and the phone in my pocket already did the job. That is why yapyap exists.
yapyap records, transcribes, and summarizes on your own machine. Pay once, keep it.
Free to try. No card, no account.
Then €69, once. Yours forever, every update included.
Your recordings never leave your computer.