Amlin never records on its own
Capture arms only when you take an action. There is no background listening, no always-on mode, and no way to accidentally leave it recording in the drawer. A live capture always has a visible indicator.
Ways to start
How | What it does |
● Start transcribing in an open note | Starts capture for that note |
⌃⌥N from any app | Creates a new note and starts capture |
New note + record in the menu bar | Same as ⌃⌥N |
Clicking a meeting in Coming up | Opens the note attached to that event |
↗ Join on a calendar event | Opens the meeting link and starts capture |
The pre-meeting notification (~90 seconds before) | One click opens the note and starts capture |
The "On a call?" notification | Offered when Amlin notices another app using your mic: always an offer, never automatic |
If the note is already open when a calendar event's start time passes, capture begins automatically at the scheduled time. Because you already opted in by opening the note.
While capture is running
The bar at the bottom of the note shows exactly one of these states:
Indicator | Meaning |
Connecting… | Opening the transcription connection |
≋ Listening · 12:48 | Capturing normally, with elapsed time |
Paused · 12:48 | You paused; the session is alive but nothing is being transcribed |
Reconnecting… | The connection dropped; Amlin is restoring it, and audio from the gap is replayed so nothing is lost |
Audio device changed: recovering… | You switched headphones/mic mid-call; Amlin is re-establishing capture |
Finishing transcription… | You hit Stop; the last words are being finalized |
Enhancing… | Capture is done; your notes are being written |
Pause and resume
⏸ Pause suspends transcription without ending the session: useful for a side conversation, a bathroom break, or anything you'd rather not have in the record. Press ▶ Resume to pick up where you left off. The floating recorder has the same control.
Stop
■ Stop ends capture and immediately kicks off enhancement. You can also stop from:
The floating recorder's ■ button
Stop recording in the menu bar
Quitting Amlin while a meeting is being captured shows a warning first. With Keep recording and Stop and quit. Quitting stops capture and discards any audio that hadn't been transcribed yet; everything already transcribed is saved.
When the meeting ends on its own
When every call app that was using your microphone goes quiet, Amlin stops by itself: the floating recorder shows a brief wrapping-up cue, a notification confirms it, and enhancement starts. If the room merely goes silent, Amlin only asks. You get a one-click "Wrap up & summarize" prompt instead of an automatic stop, so a live meeting is never cut off by a guess.
What doesn't stop capture
Closing the note window
Switching to another app or another desktop space
Putting Amlin in the background
In all three cases the floating recorder appears so you always know capture is running.