How to be more organised by using the AroundSound Audio App [ad]

AD: This is a sponsored post.

A few months ago I was asked to product test a new audio app, Aroundsound – and I immediately said yes. They asked me to be a part of the test in my capacity as a mother who lives far away from my family but after using it for a bit I soon saw the massive potential it has to use it in many other different ways. One of the best was how I could be more organised by using the Aroundsound audio app.

Hands up, how many of you have made resolutions related to organisation and planning? And hands up how many of you do this every year and then forget about it by the end of April? Me! Well, this year I’m determined to stick to my resolutions to be more organised, less forgetful, and to procrastinate less! (Also, I aim to say, “Yes” more when invited out instead of being a hermit!) Well, the Aroundsound app is a really great way of making resolutions and having a reminder to stick to them.

What is Aroundsound about?

The Aroundsound app is a Free sound recording app. It has many features, but the main one that I was testing was from the perspective of creating a collection of voice recordings that I could then share with my family. For example, I can share the collection with my mom and she can then listen to them whenever she wants, as many times as she wants without losing them in the stream of a chat. The collection then builds up over time.

What kind of Audio Recordings can you make?

The sound recordings and voice notes can be anything really, it’s yours to use as you like. Initially, the ideas that I had of how to use Aroundsound were things like:

• funny conversations between the girls and I
• the children telling us about their special day at school (i.e. a nativity play, or sporting event).
• a recording of them singing a new song they learnt at school.
• reading out that letter my eldest wrote to her headmistress, and the reply she received too.

Other ways you can use Aroundsound

I’m not going to lie, I didn’t only use it for recording how funny my kids are. The app itself was really great so I used it in a number of other ways. I can also see the potential for how it would be useful to others too. Here are a few of the ways I use aroundsound:

• Recording my podcast intros (the quality is really good!)
• When I have inspiration for a blog post but am not somewhere that I can write it down or type it up, I make a voice recording to playback later.
• Keeping voice notes on the progress of work with my editing and blogging clients.
• Recording a reminder To-Do list, because I have a horrible short-term memory! (Or as I like to call it – Mom Brain!)

You could also use Aroundsound Audio App in the following ways:

• Making an audio recording of a meeting or lecture.
• Recording your thoughts on topics that you need to remember, such as new year resolutions!
• Creating a collection of updates and messages that you share with your client or business partner where you need to continually update each other on progress matters without losing those recordings.

Check out this list of 10 reasons to record audio sound from the Aroundsound team themselves.

Making a recording with Aroundsound

The Aroundsound audio app is really easy to use. The record button is right there as soon as you open the app which makes it quick and easy to record in the moment. You can then go back into the app when you’re ready and organise your recordings into the appropriate collections and add titles. Here are a few other ways you can organise and layout your recordings:

• Make the recording
• Give it a specific title/rename it.
• Create pins at interesting points of the audio recording and add details about each pin such as to why it’s important.
• You can add notes to each recording e.g. date, time, what was going on, anything important you want to remember.
• You can trim the recording if you needed to.
• Add a location so you know where the recording was made.
• Move the recording into the appropriate Collection.
• Share the audio recording via other messenger apps on your phone.

Managing Your Audio Collections with Aroundsound

Each collection has a range of features too:

• You can add a title to each collection.
• You can add sound recordings to the collection either from the main recordings list or from inside the collection folder itself.
• Share the collection by sending it via a link using other messaging services, without them having to already have the app. ie. emails, WhatsApp etc.

Another great thing about aroundsound is that it is accessible on your computer too. You simply go onto their website www.aroundsound.com and it syncs with your app so all your recordings and collections are on your desktop too. You can even download your audio clip to your computer. It’s really simple.

Holiday voice note Audio Cards by Aroundsound

This post has been updated twice to reflect the Christmas Audio Cards and the New Year Audio Cards from Aroundsound.

Using the triggers set by Aroundsound, you can send holiday themed cards to your loved ones using the app. These are a great way to cut down on paper and be more sustainable over the holiday season. You can you now use the Aroundsound audio app to send a Christmas or Happy New Year message to your loved ones, friends, work colleagues and clients! It’s simple really. You just download the Free Aroundsound app, record your message, and then share it s on any of the email or messaging apps you already use i.e. Whatsapp, Messenger, etc. Here are the step by step instructions:

1. Download the Free Aroundsound app here. (Suitable for iOS and android).
2. Record the voice message.
3. Rename the voice recording and make sure the title includes any of the following hashtags: #NewYear #HappyNewYear or #HappyNewYear2020
4. Share it using the share button and it will open the window to choose how you want to send the message. Select whichever you use.
5. Send … it’s that easy.

The recipient will then receive the message with a link. When they click on the link it will open with the New Year-themed image and they can then listen to the voice recording.

How easy is that? You don’t need the aroundsound app to receive messages, however, you will need it to send the New Year-themed audio message.

I would recommend that you send the link to an email address as well as sending it to your friends and family on their phone messaging app because once they have downloaded the app to send their own messages they won’t be able to get the holiday frame. By default, it will then open that sound in the app. However, the link sent via email will be available to listen to with the frame on their laptop or desktop computer. This is still in the development stage by the app developers and they hope to be able to fix this.

New Years Aroundsound card triggers: #NewYear, #HappyNewYear or #HappyNewYear2020

Ideas of the different types of Happy New Year audio message you can send:

• Happy New Year message to your family and friends
• Record a motivational quote that you know will mean something to someone in particular.
• Send a message reminding someone that you do believe in them and that this will be their year!
• Get the kids to record a Happy New Year message for each of their grandparents.
• Record your own Happy New Year Resolutions and send them to someone who will kindly remind you of these throughout the year. (I’m going to do this and add them to my sidebar so do check it out in the New Year!

I’m sure you can come up with loads more than that. Please do share your ideas with me!

Christmas Aroundsound card triggers: #xmas #Christmas or #holidays.

Living away from your family is always hard, but never more so than at Christmas time for me. Not just because I miss my family, but it’s also really stressful and expensive too. I want to send gifts and cards to all my loved ones, but they live really far away, like on another continent, in the other hemisphere! Then there’s also the whole problem of will the cards even get there in time, and how what’s the environmental impact of sending that piece of paper on an aeroplane 7850 miles across the world. Well, I have found a solution with a difference. Aroundsound have come up with the option to send an audio card this Christmas! Instead of sending an electronic card, you can send an audio card this Christmas using Aroundsound. Basically, when your loved one clicks on the link they are sent, it opens with a festive-themed card.

Here are some ideas of the type of Christmas messages you can send your loved ones:

• The kids can sing a Christmas Carol that you can then share with all the family.
• Send a Christmas joke as an audio card.
• Send a family audio card where you all say one line of a message with a great big “Merry Christmas” at the end.

I’m hoping that Aroundsound will bring out more holiday theme audio cards going forward too. When they do, be sure to check back here and I will update this post with the relevant hashtags to trigger the audio card theme. These Happy New Year Audio Messages are not only really personable, but they are a really great sustainable and eco-friendly way to send a card.

Please let me know if you use Aroundsound Audio App, and how you use it.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post, but the thoughts and opinions are my own.