Straight answers about recording meetings
One question per page, answered in the first paragraph, with the source underneath. No preamble.
Can I use my own OpenAI API key instead of a subscription?
Narada has five AI routes and only one is a subscription. What each costs, worked through with measured token counts, and what your own key does not buy you.
Can QuickTime record system audio? No — here's why, and what to use
QuickTime's audio recorder offers one input: a microphone. Apple's own docs, quoted, plus the two routes that do capture the sound your Mac is playing.
Do AI meeting notes work offline on a Mac?
Offline transcription on a Mac is common now. An offline summary is rare, because it needs a local language model. Which Mac apps ship one, and what it costs.
How do I record a meeting without a bot joining the call?
Bot-free meeting recording means recording your own computer's audio instead of inviting an assistant into the call. Here is what that requires and what it costs.
Is it legal to record a meeting?
One-party or all-party consent, notice versus consent, and why the answer depends on where every participant is sitting. An explainer, not legal advice.
Which meeting notes apps keep the audio, and which delete it
Granola, Jamie and Fireflies' bot-free mode keep no audio at all. Who leaves you a playable file, quoted from vendor docs, and where Narada writes the .m4a.
Try it on your next call
Narada records your Mac's audio and your microphone, transcribes on-device, and hands you the decisions and follow-ups. Free to use, no account, no bot in the meeting.