Note Metric vs Pocket for construction meetings and site work

Choose Note Metric for

Nothing extra to carry or charge
Walk-rounds with photos
Minutes in the construction layout

Choose Pocket for

Phone calls on the same phone
Records on its own, offline too
Android phones

Site meetings, walk-rounds and inspections Note MetricA day of phone calls and short conversations Pocket

The short answer

Pocket is a small recorder that clips to the back of a phone and records conversations and phone calls, with transcripts, summaries and mind maps in its app. It suits people who record a lot of calls and short conversations. Note Metric uses the iPhone or iPad you already carry, writes minutes in the standard construction layout, has Survey mode for walk-rounds with photos, and keeps its server in the EU.

Side by side

WhatNote MetricPocket

Meetings round the tableYes: On your phoneYes: On the recorder

Phone calls on the same phoneNo: Import the iPhone's own call recordingYes: Contact microphone

Records without using your phoneNo: Your phone is the recorderYes: Records on its own, offline too

Nothing extra to carry or chargeYes: The phone you already haveNo: A recorder on the back of the phone

Site walk-rounds with photosYes: Survey modeNo: Audio only, no camera

Minutes in the construction layoutYes: Action Lead, RAG, Action DueIn part: Many summary styles

Android appNo: iPhone, iPad and the browserYes: iOS and Android

Server in the EUYes: Helsinki, FinlandNo: On the device or US servers

Yes: Yes In part: In part No: No From each company's own pages, on the date above.

Where Note Metric performs better

Walk-rounds with photos. Survey mode ties each photo to the item you named and where you stood, adds sizes from Measure (beta), and drafts the report.
Minutes you can issue. A progress meeting comes out in the layout the industry uses, with an owner and a date only where they were said.
Online calls in the same place. Teams, Meet and Zoom calls and the meetings in the room end up in one list with one search.
Nothing extra to carry or charge. The phone you take to site is the recorder.

What a walk-round report needs

5 of 5

Note MetricSurvey mode

1 of 5and 1 in part

PocketAn audio recording

What you say, item by itemYes: Say "item 4" and it is flaggedYes: Recorded as audio
A photo with each itemYes: Each photo lands against its itemNo: Taken separately on the phone
Where each photo was takenYes: When location is allowedNo: Not recorded
SizesYes: Measure (beta)No: Not measured
A draft reportYes: PDF, plain Word file or Report MetricIn part: A summary of what was said

What comes out: a progress meeting in Note Metric Made-up sample

6. Programme

Item	Minute	Action Lead	RAG	Action Due
6.1	Level 3 slab pour moved to Thursday; pump and gang confirmed.	Site manager	G	Thu 20 Nov
6.2	East elevation brackets still awaited. Supplier to confirm the delivery date in writing.	Package manager	A	Tue 18 Nov
6.3	Crane thorough examination certificate runs out on Friday. Examination booked before the next lift.	Site manager	R	Fri 14 Nov

Tap any line and it plays the moment it was said.

Where Pocket is the better choice

Phone calls. If much of your work is on the phone, Pocket's contact microphone records calls, which no app on the same iPhone can do.
Your team uses Android phones. Pocket works with iOS and Android. Note Metric runs on iPhone, iPad and in the browser on a computer.

Where the recording goes

Each step is from the company's own privacy, security or help pages, listed under Sources.

Note Metric

Your phone or browserThe original recording stays here
Our server, Helsinki (EU)No audio kept once the transcript is made, unless you keep a copy
AI providers named in our privacy policySome may process data outside the UK and EU, including the US

Pocket

Pocket recorder64 GB on board, records offline
Pocket app on your phoneSyncs when connected
Pocket's servers, United StatesOr kept on the device

The detail

	Note Metric	Pocket
What you carry	Your iPhone or iPad	A Pocket recorder on the back of your phone, and the Pocket app
Phone calls	No app can record a call made on the same iPhone; use the iPhone's own call recording and bring it into Note Metric	Records calls through a contact microphone on the back of the phone
Site walk-rounds	Survey mode: items flagged as you speak, photos that keep their place, Measure (beta), a draft report	Audio only: the recorder has no camera
Minutes	The standard construction layout: numbered items, Action Lead, RAG and Action Due	Summaries, action items and mind maps, in many summary styles
Where the data is kept	Our server is in Helsinki, Finland, and the original recording stays on your phone unless you keep a server copy. Some of the AI providers may process data outside the UK and EU, including in the US	On the device or on Pocket's servers in the US

How we compared

We make Note Metric, so read this with that in mind. Pocket's features are from heypocket.com on the date above. They change, so check them before you choose. Pocket is a trademark of its owner, and we have no connection with it.

Questions

Is it legal to record phone calls with Pocket in the UK?

Recording your own calls is generally allowed, but data protection law expects you to tell the other person, especially in work. Our guide to recording meetings at work in the UK covers what the ICO expects. This is general information, not legal advice.

Can I use Pocket and Note Metric together?

Yes. Note Metric can import a recording, so a call or conversation recorded elsewhere can be brought in, transcribed and turned into minutes with your other meetings.

Which suits a site manager?

If your day is site meetings, walk-rounds and inspections, Note Metric is built for that. If your day is mostly phone calls with short conversations in between, Pocket's call recording may matter more.

Sources

Pocket, product and specifications: device features, calls, battery and where data is stored
Pocket, data security: encryption and data handling
Note Metric, support: phone calls and importing recordings
Note Metric: Survey mode, Measure and the minutes layout

Our summaries of these documents are not their wording: read the source before relying on it. This guide is general information, not legal advice for a particular case. Note Metric and AI Metric Ltd are not affiliated with or endorsed by any body named here.

About the author

Chris M, Director of AI Metric Ltd, has spent more than twenty years in Tier 1 construction delivery, working across commercial, procurement, design and engineering teams as well as operations. He builds Note Metric for the meetings and walk-rounds he has run himself. More about Chris.

Record it once. Get the minutes.

Note Metric records meetings in the room, on Teams, Meet or Zoom, and site walk-rounds, then writes the minutes, actions and survey draft for you. Every line plays back the moment it was said. Try it on your next progress meeting.