Snag Capture
Every capture is kept in your Snag account on the iPhone, and also goes to your default destination if you have connected one. Capture is free. See Your Snag account and Destinations.
The capture card
The card at the top of the Capture tab. The field reads "Type it, or tap the mic".
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Field | Type a note. Up to 10 lines show; it scrolls past that. |
| Mic | "Start talking". Shown while the card is empty. |
| Send | Replaces the mic once there is text or a photo. With Task on it reads "Add the task". |
| Photo | A menu: Photo library, Take a photo (where the iPhone has a camera), Choose a file. |
| Task | Turns the card into a task (below). Not offered over a recording or with photos attached. |
| Send to chip | Shown once you have connected something. Picks where this one capture goes (below). |
A quiet line under the card says what happened, for example "Snagged. Sent to Obsidian.", then fades.
Talking in the card
- Tap the mic. The card shows a live bar and "Listening, 0:05" with your words as you speak.
- Then either:
- Tap stop ("Stop and keep it"). The words become editable in the card. Edit them, then tap Send, or tap the bin ("Scrap the recording") to drop it.
- Tap Send now to stop and send what was heard, with no edit.
In the card Snag stays silent: no tones and nothing spoken. Silence never stops a recording here. After 8 seconds with nothing heard the card shows "I can't hear you." and keeps listening. A recording stops by itself at 30 minutes.
If you leave Snag while editing a stopped recording, what is there is sent.
Photos and files
| Rule | Value |
|---|---|
| Files per capture | 10 |
| Size per file | 10 MB |
| Types | Photos (PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP, HEIC) and PDFs |
| Conversion | HEIC and other formats, and images over 10 MB, are turned into JPEG with the longest edge at 2560 pixels |
Photos, PDFs and text can also be dragged into the card from another app. Text joins the field; images and PDFs become attachments. Tap the cross on a thumbnail to remove it.
Messages: "At most 10 files in one note.", "<name> is larger than 10 MB.", "<name> can't be attached. Photos (PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP, HEIC) and PDFs only.", "<name> couldn't be read."
A destination that does not take attachments gets the text only. Your Snag account keeps the files.
Tasks
- Tap Task.
- Type the task. The first line is its name; any further lines are its notes.
- Optional chips:
- Due date: Today, Tomorrow, Pick a date, or No due date.
- Project (List for Apple Reminders and Nextcloud): shown when the destination has projects or lists. Default uses the destination's own default. Snag remembers the last one used.
- Assign to me: shown when the destination can assign. On by default.
- Tap Add the task.
A task goes to one place only: the Send to pick or the default, if it takes tasks. A task with no name gets "Give the task a name first."
Send to
The chip on the card names where the next capture goes. Tap it to open "Send this to" ("For this capture only.").
- The list holds your connections, then "Just Snag" ("Keep it here, send nowhere").
- A connection that is signed out shows "Sign in again first" in amber.
- Use sends this one capture to the chosen place. The chip goes back to the default afterwards.
- Make default makes the choice the default for every capture.
- Add a connection closes the sheet and opens Settings.
The chip is hidden until something is connected. Your Snag account keeps every capture whatever the chip says.
Recent
Below the card, newest first, up to 30 rows. Empty, it reads "Nothing yet. Type it or tap the mic."
| Row subtitle | Dot | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| "Todoist, 08:12" | Green | Sent to that connection. Only the time shows when it stayed in your Snag account. |
| "Waiting for signal" | Amber | Queued. Sends itself when the network is back. |
| "Waiting: Todoist is off" | Amber | Held for a connection switched Off. Sends when it is switched back On. |
| "Sign in to Todoist again" | Amber | Held until that connection is signed in again. |
| "Nothing heard. Kept on this phone" | Amber | A recording with no speech. Kept, not sent. |
| "Couldn't send. Kept on this phone" (in red) | Amber | Refused by the destination. |
Swipe a row left for Delete (removes it from your Snag account and the queue) and, on any row still unsent, Retry. Times read "08:12" today, "Yesterday, 21:04", "14 Oct, 09:00" this year and "14 Oct 2025" before.
Snag tries to send for 8 seconds after each capture, then keeps trying in the background: on launch, when Snag comes to the front and when the network comes back. Each destination has its own retries. When something cannot send while Snag is in the background, a notification says "Captures are waiting: connect <name> again in Snag." or "A capture was refused. It's kept in Snag's list."
Apple Notes, Things and Email-in only receive while Snag is open. A capture for them shows "Snagged. <name> gets it when Snag is open."
Hands-free
The spoken loop, for Siri, AirPods and the car.
- A tone, then "What's on your mind?"
- Talk. A turn ends when you stop talking for the quiet time (8 seconds unless changed), or when you tap Done.
- Snag says "Snagged. Add more, or done?" and listens for 6 seconds.
- Answer:
| Say | Also accepted | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| "add more" | "more", "yes", "yeah", "go on", "carry on", "continue", "one more", "another" | "Go on." and a new turn. All turns become one capture. |
| "done" | "that's it", "no more", "nothing else", "all done", "finished", "no", "send it", "save it", "stop" | Saves and sends. Saying nothing in the 6 seconds counts as done. |
| "scrap that" | "scrap it", "delete that", "cancel that", "bin that" | "Deleted." The last turn is dropped. Snag asks again. |
| "read it back" | "read that back", "repeat that", "say it again" | Reads the last turn, then asks again. "I didn't catch any words." if it has none. |
"Scrap that" and "read it back" win over "done", which wins over "add more", so "no more" is done.
Silence
| Situation | What Snag does |
|---|---|
| 8 seconds with nothing heard | Says "I can't hear you." once and keeps listening |
| Speech, then quiet for the Stop after quiet time | Ends the turn |
| 30 seconds with nothing heard at all | Ends the turn |
| First turn had no speech | Keeps the recording unsent, says "Nothing snagged, I can't hear you." |
| A later turn had no speech | Drops it, says "Nothing heard. Add more, or done?" |
The final line
| Spoken | When |
|---|---|
| "Saved." | Sent, or kept in your Snag account |
| "Saved on the phone. I'll send it when there's signal." | No network |
| "Saved. Sign in needed, I'll keep it." | A connection needs signing in again |
| "Saved, but it was refused. It's in the list." | The destination refused it |
| "Couldn't save that recording." | It could not be stored on the phone |
| "Nothing saved." | Every turn was scrapped |
| "Snagged. Actions are back next month, or with Pro." | Free, past the month's smart captures. See Smart captures. |
The hands-free sheet
Over the app, with one state word and the last words heard.
| State | Buttons |
|---|---|
| Listening (or Paused) | Done, Add more, Scrap that |
| "Snagged." / "Add more, or done?" | Add more, Done |
| Working | None |
| Ready: "Tap Talk, or say "Hey Siri, Snag this"." | Talk |
The cross closes the sheet, but not while a capture runs. With Pro, a first turn that names one of your agents goes to Snag Control instead of becoming a capture. See Snag Control.
Settings > Voice
| Setting | Default | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Spoken prompts and readback | On | Off: hands-free and the car keep the tones but say nothing. |
| Stop after quiet | 8 s | 4 to 30 seconds. Hands-free only. |
| AI and speech | On this iPhone | Where speech and actions are processed. See Bring your own. |
| Words Snag should know | Empty | Names and words to expect, one per line. They help the live transcript. |
Settings > Switching holds Offer hands-free with headphones (on), Pull down to talk (off: when on, pull the Capture list down and let go to start talking), Run the set-up again, and Advanced.
Ways in
| Way in | What it does |
|---|---|
| "Hey Siri, Snag this" | Hands-free capture to the default. Also "Hey Siri, start a Snag" and "Hey Siri, record a note in Snag". Said again while recording, it stops and keeps. |
| "Hey Siri, stop Snag" | Stops and keeps the capture in progress. Also "Stop recording in Snag". |
| "Hey Siri, note in Snag" | Siri asks "What's the note?" and sends the text, no audio. Also "Add a note to Snag". |
| "Hey Siri, add a task in Snag" | Siri asks "What's the task?" and adds it where tasks go, in the project named or the last one used, assigned to you where the destination can. Also "New task in Snag". |
| "Hey Siri, ask Snag" | A question for one of your agents (Pro). See Snag Control. |
| "Get last Snag" | A Shortcuts action (below). |
| Snag this control | Lock Screen, Control Centre or the Action button: "No app needed". Records hands-free with the Live Activity up. Press again to stop and keep. |
| Ask an agent control | Opens Snag on Control, at the ask bar. |
| Waiting control | "Waiting: 3". Opens Snag at Waiting on you. |
| Snag this widget | Small Home Screen widget, "Tap to talk": opens Snag and starts talking in the card. |
| Waiting on you widget | Small: the count and the agents waiting. Opens Waiting on you. |
| Recent widget | Medium: the three latest captures with a green or amber dot, and a mic that opens Snag talking. |
| Headphones offer | See Getting started. |
All the Siri phrases also appear as App Shortcuts in the Shortcuts app and in Spotlight. They work with the phone locked. Siri reads out problems, for example "Microphone access is off. Allow it in Settings." or "Couldn't start recording. Open Snag and tap the button."
Setting up the Action button
- Open the iPhone Settings app > Action Button.
- Swipe to Controls.
- Choose Snag this.
Adding a control
- Open Control Centre and tap +, or long-press the Lock Screen and tap Customise.
- Search for Snag.
- Pick Snag this, Ask an agent or Waiting.
Widgets
The widgets show counts and short titles only, never an agent's answer. Until Snag has been opened they read "Open Snag to see your latest captures." or "Open Snag to see what's waiting".
The Live Activity
Every voice capture shows a Live Activity on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island while it runs:
- "Listening" with a timer and the last words heard, "Paused", "Snagged." with "Add more, or done?", or "Saving".
- Stop and keep: stops and sends what was recorded.
- Scrap: stops and keeps nothing.
- At the end it shows the result ("Snagged.", "Sent to Obsidian.") for 4 seconds, then goes.
Live Activities must be allowed for Snag in the iPhone Settings app. For a capture started from Siri or a control, the Live Activity is how iOS keeps the recording going.
Get last Snag
A Shortcuts action that returns the last capture as text: a title line ("Snag 18:42"), the words, then each action found as a checklist line ("- [ ] Call the garage"). Use it in a shortcut that makes a note in Apple Notes or any app with a Shortcuts action. It works with the phone locked, once the passcode has been entered since the iPhone started; the step that follows may need the passcode. With nothing captured yet it fails with "Nothing snagged yet."
Share sheet
Snag has no share-sheet extension. To send something from another app, drag it into the capture card, or copy and paste it.
See also
- Smart captures: actions pulled from what you say.
- Troubleshooting
- FAQ
Next: Your Snag account