Question: iOS seems to refuse to allow me to email "long" voice memos, and I'm unaware of any way to extract them from iTunes backups of my phone. How can I retrieve entire voice memos that aren't really short?

Answer: 
[This answer](https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/44914/5472) by [jmlumpkin](https://apple.stackexchange.com/users/181/jmlumpkin) is canonically correct, all existing memos sync over to a special "Voice Memos" playlist in iTunes. However, if you like to record voice memos that you will retrieve later on your computer, my suggestion would be to check out [DropVox](http://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/dropvox/). Instead of having to go through iTunes, DropVox uploads your recordings to your DropBox folder as soon as you finish recording, which for me is far more convenient than syncing and dealing with iTunes. Personally, I have completely dropped Voice Memos and now completely use DropVox for everything.

![](https://i.imgur.com/ELpX3.png) ![](https://i.imgur.com/u1Qb7.png)

Another avenue to avoid iTunes but still use the Voice Memo app is to use a software package like [PhoneView](http://www.ecamm.com/mac/phoneview/) to grab your existing memos directly from the device.
You can extract the voice memos from your iPhone back up by downloading this free application: <http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=4974>
This will allow you to read the files from your back up files. (saved my life)
The site also walks you through how to use it - it's really simple.
Once you have extracted the IOS files, go to the media folder and you will find recordings. That's where your voice memos will be!