If you want to record your iPhone or iPad screen, the process is simple -- whether you're nearing the rewarding conclusion to your favorite Apple Arcade game and you want to document it, or you're trying to walk a loved one through how to set up their new phone.
Of course, you can still take screenshots and use its tools to draw and annotate something on your screen, but there are times when a recording -- complete with audio -- is the better route. You'll need to have iOS 11 or a later update installed on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, but that's the only requirement.
Before you can begin using the screen recorder tool, you'll first need to add the feature's button to the Control Center. On your iOS device go to Settings > Control Center > Customize Controls then tap the green plus button next to Screen Recording.
The Screen Recorder button will show a countdown (here it shows "2") after it's selected, allowing you to go to the app or screen you want to record.
Jason Cipriani/CNETRecord your screen
After adding the shortcut, you begin by opening Control Center. On iPhones older than the iPhone X ($269 at Amazon), get there by swiping up from the bottom of the screen. On newer iPhones, swipe down from the top-right corner of the screen.
Tap on the Screen Recording button, which will prompt a countdown inside the button followed by it turning red to indicate to begin capturing whatever's on your display.
You'll know when your screen is being recorded because there will either be a red bar across the top of your screen (on older iPhones) or the time will have a red highlight behind it (on newer iPhones). Tap on the red button or bar to stop recording.
With a long-press, you can opt to turn on audio recording so you can narrate your video.
Jason Cipriani/CNETSpice up a recording with audio
What if you want to walk someone through how to use a feature or get past a bug you keep running into? Well, you can turn on your phone's microphone and have it record for as long as a screen-recording session is active.
To turn it on, open the Control Center and long-press on the Screen Recording button. A new menu will show up, with a toggle to turn your microphone on at the bottom. Tap on the Microphone Audio button, it will turn red and then select Start Recording.
The Screen Recording button turns red when your screen is being captured.
Jason Cipriani/CNETOK, I made a recording... now what?
Once you stop recording, you'll be asked if you want to save the video to the Photos app. Open the Photos app to view, edit, crop, and share the video through Messages, email, or even post it to your favorite social network.
Apple delivered the ability to record your screen in iOS 11 a few years ago, but iOS 15 brought even more additions. We'll show you how to clean up your FaceTime video. And check out how to get a burner email address from Apple.
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Screen Recording is a useful tool for any time you need to capture something on your iPhone, either to share with others or to review later. iOS has a simple tool for screen recording built right in, and we'll show you how to use it to make sure you're capturing the sounds you want and nothing else.
How to Screen Record with Sound on Your iPhone
Any iPhone that can run at least iOS 11 (an iPhone 5S or later) can use the built-in Screen Recording feature, but depending on your usual iPhone settings, you might discover that it isn't recording any sounds. We'll show you how to easily capture the audio you want, whether internal sounds from the iPhone program you're recording or external sounds from your microphone like your own voice. The first step to getting started with screen recording is to make sure the tool has been added to your Control Center, so we'll start there. For more help with capturing things on your phone, check out our guide on taking screenshots, and be sure to sign up for our free Tip of the Day newsletter for other easy-to-follow guides on your iPhone's features.
How to Add Screen Record iPhone Control Center
This article focuses on how to screen record with sound on an iPhone, but let’s quickly recap how to record your iPhone screen. To record your iPhone screen, you need to add Screen Recording to the Control Center. To add Screen Recording to the Control Center:
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap Control Center.
- Tap the green plus sign next to Screen Recording.
Now you can record your screen; however, by default, your iPhone will record the screen without any external sounds. If you want your iPhone to also record sound during the screen capture, use the how-to below to capture both your iPhone’s screen and audio.
How to Screen Record with Audio on Your iPhone & Turn Voice Recording & App Sounds Recording On & Off
Let's answer the question, "How do I record my iPhone screen with sound?" In this section, we’ll summarize how to record (or not) your voice along with your iPhone’s native sounds. This is a very important part of recording your screen with sound, because we need to clarify what you mean by sound.
- If you want to record your voice while screen recording on your iPhone, you want the Microphone turned on (*Note* this will also record in-app sounds).
- If you only want to record the sounds of an app, you want the Microphone turned off, but your iPhone’s ringer turned on.
- If you turn the Microphone off and have your ringer off (silent), the screen recording will be silent.
To turn your microphone off and on for the app you want to record, open your Settings app, tap Privacy, tap Microphone, and toggle on any app you'd like voiceover capability for while screen recording. Toggle off the app if you don't want voiceover or ambient noise recorded along with your screen recording. You can change your microphone settings from screen recording to screen recording as desired.
How to Screen Record with Audio on Your iPhone
Now let’s get into the nitty-gritty. To record ambient sound, like your own voice, during a screen recording, follow these steps:
- Open the app you'd like to record in and begin the activity or media you'd like to record.
- Open the Control Center by swiping down from the upper-right corner of your screen.
- Long press the Screen Record icon.
- Select the app you want to send the recording to (leave on the default selection of Photo if you just want to save it for later use), and then tap the Microphone icon where it says Microphone Off at the bottom of the screen.
- The icon will turn red and change to say Microphone On. Tap Start Recording.
- Your iPhone will record the screen as well as the internal audio, your voice, and any other ambient audio. You'll have to close the Control Center to reveal the app that's being recorded, or the only recording you'll get will be of the screen recording controls.
- The clock in your app will have a red background, indicating sound is being recorded, and you'll see an orange dot in the upper-right corner, indicating the app is using the microphone.
- When ready to stop recording, tap the clock at the upper left of the screen.
- Tap Stop to end the screen recording; the recording will be saved to the location you selected earlier.
At this point, the video will be saved or the broadcast will end. If you selected Photos at the beginning of the process, you can find the new video in your Photos app, just like a new video recorded from the iPhone camera.
How to Screen Record with Sound from Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, or YouTube
How do you screen record in Apple Music? Well, you can't use the screen record feature with this service. When you begin Screen Recording, if Apple Music is playing, then the sound will stop until you cancel the recording. There used to be a workaround for this, but Apple has since fixed that bug. Basically, to keep a song forever, you'll have to pay the licensing fees and buy it.
It's worth noting that some third-party apps, such as Spotify and YouTube do not allow you to screen record in the free version, but in the premium version, you can screen record. You can also screen record content from Amazon Prime Video. While you can technically record songs and video content this way, the legality of doing so is a bit gray. Most likely, other third-party apps will eventually build the same protections as Apple Music to prevent screen recordings of licensed content. Even so, it's fun to play around to see what you can record on your iPhone as long as you know that some licensed materials might push the mute button as soon as you hit record. You might also be interested in learning different methods to screen share between your Mac, iPad and iPhone.
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