Recording your iPhone screen can come in handy when you want to share something with a friend or explain instructions for how to use an app. If you want to record your screen, you don’t need a special on-screen recorder app or software. With Screen Recording enabled for your Control Center, you can record your screen easily. If you’re wondering, “why can’t I screen record with sound?” we’ll answer that question, too. An iPhone screen recording will record in-app sounds by default (if your iPhone’s ringer is on). But you can choose to also record your voice during the screen recording. Let’s get started with how to record your iPhone’s screen with or without sound, including system sounds and external sounds.
How to record your screen
- Go to Settings > Control Center > Customize Controls, then tap
next to Screen Recording. - Swipe up from the bottom edge of any screen. On iPhone X or later or iPad with iOS 12 or later, or iPadOS, swipe down from the upper-right corner of the screen.
3. Press deeply on 
and tap Microphone. Tap Start Recording, then wait for the three-second countdown.
4. Open Control Center and tap 
. Or tap the red status bar at the top of your screen and tap Stop.
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.
Screen Recording Audio on Your iPhone: Turn Voice Recording & App Sounds Recording On & Off
Let’s answer the question of “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 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.
It’s also good to note that the Screen Recording function will remember how you set your Microphone Audio for future recordings. But you can always use the how-to below to turn the audio off if needed.
How to Record Sound when Recording Your iPhone Screen
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 Control Center: On the iPhone X and later or an iPad with iOS 12 or later, or iPadOS, swipe down from the upper-right corner of your screen. On earlier iPhone versions, swipe up from the bottom of the display.
- 3D Touch or long-press the Screen Record icon.
- Tap the app where you want your screen recording saved.
- Tap the Microphone on the lower part of the screen to record your voice.
- Tap Start Recording.
- A countdown will begin from three, when it reaches one, your iPhone will record the screen, your voice, and any other ambient audio.
- Tap Stop Recording to end the screen recording; the recording will be saved to the location you selected earlier.
How to Screen Record on Android
Screen Record on Android 11 or Higher
With Android 11 or higher, native screen record is included as an option and can be found in the quick settings area of your device.
- Go to Quick Settings (or search for) “Screen recorder”
- Tap the app to open it
- Choose your sound and video quality settings and click Done
- For your first recording, it will ask for permission to access your device, prompt you to choose your sound settings, and give you the option to Cancel or Start recording
- Press Start recording
- Hit the square stop button when you’re finished recording
- You can find your recording in your gallery or photos app
Screen Record on Older Android Devices
If you’re running an older version of Android, you may be able to screen record, but it takes some digging to find and enable. To allow screen recording, you’ll need to enable your Android device’s developer mode.
- Go to Settings, About Phone, and tap the Build Number button seven times—it will say, “You’re now a developer!”
- Return to Settings and select Advanced, Developer Options, then Feature Flags
- Toggle on settings_screenrecord_long_press
- Now you’re set up to record your screen
- Long-press the screenshot button and it’ll bring up a popup menu
- Tap Start Recording (a new popup will display)
- Tap Start Now
- To end, tap Stop
- The video will show up in your default photo gallery
Pro Tip: If you only need to take a screenshot on Android, hold the power button and the volume down button at the same time.
