One of our more frequent requests from readers is to tell them how to record your screen on Android. The functionality has been around for quite some time but usually requires some tinkering and adjustment to get it. In Android Lollipop, they have a screen recording method building into the OS and that’s how most people do it these days. Let’s take a look at a few Android apps and some other methods to get you screen recording. Please note, changes to Android Pie prohibit apps from recording internal sound so your videos most likely won’t have the sounds of anything you do. It’s unfortunate, but it’s Google’s fault.
AZ Screen Recorder
Price: Free / $2.99
AZ Screen Recorder is the gold standard for screen recorder apps. It’s light, easy, accessible, and cheap. It features an overlay button that doesn’t interfere with the recorded content. In addition, you can add a front-facing camera for things like game streams or commentary. It even has a small video editor built-in. That way, you can shave away the parts that don’t matter. Of course, it doesn’t require root, has no watermarks, no time limits, and more. The pro version goes for $2.99. It’s probably the best and most popular screen recorder available.
InShot Screen Recorder
Price: Free / $3.99 per month / $16.99 per year
InShot is a pretty popular developer on Google Play when it comes to video tools. Its screen recorder app is among the most popular. It works for basically any task from recording tutorial videos to recording video games. The app also features internal audio recording, a lightweight video editor to clean stuff up, and it doesn’t have a watermark.
It works pretty well for what it does. Native Android has a screen recorder now, but this one adds a little extra that the internal screen recorder doesn’t have. There is a subscription service for some of the features, but otherwise, it’s good.
Link to Windows
Price: Free
Link to Windows is a native tool on Windows PCs that works with Android. It has a lot of functions, including sending and receiving texts on your PC, checking out your gallery, and even answering phone calls. However, it also lets you mirror your Android phone to your computer. From there, you can use your PC to capture your phone screen instead of needing to do it natively. It’s not the most elegant solution, but it works pretty well.
Twitch and similar apps
Price: Free
Many streaming services now include mobile support. Twitch and YouTube Gaming are two of the most prominent ones. You simply stream your gameplay like normal. Both services allow you to download your footage after you’re done. It’s a good solution for gamers especially. In fact, it’s probably better than Google Play Games for this kind of stuff. Unlike Google Play Games, it’s kind of difficult to use this one for apps or anything other than gaming. At least these services are free.
Vysor and similar apps
Price: Free with ads / $2/month / $10/year / $40/lifetime
Vysor is a fun little app that allows you to cast your device to your computer screen over USB. From there, you can use it on your computer or screen record it on your PC if you’d like to. It tends to work pretty well although you will need to fork out a little bit of money in order to get HD quality. This app doesn’t record anything on its own so don’t expect any options to do so. You’ll have to record it on your computer on your own. If this app isn’t cutting it for you, TeamViewer is another decent option in this space. You do need a screen recording app on your computer in order to capture footage, though.
Just use your phone
Price: Free
Joe Hindy / Android Authority
Android natively supports screen recording and has for a few years. You can usually find it among the quick settings toggles. Simply hit the toggle and the phone begins screen recording. This is a good option for simple things. There is no additional software to get in the way and you can send the video wherever you need it once it’s done.
In the future, we think most people will just use this solution anyway so we wanted to add it to the list. You don’t need an app so we don’t have a Google Play button. We do have a tutorial you can read if you need more help.
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Other methods for screen recording
There are other ways to record your screen on Android and that is by using hardware. There are two main ways to do so using hardware:
- Professionals often use a capture card to hook their Android device right into their computer and record it from there. Capture cards can get rather expensive but you’ll get probably the best frame rates and quality. Plus it records directly to your computer hard drive which allows for much larger recordings. Earlier models had to work around some potential HDCP problems, but modern capture cards don’t have that problem.
- There are other apps like Vysor on the Google Chrome app store. The basic idea is to connect your phone to your computer. It then mirrors the screen directly to your computer. From there, you just have to figure out how to record it yourself. It’s not the easiest method by any stretch. Each app also has a different setup. However, it is an option.
- Some Chromebooks now include the ability to mirror your Android device directly to it. This, of course, requires buying a Chromebook. That’s an unreasonable expenditure for what should be a relatively simple task. However, we do try to cover all of the bases here and this is definitely an option. You still need an app to record your Chromecast screen, though.
Thank you for reading! Try these out too:
If we missed any great methods of screen recording on Android, tell us about them in the comments! You can also click here to check out our latest Android app and game lists!
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