Phone Screen Recording with Internal Audio: Complete Guide

Published 2026-10-16 · Marion Phone Repair

Screen recording captures video of your phone screen — useful for saving game clips, creating tutorials, recording video calls (with consent), or documenting app behavior. But a screen recording without audio often misses the point. Game audio, music, app sounds, and narration are essential to many recordings. Recording internal audio (the sounds coming from apps rather than from the microphone) used to be difficult on phones, but modern versions of both iOS and Android support it natively.

Screen recording on iPhone

Basic setup

Add Screen Recording to your Control Center if it is not already there: Settings, Control Center, tap the green plus icon next to Screen Recording
Open Control Center (swipe down from the upper-right corner on Face ID iPhones, or swipe up from the bottom on Home Button iPhones)
Tap the Screen Recording button (a circle with a dot inside). A three-second countdown starts, then recording begins. The time indicator at the top of the screen turns red during recording
To stop recording, tap the red time indicator at the top and confirm, or open Control Center and tap the Screen Recording button again. The recording saves to your Photos app

Recording internal audio

Long-press (press and hold) the Screen Recording button in Control Center instead of tapping it. A menu appears
You see a Microphone toggle at the bottom. When the microphone is off, the recording captures internal audio only — the sounds from apps, games, music, and system sounds without picking up ambient noise from your surroundings
When the microphone is on, the recording captures both internal audio and external sound from the microphone simultaneously. This is useful for tutorials where you want to narrate over app sounds
Tap Start Recording after selecting your preference

iPhone audio notes

Some apps block screen recording of their audio for copyright or DRM reasons. Streaming apps (Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video, Spotify) typically produce a black screen or muted audio in screen recordings. This is an intentional restriction by those apps
Phone call audio is not captured in screen recordings on iPhone. This is a privacy protection built into iOS
FaceTime audio can be captured in screen recordings if the other person consents. The behavior may vary by iOS version

Screen recording on Android

Built-in screen recorder (Android 11 and later)

Swipe down from the top of the screen twice to open the full Quick Settings panel
Find the Screen Recorder tile. If it is not visible, tap the pencil or edit icon to add it to your Quick Settings
Tap Screen Recorder. A dialog appears with audio options

Audio options on Android

Device audio: Records only internal audio — sounds from apps, games, music, and system sounds. No microphone input. This is the cleanest option for capturing app content
Microphone: Records only external audio from the microphone. The screen recording will have your voice and ambient sounds but no app audio
Device audio and microphone: Records both simultaneously. Good for tutorials and commentary where you need app sounds plus your narration
Select your preferred option and tap Start. A countdown appears, then recording begins. A red indicator shows in the status bar during recording
To stop, pull down the notification shade and tap Stop on the screen recorder notification, or tap the red indicator

Samsung screen recorder

Samsung phones include their own screen recorder with the same audio options: No Sound, Media Sounds (internal audio), and Media Sounds and Mic
Access it from Quick Settings (swipe down, find Screen Recorder) or search for Screen Recorder in Settings
Samsung also offers a front camera overlay option — a small circular window showing your face from the front camera appears in the corner of the recording. Useful for reaction videos and tutorials

Getting good screen recordings

Before recording

Close notifications: Enable Do Not Disturb before recording to prevent notifications from popping up over your content. Notifications can show personal information and interrupt the flow of the recording
Clear the screen: Close any apps or overlays you do not want visible. Clean up your home screen if the recording starts there
Check storage: Screen recordings generate large files. A one-minute recording at 1080p is roughly 100 to 200 MB depending on screen content complexity. Ensure you have sufficient free storage
Battery: Screen recording uses significant battery and processing power. Start with adequate battery or plug in during long recordings

During recording

Move deliberately. Quick swipes and fast scrolling become hard to follow in recordings. Slow, intentional movements are easier for viewers to track
Pause briefly on important screens so viewers have time to read text or see details
If narrating, speak clearly and at a moderate pace. The microphone picks up your voice but also room echo and background noise. A quiet room produces much better audio

After recording

Trim the beginning and end. Recordings typically start with the Control Center or notification shade visible and end with you tapping to stop. Trim these from the final video in your Photos app or video editor
Review the audio. Play back the recording with headphones to verify that internal audio was captured at an appropriate level and that any narration is clear

Recording resolution and quality

iPhone records at the native screen resolution. Most modern iPhones record at 1080p or higher
Android typically defaults to the screen native resolution. Some phones allow you to choose recording quality in the screen recorder settings — lower quality produces smaller files
For sharing on social media, 720p is usually sufficient and produces much smaller files. For tutorials or documentation that people will view on larger screens, record at full resolution

Common problems

No audio in recording: Check that you selected the correct audio source before starting. On iPhone, long-press the Screen Recording button to access audio options. On Android, the audio option appears in the pre-recording dialog. Also verify that the app you are recording does not block audio capture
Audio out of sync: On older or lower-end phones, the processor may struggle to encode video and audio simultaneously, causing sync issues. Closing background apps before recording reduces processor load. Reducing recording resolution can also help
Recording stops unexpectedly: Low storage space causes recordings to stop. Incoming phone calls interrupt screen recording on most phones. Some apps actively block screen recording and may terminate the recording when opened
Poor microphone audio quality: The phone microphone picks up handling noise (your fingers tapping the screen) and room acoustics. For better narration, use a connected headset microphone or record narration separately and combine in editing

Need help with your phone?

If your phone screen recorder is not working, the audio is not capturing correctly, or you are experiencing performance issues during recording, Marion Phone Repair can diagnose software or hardware problems affecting your phone recording capabilities.