Record Your Screen on an iOS or Android Device
Recording on the same device a Learner uses gives the design team the truest picture of a workflow, and this article shows Subject Matter Experts, Content Developers, and Instructional Designers how to set up the built-in screen recorder on an iPhone, iPad, Android, or Samsung Galaxy device, get the device ready, and record with narration.
Why record on the device itself?
Most Skyllful Learners work on a phone or a tablet, and the Lesson they receive should look like the app in their hands. Recording on that same device is the most direct way to get there. The screen dimensions, the touch targets, the keyboard, and the way the app behaves under a real finger all come through exactly as the Learner will meet them.
The alternatives cost you fidelity. A recording made on a desktop shows a layout no Learner will see. A device screen shared into a video conference call arrives compressed, cropped, and often a frame or two behind the narration. A phone filmed with a second camera picks up glare, hand shadows, and a moving frame. Any of these can be worked with, but each one adds cleanup before the capture becomes a Screen Replica.
Both iOS and Android include a screen recorder, so nothing needs to be installed. What they do not do is turn themselves on. Both hide the control until you add it, and both start with the microphone off, which is how a recorder ends up with a perfect video and no narration.
What do you set up before your first recording?
You do this part once per device. After that the control stays where you put it.
On an iPhone or iPad
Step |
Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Open Control Center. Swipe down from the top right corner of the screen. On an iPhone with a Home button, swipe up from the bottom edge instead. |
| 2 | Touch and hold an empty area of Control Center, then tap Add a Control at the bottom of the screen. |
| 3 | Scroll to or search for Screen Recording, then tap it. The control is added to Control Center. |
| 4 | Drag the control where you want it, then tap an empty area to finish. |
| 5 | Turn the microphone on. Touch and hold the Screen Recording control until it expands, then tap the microphone so it reads Microphone On. |
Note: The microphone setting carries over to your next recording, so check it before every session rather than assuming it held. Anything you can hear in the app records along with your voice.
On an Android device
Step |
Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Open Quick Settings. Swipe down twice from the top of the screen. |
| 2 | Look for the Screen record tile. Swipe right through the tiles if you do not see it on the first panel. |
| 3 | If the tile is not there, tap the edit control, a pencil on a Pixel, then drag Screen record into the panel. |
| 4 | Return to Quick Settings. The audio source is chosen when you start a recording, not here. |
Note: Android manufacturers rename these controls and move them. Samsung differs enough to have its own sections below. On other devices, if you cannot find the tile, search Quick Settings for "record" rather than assuming your device lacks the feature.
On a Samsung Galaxy device
Samsung is the one platform where the important choices are made in advance rather than each time you record, so this setup is worth doing properly.
Step |
Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Open Settings, tap Advanced features, then tap Screenshots and screen recorder. |
| 2 | Open the screen recorder settings. Set Sound to Media and mic so your narration records along with the app audio. |
| 3 | Set Video quality to High (1080p). |
| 4 | Turn on Show taps and touches. Every tap becomes visible in the video, which tells the design team exactly where each action lands. |
| 5 | If your device offers Save screen recordings in, confirm the storage location so you know where to look afterward. |
| 6 | Add the tile. Open Quick Settings by swiping down twice, tap the plus or the edit control, then drag Screen recorder into the panel. |
Note: One UI versions label this screen differently, and you may see "Screenshots and screen recordings" instead. If neither appears, search Settings for "screen recorder".
How do you get the device ready for a session?
Run through this before you press record. Each item removes something that otherwise has to be cut, masked, or re-recorded later.
- Turn on Do Not Disturb or a Focus so banners, calls, and messages stay out of the recording.
- Stop the screen from sleeping partway through. On iOS, go to Settings, then Display & Brightness, then Auto-Lock. On Android, go to Settings, then Display, then Screen timeout. Set a long interval and put it back when you finish.
- Lock the orientation to the one Learners will use, portrait or landscape, and do not rotate the device while recording.
- Sign in to the app first and navigate to the screen where the workflow begins. You do not need to record the sign-in or the path to get there.
- Clear personal and customer data off the screen, or plan to mask it when the screenshots are converted into Screen Replicas.
- Find a quiet space, or use headphones with a microphone so your narration is easy to hear.
How do you record on an iPhone or iPad?
Step |
Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Open the app at the first screen of the workflow. |
| 2 | Open Control Center and confirm the microphone reads Microphone On. |
| 3 | Tap the Screen Recording control. A three second countdown runs. |
| 4 | Leave Control Center. Recording begins, and a red indicator appears at the top of the screen. |
| 5 | Work through the workflow one step at a time. Say what you are doing and why as you do it. |
| 6 | Stop the recording. Tap the red indicator at the top of the screen, then tap Stop. You can also open Control Center and tap the Screen Recording control again. |
| 7 | Find the recording in the Photos app. It is in your library, and also under Media Types, then Screen Recordings. |
How do you record on an Android device?
Step |
Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Open the app at the first screen of the workflow. |
| 2 | Swipe down twice from the top of the screen, then tap Screen record. |
| 3 | Choose the audio source. Device audio and microphone captures both the app sounds and your narration, which is what most workflows need. Microphone alone captures narration only. |
| 4 | If your device offers Show touches on screen, turn it on. Taps become visible in the video, which tells the design team exactly where each action lands. |
| 5 | Tap Start. A countdown runs, then recording begins. |
| 6 | Work through the workflow one step at a time. Say what you are doing and why as you do it. |
| 7 | Stop the recording. Swipe down from the top of the screen and tap the Screen recorder notification, or tap the stop control in the floating toolbar if your device shows one. |
| 8 | Find the recording in your gallery. On a Pixel, open Photos, then Collections, then On this device, then Movies. |
How do you record on a Samsung Galaxy device?
Step |
Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Open the app at the first screen of the workflow. |
| 2 | Swipe down twice from the top of the screen, then tap Screen recorder. |
| 3 | Confirm the sound setting reads Media and mic, then tap Start recording. If you set this in advance, it is already selected. |
| 4 | A three second countdown runs, then recording begins and a small floating toolbar appears near the top of the screen. |
| 5 | Work through the workflow one step at a time. Say what you are doing and why as you do it. |
| 6 | Leave the pencil and the front camera controls in the toolbar alone. Drawing on the screen and a selfie window both record into the video, and neither belongs in a capture the design team will convert into Screen Replicas. |
| 7 | Tap the stop control in the floating toolbar to finish. |
| 8 | Find the recording in Gallery, in the Screen recordings album. You can also reach it in My Files, under Internal storage, then DCIM. |
Best practice: Set Sound and Show taps and touches once in Settings rather than in the panel that appears each time you record. The panel is easy to tap past when you are focused on the workflow, and a recording with no narration cannot be fixed afterward.
What do you do with the finished recording?
The file on your device is a source video. It goes to the Source Videos tab of the Video Library in Skyllful Studio, where the design team turns it into screenshots and then into the Screen Replicas behind the Lesson. Record a Workflow covers that upload, including the QR Code that lets you send the file straight from the device you recorded on.
Two things to check before you hand it off. A video cannot exceed 1 GB, and device recordings at full resolution reach that faster than you would expect, which is one more reason to keep a recording to a single workflow of about 15 steps. Confirm the file plays back with sound before you upload it, because a silent recording is not usable and is much easier to redo the same day.
What if the recording does not work?
Problem |
What to check |
|---|---|
| The video has no narration | The microphone was off. On iOS, touch and hold the Screen Recording control and set it to Microphone On before you start. On Android, choose an audio source that includes the microphone. On a Samsung device, set Sound to Media and mic. |
| Taps are not visible in the video | Turn on Show taps and touches on a Samsung device, or Show touches on screen on a Pixel. Not every manufacturer offers this. |
| The control is missing and cannot be added | The device may be managed. On iOS, screen recording can be blocked under Settings, then Screen Time, then Content & Privacy Restrictions. On Android, a work profile policy can remove the tile. Your Local Administrator can confirm. |
| The screen is black in one part of the recording | Some apps block screen recording on the screens that show protected content. Nothing on the device works around this. Tell your design team which screens are affected. |
| The recording stopped on its own | The screen locked, storage filled up, or a call came in. Check the screen timeout setting and free space, then record again. |
| The file is too large to upload | Record one workflow rather than several, and split a long process into separate recordings. On a Samsung device, confirm Video quality is set to High (1080p) rather than anything higher. |
What if you cannot record on your device?
Contact your Local Administrator first. If your Local Administrator cannot resolve the issue, submit a case through the Skyllful support portal.
Skyllful Knowledge Base | Subject Matter Experts, Content Developers, Instructional Designers