Best Practices for Screen Recording on Your iPhone

If you use an iPhone, you probably know how to send somebody a picture of your screen. But, what’s better than a picture?

Video, of course. iOS 11 added a new feature for recording video of your iPhone’s screen, i.e. a screen recording.

The Screen Recording feature needs to be added to the Control Center before you can use it. Go to Settings > Control Center. In the “More Controls” list, find “Screen Recording”. Hit the plus button next to it to add it to the “Include” section.

With that added, you can access it from the Control Center at any time. Swipe up from the bottom edge of the screen to access control center. Tap the screen recording button to start.

When you’re finished with your screen recording, you can tap on the red bar at the top of the screen, or go back to Control Center and tap the screen recording button again to stop.

I recommend you make an effort to only record the information you want to record. Practice your action several times before recording and pay specific attention to the start and end of your video.

Time Your Actions when Screen Recording to Decrease the Need for Editing

When you start screen recording, there is a 3-second countdown. If you close the Control Center before that count-down is finished, then the Control Center screen will not appear in beginning of your recording, giving you a clean starting point.

At the end of your screen recording, if you go to the Control Center to stop the recording, that action will be visible in the video. But, if you simply tap the red bar at the top of the screen to stop the video, there will be no additional unnecessary action at the end of your screen recording.

If you take these steps to get clean starts and endings on your screen recording, you may not need to edit it later.

How to Trim or Edit Your Screen Recording Video on iOS

Still, you should consider editing if you want to spend some time making your screen recording the best it can be. If you find that the start and end of your video are not as tight as you want, you can always go into your photo library, locate the screen recording and use the trim tools to trim the beginning and end.

Consider using iMovie if you need to record several videos and then edit them together. iMovie is a free app for iPhone and iPad. You can use it to edit together several screen recordings and even add music and a voice-over.

For more information on how to use iMovie, check out our LinkedIn Learning course iMovie for iOS Essential Training.

Empty the Trash in Your Photo Library to Save Space

Here’s a bonus tip. Screen recordings take up a lot of storage space on your iPhone. Be sure to delete any bad screen recording takes you don’t plan to use and any videos that you’re completely finished with.

Also remember, deleted photos, videos and screen recordings stay in the “Recently Deleted” album for 30 days, in case you need to restore them. Make sure to clear the “Recently Deleted” album if you need to recover some storage space.

Looking for more tips for using your Apple device? Check out the LinkedIn Learning courses iOS 11: iPad and iPhone Essential Training and iOS 11: iPhone and iPad New Features.