Utilizing Android's Built-In Screen Recorder

1. Introduction to Android's Built-In Screen Recorder

Thankfully, Google came to its senses and decided that users should have a built-in screen recording tool to use, but that decision came with a catch. If you're using an older version of Android, you will be sorely disappointed in Android's screen recorder feature. Because it was only officially added as of Android 11, older devices need not apply. Since I know not everyone has access to the shiny new version of Android, let's show you how to use the built-in screen recorder first. Then, we'll walk through the built-in screen recorder's setup and functionality.

Android 11 has now been officially released, and with it comes the much-anticipated built-in screen recorder, Android's first. No longer will users have to rely on third-party apps in the Google Play Store, and no longer will they need to root their devices just to take advantage of this feature. Android's built-in screen recorder is easily accessible and quite capable. Once you find it, you can quickly start recording and capture the screen as easily on Android as you can on iOS. The Android built-in screen recording feature is a highly anticipated addition, and thanks to recent updates, it is now officially available. In times past, using a screen recording tool meant you had to download it from the Google Play Store or go the route of rooting your device to get access natively.

2. Activating the Screen Recorder Feature

When you are done, go back to your home screen or navigate through any existing opened app and long-press on your home screen to open up additional settings. Tap the Settings gear to open home screen settings. Unfortunately, long-pressing to bring the menu up and then tapping the settings gear will not take you to the right destination to enable the hidden Screen Recorder feature. To enable it, tap anywhere on your home screen to open the menu, tap the Settings gear, and navigate to the Experimental section. Then, enable the **Screen Recorder** feature.

Screen Recorder is not a built-in feature that you can use right away. It is an experimental feature that you must enable on your own. Head over to the Settings app on your device and go to **About Phone > Build Number**. Tap Build Number repeatedly seven times. Then, go back to the main settings page and scroll down. Below well-hidden entries such as System UI Tuner, Developer Options is now accessible. Navigate to the Developer Option and find Experimental section. Then, enable the **Screen Recorder** feature.

3. Customizing Recording Settings

The drop box beneath "Video Quality" and "Frame Rate" is "Bit Rate". It determines the number of bits used for storing (or using) the video. There are six bit rate options available, with 18 Mbps being the highest and 1.7 Mbps being the lowest. Exceptionally, the drop box immediately beneath "Bit Rate" was narrow in width and tall in height (not just like the ordinary ones). As the option's name suggests, it enables the selection of the orientation of the recording area. Choices on that list consist of "Default", "Main Portrait" (or "Main Upright Portrait"), and "Main Landscape" (or "Main Horizontal Landscape").

Resolution likewise allows users to choose from among six dimensions with two of these being full-size options: 1440 x 2560 (or 1440p), and 1080 x 1920 (1080p). Frame rate has one extra setting than the former two described earlier, with the maximum being 60 fps and the minimum being 30 frames per second.

Revealing the settings of a built-in screen recorder spawns a second dialog box that enables further customization of the screen recording process. As evident in the default window of settings, the drop box next to the words "Video Quality" consists of six quality options; the best being Ultra High (UHD) 1440p and the lowest being Low 480p.

4. Recording Your Screen

Screen recorders are versatile, useful tools that can be used to record various aspects of your phone. Android screen recorders are no different, with the number of such apps available in the Google Play Store. However, the most straightforward and convenient option for most users is the built-in Android screen recorder. It provides regarding your screen right at your fingertips, without the need to download any third-party apps, which is convenient and hassle-free – and so simple to set up and use.

You will find a screenshot preview at the bottom of your screen once you tap the overlay icon. To record your screen, press the record button. You can draw on the screen as the recording begins, and you can stop recording at any time by tapping the stop button at the bottom of the screen. After you are done, you can either share content outside the app or finalize the recording and save the file to your phone by tapping the button on the bottom right. Please keep in mind that the Android API doesn't save your content automatically. This feature needs to be used so the video file will be generated and stored.

5. Saving and Sharing Screen Recordings

The new built-in screen recorder in Android 11 can be really useful if you need to make a quick recording of an app or game. To make use of it and better manage recordings, make sure to set it up in the settings and give it a brief test run. The brief run will help better understand how it works and thus which apps and games are more ideally suited. Your settings and customization can also sift through recorded audio and screen touches. Recordings are kept at their intended quality and can be edited after the fact with any available app or program. Recordings will only be as good as their intended purpose, and having this unique tool heavily improves on what can be achieved when needing to take quick snapshots of Android apps and games. With Android steadily making advances in recording features and abilities, it will probably extend similar customization that's being brought to proper screen recording apps.

While inside the app or game, the recording file will have either a 1080 or 720 in it, depending on whether the recording resolution setting was set to 1080p or 720p. When the recording is stopped, it will be saved to its respective file inside of the Movies folder. One can also delete the recording instantly after stopping it by opening the notification or navigating to it with a file explorer. Recordings can be edited or have audio extracted by moving the file to a more capable editing app, but there is no direct built-in audio extraction. Android works to preserve every application's uniquely designed user interfaces by not having the recorder capture recording controls built-in. If the recorder was meant to capture every app, it could easily end up capturing sensitive information by accident.