Every time I record a video or even just go to the video tab in my iPhone’s camera app, the phone automatically pauses the music I’m listening to. This made sense in the early days of the iPhone when you didn’t want sound from the speaker to interfere with your recording. However, the world has changed a lot, earbuds exist, and it no longer makes sense to forcibly stop people from listening to music while recording videos. With iOS 18, Apple allows you to play music even when recording videos.
Why you may need audio when recording video
If you’re listening to music on your AirPods, it wouldn’t affect the video recording in any way if you resume playback. If you have an always-on speaker setup that you power from your phone, you might not want to disturb those around you just because your cat is being cute. Whatever your reason, you should still be able to listen to music or audiobooks while recording.
How to record videos while audio is playing in iOS 18
Setting up this feature only requires a few simple steps. Most importantly, you need to have iOS 18, which is currently available as a public beta. Note that installing a beta version can make your phone unstable, so keep it on a backup device if possible.
Once you have updated your operating system, go to Settings > Camera > Record soundand activate Allow audio playback. This will allow you to play audio even when you’re recording video. You’ll have to get used to the sound from your speakers being audible in your recording – a good next step for Apple might be that we only allow audio when external sound systems are connected.
Play audio while recording video in iOS 17
For older iOS versions, such as iOS 17, there is a workaround that allows you to record even while listening to music. To do this, you need to record a QuickTake video. As the name suggests, QuickTake lets you quickly record a video without having to navigate to your iPhone’s video tab. To use it, open the Camera app and press and hold the shutter button. It will turn red and your iPhone will start recording a video. Release the button to stop recording. You can drag the red button to the lock icon to resume video recording without holding the button. QuickTake is available on the iPhone XS and newer models.
