How to capture audio playback when recording a video in iOS 18

Music has the power to completely transform the impact of a video. Play sinister music over a recording of a cute kitten, and the video goes from being adorable to being a little disturbing. Play uplifting music over a video of someone putting out the trash, and a simple chore becomes a Herculean epic.

Adding music to videos you’ve recorded on your iPhone has never been that easy, however. You have to use apps such as iMovie or third-party video editing apps, which adds a whole new layer of hassle to creating your video. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just play music on your iPhone as you’re filming?

Well, in iOS 18 you can do exactly that. A new Camera setting in iOS 18 allows you to stop your iPhone from automatically stopping audio playback when you start recording video. It means that whatever audio is playing on your iPhone is captured along with the external audio, allowing you to add a soundtrack to what you’re recording. Here’s how to capture audio playback when recording a video in iOS 18.

How to enable audio playback during video recording

Audio will no longer automatically pause with the setting enabled

In iOS 18, there’s now a new option within the Camera settings that will stop audio from automatically pausing when you start recording video on your iPhone. If you toggle this setting on, you can start recording with audio playing, and the audio will continue to play as you record. Both the audio from your iPhone and the audio from whatever you’re filming will be recorded, although audio will only be captured in mono. You can turn the setting off, and your iPhone will return to automatically pausing audio playback when you start recording video.

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Scroll down and tap Camera.
3. Select Record Sound.
4. To enable audio playback when recording, toggle Allow Audio Playback on.
5. To disable audio playback when recording, toggle Allow Audio Playback off.

How to capture audio playback when recording a video

You can use the feature in multiple recording modes

Once audio playback has been enabled in settings, any audio that you’re playing on your iPhone will continue to play when you start recording video. This includes audio from apps such as Apple Music and Spotify, audio from podcast apps, and more.

However, there are some circumstances where audio playback may stop. If you’re playing video content from a streaming app such as Netflix, for example, playback will automatically stop when you open the Camera app, so that you can’t simply record the new series of Squid Game from your iPhone screen.

You can record audio playback in all of the iPhone video recording modes, including Cinematic, Slo-Mo, and Spatial.

1. Enable audio playback for recording following the steps above.
2. Start playing audio on your iPhone from your app of choice, such as Apple Music.
3. Open the Camera app.
4. To make a standard recording, select Video.
5. To make a video with a depth-of-field-effect, select Cinematic.
6. To record a slow motion video, select Slo-Mo.
7. To record a spatial video, select Spatial (only available on iPhone 16 models, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max).
8. Once you have selected your video format, tap the Record button.
9. Your video will start recording. Both the audio from your iPhone and the external audio from your surroundings will be captured.
10. When you’ve finished recording, tap the Record button again.

How to capture audio playback when recording a video in iOS 17

If you don’t have iOS 18 there is a workaround

If you haven’t yet updated to iOS 18, or your iPhone doesn’t support iOS 18, it’s still possible to capture the audio playback from your iPhone when recording a video, although it requires using a workaround. If you leave your camera in Photo mode, you can use the QuickTake feature to start recording, and your iPhone audio will not be automatically paused.

1. Start playing audio on your iPhone.
2. Open the Camera app, ensuring that you don’t select anything other than Photo mode.
3. Tap and hold the Record button to start a QuickTake recording.
4. Alternatively, you can press and hold the Volume Down button to start a QuickTake recording.
5. You can slide the Record button to the right to lock QuickTake recording on, which allows you to release the button.
6. Release your finger to stop recording or tap the Record button if you’ve locked recording on.
7. The audio from your iPhone will be recorded, alongside any external audio picked up by your iPhone.

You can listen to music via headphones when recording video

Starting to record will no longer stop audio from playing

There is another, possibly unintended, benefit to being able to capture audio playback when recording video in iOS 18. Previously, if you had been using headphones to listen to music or other audio, when you started recording a video, your music would stop playing through your headphones, even though this audio wouldn’t get picked up when recording.

With the new feature in iOS 18, you can toggle the Allow Audio Playback setting on, which will stop your iPhone from automatically pausing any audio when you record video. This means that you can continue listening to music through your headphones while you record video without the playback stopping every time you start to record.

When you’re listening to music through headphones, the audio playback that you can hear in your headphones isn’t captured, so you don’t have to worry about the music drowning out the content that you’re trying to record.