The app-and-your-face format, filmed on one phone
Somebody shows an app, and their face is in the corner reacting to it. It is the most-copied format on TikTok and Reels right now, and it takes one phone and no editing. The parts that go wrong are all decided before you press record.
Why it works
A screen recording alone has nobody in it, and people do not follow screens. A talking head alone has nothing to look at. Together, the viewer watches the thing and believes the person, and the two are recorded in one pass rather than assembled afterwards.
Set the corner before you start
Put the camera bubble where the app has nothing important: usually the top corner opposite the app's own controls. Moving it mid-recording is visible and looks like a mistake. Size it so your face is readable on a phone screen, which is larger than it feels while you are setting it.
Vertical, and locked
These platforms are vertical. Lock the orientation to portrait before recording, or a single rotation halfway through will ruin the take. The lock is in Settings under General.
Keep both sounds
Record the app's audio and your voice on separate tracks. If you decide later that the app's music is too loud under your commentary, separate tracks let you fix it. One merged track does not.
The first two seconds
Start on the thing, not on yourself. The viewer has already decided by the time you finish saying hello. Have the app open at the screen that makes the point, press record, and talk.
Does the recording keep going if I switch apps?
Yes. It records the screen, not one app, so you can move between apps in the same take.
Can I move the camera bubble while recording?
You can, and the movement is in the recording. Place it first.
