Recording an app demo on device — for the App Store, a pitch or a release note
A demo recorded on a real device beats a simulator every time — real performance, real gestures, real light on the screen. The cost is that everything on the screen ends up in the recording. Plan for that.
Prepare the device
- Do Not Disturb on. A notification banner is the classic ruined take.
- Battery above the level where the indicator changes colour; charge to full if the demo is long.
- Clear the recent apps so a swipe does not reveal your inbox.
- Set the app up in the state the demo starts from — signed in, sample data loaded.
Recorder settings
Lock orientation to the orientation your app is designed for. Choose 1080p for anything you will publish; Source (Native) if the recording is going into an App Store preview, where Apple wants the device's real resolution and the file size does not matter. Put the camera bubble in a corner the app does not use, or leave the camera off for a pure product demo and add yourself in a separate cut.
Record more than one take
Gestures are not repeatable on demand. Record the walkthrough three times, keep the best, and cut between takes if one segment went better in another. Reel's recordings all land in the photo library with timestamps, so they are easy to compare.
App Store previews specifically
Apple's preview requirements are strict about resolution, duration and what may appear on screen. Record at native resolution, keep it under 30 seconds, and check the current guidelines before submitting — they change, and a rejected preview costs a review cycle.
Will the recording show the red recording indicator?
iOS shows its status-bar indicator to you; it is not part of the captured screen.
Can I hide the status bar?
Not from the recorder. Apps that hide it in their own UI will appear that way in the recording.
