Guides

Record iPhone gameplay with a facecam

Gameplay with a facecam is the format that made streaming, and on a phone it needs two things the built-in recorder does not have: a camera in the frame and control over which sounds you keep.

4 min read · Updated 2026-09-06

Orientation first

Most games are landscape. Lock Orientation to landscape in Reel before you start, hold the phone that way, and the recording will not flip when a menu appears in portrait.

Where the bubble goes

Games put their HUD in the corners — health, minimap, controls. Choose Picture in Picture, start the game, and drag the bubble to whichever corner the game leaves empty. Do it before the match; you will not want to during.

Game audio and your voice

Keep both, as separate tracks. Game audio is the atmosphere; your voice is the commentary. Recording them separately means you can lower the game under your voice afterwards, or cut a match's music if a platform objects to it. Turn off Record audio in single track.

Long sessions

1080p for an hour is a large file. For sessions you will trim to highlights, 720p is often enough — games are big shapes and motion, not small text. Storage and battery both run down; plug in.

Performance

Recording costs the game some headroom. Demanding games may drop frames while capturing at native; 1080p or 720p leaves more for the game itself.

Will the game's anti-cheat block recording?

Screen recording through ReplayKit is a system feature and games generally allow it. A few block their audio; that is case 4 in the no-sound guide.

Record iPhone gameplay with a facecam