Apart from the new AI features and customizations that will debut in iOS 18, there are also small but meaningful changes in tow with the major iPhone software update. One of those is a new feature to record a proper video without interrupting your audio playback in the background on your iPhone.
With iOS 17 and previous iOS iterations, you can initiate video recording but it will subsequently stop any music track or podcast currently playing, which has been a shortcoming since the iPhone’s inception. Now with the latest iOS 18 beta, Apple has finally addressed this long-requested function.
Play audio while recording video simultaneously on the iPhone
A toggle known as “Allow Audio Playback” was discovered in the camera settings under the camera sound section that is enabled by default. Under the toggle, it described the feature this way: “Audio playback will not pause automatically when recording video.” It further stated that mono sound will be recorded when playing audio through the iPhone’s speaker.
Further testing confirmed the feature also allows you to record video even when you’re playing music and connected to AirPods headphones or an external speaker simultaneously. This setup also uses stereo sound recording rather than mono.
As usual, if audio is played through the iPhone’s speaker, video recording should also pick up the ambient sound. This is pretty much useful when you want to mix some background sound with your videos.
It’s not the first time iPhones can record a video while playing music simultaneously. This feature first debuted on iOS 13, where you can use QuickTake via the photo mode to begin video recording, but the video quality you get is suboptimal and far from usable in terms of its resolution. Hence, this addition is a major upgrade for those wishing for an improved version of that feature.
Apple should ship iOS 18 to the public sometime in September during the iPhone 16’s launch. Besides this tool, the update, which is one of the biggest in years, includes heavy customization features for the home screen and control center. The first batch of Apple Intelligence features will also arrive for supported iPhone models.
What are your thoughts on this new video capability in iPhones? Have you been waiting for this feature for long? Let us know in the comments.
