With the release of Android 4.4 KitKat we see that an added feature is screen recording. While we are excited about the new feature its not as easy as many users would like and most won’t even think about using it. This being said it seems the reason for screen recording is primarily for app developers to be able to record the features of their apps natively.
With the launch of the Google Nexus 5 and the Android 4.4 update hitting other Google devices as well we have been trying out all the features KitKat has to offer and one that stood out was the screen recording feature. With developers being the focus of the new feature we are sure it will be made easier in the form of apps for the average user to take advantage of.
How to use Android 4.4 Screen Recording
First thing that you must know about the feature is that you can currently only access the feature using ADB (Android Debug Bridge) meaning you must have your device connected to a computer to use it. ADB allows developers to access their device from command line through the Android SDK. If you understand this then you can get started with screen recording.
Record a video with default settings:
- Open up a command consoles and navigate to the Android SDK folder
- adb shell screenrecord /sdcard/filename.mp4
- (this records a video with default settings)
Record a video with custom settings:
- Open up a command consoles and navigate to the Android SDK folder
- adb shell screenrecord –time-limit 30 /sdcard/filename.mp4
- (this records the video for 30 seconds)
- How to stop recording if no time is set: (Ctrl+C)
Available commands for custom screen recording:
- –help – Displays a summary of usage.
- –size – records at a set display resolution. If this is not set the default is 1280×720.
- –bit-rate – sets the bit rate of the video in megabits per second. i.e. 8000000 would be 8 Mbps (default is 4Mbps)
- –time-limit
- –rotate – experimental feature that rotates the output of your video by 90 degrees.
- –verbose – when set there will be log information displayed in command line while recording. By default no information is shown during recording.
While the screen recording process is not as easy as we initially expected when the feature was first announced it is easy enough for a novice user with basic understanding of command line can accomplish. We will update this article with a video of the screen recording process shortly but until then if you have any questions about the process please feel free to ask in the comments below.