Five Screen Recording Apps for Android

By Nels Dzyre. in Mobile. Updated on April 28, 2021.

From screencasting your Android screen to an Apple TV to enabling task automation through apps, an Android device is a useful one that’s slowly becoming an essential must-have. Unfortunately, in the past, it has always been difficult to do screen recording on Android, as you’d need to get your device connected to a PC for it to work.

However, that is no longer the case, because Google now has screen recording support for the KitKat version of Android. This makes it easier for developers to create apps for native screen recording purposes.

We’ve done the work and compiled a list of apps that you can download to do screen recording on your Android. Try out any one of these 5 Android screen recording apps to help you record any of your Android screen activity to be saved as a video file. Do note that all of these recording apps require a rooted device to function.

1. Rec.

Rec. is an Android screen recording app with an elegant interface. Once you open the app, all you need to do is adjust the bit rate and duration according to your preference before you tap on ‘Record’ at the bottom to start.

You can also enable audio recording and even name your recording before beginning as well. Once you tap on Record, the app will start counting to 10, so that you’ll have enough time to prepare before your device starts recording.

You can stop the recording by tapping on ‘Stop’ in the app, using the notification bar, or simply by turning your device screen off. The free version limits your recording to only 5 minutes and the audio recording only lasts for 30 seconds. If you’d rather not limit yourself, you can always upgrade to the paid version within the app.

2. Screen Recorder For KitKat

This is a simple screen recording app that you can download for free through the Google play store. It includes features like setting up your preferred resolution, adjusting your bitrate, countdown and the ability to rotate the video. The app allows you to record for up to 180 seconds. You can start recording by tapping on the Record button when you’re inside the app.

While recording, you’ll be able to see your recording status via your Android notification bar. A sound and vibration notification lets you know when it has finished recording. All of the recordings will be available in your /sdcard/ScreenRecorder folder.

3. SCR Screen Recorder Free

SCR is another screen recorder app that allows you to do free screen recording for up to 3 minutes, with a watermark added to your video. The app doesn’t have a main interface. Instead it comprises of an overlay of a small rectangular box that will includes 3 buttons: one for recording, another for accessing settings, and a button to exit the app. Once you start recording, you will notice an overlay at the right side of your screen indicating that the app is currently recording.

To stop the recording, you can turn off your screen for 2 seconds or just re-open the app again. There are plenty of features you can try from the app settings page, such as choosing your video encoder, resolution, image transformation using GPU or CPU, indicating bitrate, choosing a frame rate (which is limited by hardware capabilities) and many others.

4. Screen Record (for KitKat+)

Screen Record is a screen recording app that simply allows you to decide the duration and name your recordings without any extra features. In the app, you can specify your recording duration to up till 120 seconds on the free version of this app. The app will keep on recording until that time is over once you tap on ‘Start Recording’.

Your recordings will be available in the /sdcard/ScreenRecord/ folder and there won’t be any watermark added to any of your videos. You can also opt for the paid version if you’re interested in increasing the 2 minute limit into a maximum of 10 minutes of recording at a time.

5. Shou

Although Shou is still in its beta phase, this app promises a lot of features that most recording apps currently don’t offer. You can use Shou to do screen recording with stereo sound, mirror your device screen to any Miracast or AirPlay enabled devices, and even take a screen shot simply by shaking your Android device. You need to join their Google+ community before you can download the app from the Play Store.

There are no time limits on a recording using Shou. You can select your source engine, encoding engine, orientation, resolution, bitrate and it also enables you to show touches all from within the apps video settings page. Don’t be afraid of the number of permissions it requires, as the app carries a lot of other features that requires such permissions.