iOS 18 Will Finally Stop Cutting Off Audio While Recording Video

How many times have you been listening to music or another audio on your iPhone only to have it cut out abruptly when you open the Camera app and begin to record a video? It’s certainly a familiar annoyance for most iPhone users. Fortunately, iOS 18 will give you the option to both record video and allow audio playback simultaneously. Finally!

It makes sense if you think about it. The iPhone’s speakers and microphone are close to each other. If you’re playing audio while recording a video, the recorded video would include the audio and potentially sound distorted. Nevertheless, it’s easy to imagine scenarios when users intentionally want to capture their iPhone’s audio while recording a video. Chances are users will have to adjust the audio playback’s volume while recording to get the desired sound quality or use an external speaker via Bluetooth.

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On that note, audio playback currently also stops while recording video, even if the audio is played via a Bluetooth speaker or AirPods. The same holds true after the latest iOS 17.6.1 update. This frustration will also be addressed with iOS 18.

Most iPhone users consider this issue a significant shortcoming. It has finally been addressed in the latest iOS 18 beta. Better yet, it’s an option. If users find the audio playback interferes with their intentions for the recording, the feature can be set back to the old behavior by going to Settings > Camera > Record Sound and toggling Allow Audio Playback on or off, accordingly.

While some workarounds have been reported in the past, they usually compromise the quality of the video. Users have also reported inconsistent success with simultaneously recording video while playing audio either through AirPods or a Bluetooth speaker. Again, we weren’t able to achieve this with iOS 17.6.1. One wildcard that we haven’t yet tested is how the feature will work with CarPlay. Either way, we’re excited Apple is finally addressing this inconvenience.