Android 11 preview brings back screen recording: Here's how to use it

The newly released Android 11 Developer Preview has a number of new features. There’s also one that was included in the early versions of Android 10. Yes, screen recording is back, and it appears that it’s actually functional (for the most part) in Android 11.

While Google included this feature in the beta versions of Android 10 (back when it was called Android Q), it didn’t work very well at all. Google decided to disable this feature when the final version of Android 10 dropped. It appears that the Android dev team has decided to try again with Android 11’s launch.

How to enable Android 11 screen recording

1. There’s a new Screen Record icon when you bring down the Quick Settings selections on top of the display. Tap on this new icon.
2. You should see a notification pop up with the question “Start recording or casting with System UI?” There’s also a note below it stating System UI will be able to access all the info on the screen, including things like passwords and payment information. You can either select “Cancel” if you don’t want the screen to be recorded, or “Start Now” to begin recording.
3. Once you tap on “Start Now” you should see a system notification showing that screen recording has begun. You should also see three options below that notification: “Stop,” “Pause,” and “Cancel.”

There are a few bugs with this feature. Right now, it doesn’t have internal audio recording. The screen recording notification also goes away if you try to take a screenshot while recording.

Hopefully, this long-awaited feature will be included in the final version of Android 11. In the meantime, do you think you will use the native screen recording with this version of the OS?