Android 11 DP1: Screen recorder arrives w/ Quick Settings toggle

Ben Schoon | Feb 19 2020 - 11:25 am PT

Screen recording is a feature Google has weirdly been avoiding for a while on Android, but the foundation has been laid over the past few releases to finally deliver this functionality. Now, with Android 11, the native screen recorder is here with a new quick settings toggle.

Hidden by default, this new quick settings toggle immediately starts Android 11’s screen recorder. This feature is long overdue but was live behind some quick commands back in Android 10. The feature appeared both in the beta releases and in the public release, but it wasn’t free from issues. Some users reported problems with the recordings.

In Android 11, it seems Google is finally ready to release this native screen recorder. Tapping the quick settings toggle brings up the warning dialog that you’re about to start recording, then tapping “Start Now” starts the recording. To stop a recording, simply jump into your notifications and hit “Stop.”

Just like a screenshot, the screen recording notification then turns into a shortcut to view the screen recording or share it as an MP4 file. Notably, at the moment, there are no audio capture options for this screen recorder. You can view a quick demo recording in full size here.

Weirdly, though, we noticed that this feature doesn’t seem to show consistently for everyone. Most people are seeing it, but we noticed one of our devices — a Pixel 4 — wouldn’t show it. Presumably, though, this is just some Developer Preview weirdness.