Sunday, September 29, 2013

How to record your screen on Android 4.4 KitKat


There's a new feature that came with Android 4.4 KitKat – screen recording – and some of us appear to be more excited about it than others. The prospect of a non-laggy, native recording with decent quality appeals to us on more than a professional level, and it's something many have been looking for in the years past. Unfortunately, the only option one had was to rely on apps that only worked every now and then (and on a very limited number of devices), and even the rooted, paid versions supported restrictively low frame rate.

We've been testing the new built-in feature ever since we got our hands on an early build of Android 4.4 KitKat, and we're bringing you this guide so that you can realize the full potential of Google's new OS, should you wish to do so. 
Let's get to work



Before we start, a few notes. To start off, there's as of yet no app to do this, and the functionality appears to be aimed more at developers than the everyday users. But, no matter – it's simple enough – and you'll do just fine even with minimal technical knowledge. There are just a few things you need to do (download) first. 


  1. The Android SDK package. The Mac version is under the 'Download for Other Platforms' header. I suggest an install in your system partition.
  2. ADB drivers. If you don't have those installed, you can download the Universal ADB Drivers package, courtesy of CyanogenMod's Koush. 
  • Both are completely straightforward installs, no sweat.
  • Troubleshooting at the bottom of the guide
Now that you've got both these installed and running, it's time to test whether your ADB drivers are working properly, as these often like to play naughty. To do so, you'll first have to connect your smartphone to your computer and enable USB debugging mode from your smartphone. Simply navigate to Settings > About Phone > scroll to the bottom and tap Build number seven (7) times. You'll get a short pop-up in the lower area of your display that you're now a developer:

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