Recent updates to Android have made it seemingly impossible to record internal audio. In fact, many applications that used to be able to record it no longer can. Instead, they gain access to the microphone in order to record the sound as it plays on the speakers. This causes distortion and creates audio that is sub-par for elements such as online videos or footage for a trailer. Fortunately, after several false starts, I was successfully able to emulate an APK in order to directly record the game itself.
Here’s what you need to make this work:
- PC
- APK/access to the game via PC
- Bluestacks
- Fraps
There are paid version of both Bluestacks and Fraps. Neither paid version is necessary.
The steps are rather simple:
- Download Bluestacks (Free)
- Install Bluestacks
- Add the APK to Bluestacks
- Download Fraps (Free / Paid version)
- Install Fraps
- Adjust Fraps
- Change save directory
- Make sure “Record Windows Sounds” is checked off
- Set Windows 10 to Quiet Hours
- This prevents most other applications from making extra noises and interrupting recording with a notification.
- Press Fraps shortcut and start recording!
Generally a PC is more powerful than a tablet and is able to record while a game is being played. Since this results in far better quality, it’s generally preferable to emulate a game via an APK rather than trying to both play and record from a tablet. Personally, I noticed my Nexus would slow down and give less than desirable results when trying to do both.
Hopefully, this will help some of you out there who are as frustrated as I was and are dying to capture high-quality gameplay footage from an Android device!