How to stream or record iPhone gameplay

Mobile gaming has grown into a platform people compete on, create around, and want to share. Capturing iPhone gameplay works a lot like capturing console gameplay: you can record directly on the device, send your screen to a computer, or run your iPhone through a capture card for the best quality and performance.

This guide walks through all three methods, from the quickest to the most capable, so you can pick the one that fits how you play and what you want to share.

iOS includes a built-in Screen Recording tool. It needs no extra hardware, which makes it the fastest way to grab a clip.

1. Open Settings, go to Control Center, and add Screen Recording to your controls.
2. Open Control Center and tap the Screen Recording icon. A three-second countdown starts, then everything on screen is captured.
3. To include your voice, press and hold the Screen Recording icon before starting and turn on Microphone.
4. To stop, tap the recording indicator at the top of the screen and confirm. The video saves to your Photos library.

On a console, built-in recording barely touches your frame rate, since a dedicated chip handles the encoding separately. On an iPhone, Screen Recording competes with your game for the same processor, so demanding titles can drop frames while recording, and the extra load makes the phone run hotter. You also have no control over quality settings, and Screen Recording saves clips locally rather than streaming live. For quick highlights and social clips, none of that matters much. For longer recordings or anything you plan to stream, heat and battery drain become real concerns, on top of the frame rate hit.

If you have a Mac, Apple offers two built-in ways to get your iPhone screen onto your computer.

QuickTime over USB is the more practical option for gameplay. Connect your iPhone to your Mac with a cable, open QuickTime Player, and go to File > New Movie Recording. Click the arrow next to the record button and select your iPhone as the camera and microphone source. Your iPhone screen now appears live in a window on your Mac, and you keep playing on the phone as normal. From there, you can record in QuickTime or add the window as a source in streaming software to go live. If you are new to streaming tools, our Best Streaming Software for Twitch, YouTube and TikTok article breaks down the options.

iPhone Mirroring is the wireless route. It requires macOS Sequoia or later on a Mac with Apple silicon or the T2 chip, an iPhone on iOS 18 or later, and it is currently unavailable in the European Union. It mirrors your iPhone to a window on your Mac, but you control the phone from the Mac with a trackpad and keyboard while the iPhone itself stays locked. That works for menu-driven or turn-based games. Anything that relies on fast touch controls or motion does not translate well, so treat it as an option for a narrow set of games.

Both methods take the recording work off the phone, but they only run on a Mac. Apple offers no equivalent tool for Windows. They also depend on a software connection, which is where a dedicated video signal has the advantage.

A capture card treats your iPhone like a console. The phone outputs a clean HDMI signal, your computer handles the recording or streaming, and the game keeps the iPhone's full performance to itself. Compared to the first two methods, this gets you higher capture quality, the option to go live instead of just recording, and little to no overheating on your iPhone since it is no longer doing the encoding work. It works on both Windows and Mac, and it is the method that holds up for competitive mobile titles, longer sessions, and streams where quality matters.

Every iPhone from iPhone 15 onward has a USB-C port with video output. With a USB-C to HDMI adapter, such as Apple's USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter, the phone outputs up to 4K at 60 fps. Older iPhone models with a Lightning port can output up to 1080p using Apple's Lightning Digital AV Adapter.

• An iPhone and the matching Apple HDMI adapter (USB-C for iPhone 15 or newer, Lightning for older models)
• An HDMI cable
• A capture card like Game Capture 4K S or Game Capture 4K X
• A computer with Elgato Studio for recording, or streaming software like OBS Studio

1. Plug the HDMI adapter into your iPhone.
2. Connect an HDMI cable from the adapter to the HDMI IN port on your capture card.
3. Connect the capture card to your computer with the included USB cable.
4. Open Elgato Studio to record, or add the capture card as a video source in your streaming software to go live.
5. Hold your iPhone in landscape. The HDMI output mirrors your screen, so landscape games fill the frame while portrait games appear with bars on the sides.

Game audio travels over HDMI along with the video, as long as your iPhone is not on silent and not sending audio to Bluetooth headphones or AirPods. If either applies, no audio reaches the capture card. Use your streaming software's preview to confirm you are hearing game audio before you start.Important: Games display normally over HDMI, but apps that use copyright protection, such as video streaming services, will not show their content through a capture card.

Since iPhone tops out at 4K60 over HDMI, Game Capture 4K S covers everything the phone can output, with 4K60 capture and passthrough. Game Capture 4K X captures up to 4K144, which does not add anything for iPhone specifically, but gives you headroom if the same card also captures a high refresh rate PC or console. Game Capture 4K Pro is an internal PCIe option for desktop PCs, worth a look only if you are building a permanent setup around it.

Each method fits a different way of playing. If you mainly want quick clips to share, the built-in Screen Recording tool is already on your phone. If you own a Mac and record occasionally, QuickTime gets your screen onto the computer with nothing extra to buy. If you stream or record mobile games seriously, a capture card gives your iPhone the same treatment as a console: full game performance on the device, full capture control on your computer.

Whichever card you land on, you can compare the full lineup in which Elgato capture card is right for you.