How to record an iPhone or iPad screen on a Mac

Prepare the iPhone or iPad

• Charge the device and use a stable USB cable.
• Turn on Do Not Disturb or a Focus mode to suppress notifications.
• Use demo accounts and synthetic data—never a real contact list, message history or customer record.
• Choose a consistent orientation and lock rotation if the demo should stay portrait or landscape.
• Increase text size if the finished video will be watched in a small player.
• Preload slow content and reset the app to the exact starting state.

Connect the device and choose it as a source

1. Connect the iPhone or iPad to the Mac over USB.
2. Unlock the device and accept Trust This Computer if macOS asks.
3. Open Cadre's recording source picker and choose the mirrored iPhone or iPad.
4. Select a microphone and any Mac audio source the demonstration needs.
5. Make a short test to confirm orientation, scale, audio and sync.

A wired connection is predictable and avoids turning the recording into a network-quality test. If the device does not appear, reconnect it while unlocked, try another data-capable cable and confirm the trust prompt.

Record the mobile demo deliberately

Mobile interfaces are dense and gestures are invisible. Narrate the intention before the gesture: “Open the project, then choose Share,” rather than describing it after the panel has changed.

Pause briefly after important taps so the viewer can register the resulting state. Avoid rapid swipes. If a gesture is central to the lesson, repeat it slowly or reinforce it with a caption.

Because a mirrored iOS screen does not provide Mac pointer events, automatic click-driven zoom cannot infer every touch. Add zooms manually on the timeline or ask an agent to place them around the moments you describe.

Edit for a small interface

• Crop and frame the device consistently so it does not jump between sections.
• Use fewer, gentler zooms; the mobile UI is already tightly composed.
• Place captions outside the controls being demonstrated.
• Cut waiting states unless the duration itself matters.
• Review the export at the actual destination size, especially for vertical social video.

Protect private information before and after recording

A mobile screen can expose names, messages, photos, map locations and notification previews in a single gesture. Prevention is safer than blur: use a purpose-built demo account and disable notifications.

If something private still appears, place a time-bound blur mask over it and review the full export—not just a paused frame. Verify the mask covers transitions and animated movement from beginning to end.

Frequently asked questions