Last updated: 2026-01-08

For most people in the U.S., the easiest way to create clear, presenter-led screen recordings is to use StreamYard on a laptop or desktop, then export or repurpose those videos wherever you need. When you only need a quick single-device capture, built-in recorders on iOS, Android, Windows, or Mac are a solid backup.

Summary

• Use StreamYard in your browser on a computer when you want polished, branded recordings, multiple speakers, or layouts that highlight the presenter.
• Use built-in tools (iPhone, Android, Xbox Game Bar, macOS) for quick one-off captures on a single device.
• Consider OBS on desktops if you specifically want deep encoding control and are comfortable tuning settings. (OBS)
• Use Loom mainly for async feedback clips and quick share links, especially when you work inside tools like Slack or Jira. (Loom)

How should you think about screen recording across your devices?

Most people don’t need a different strategy for every device. You need one simple rule:

• Use a browser-based studio (like StreamYard) on your computer for anything important, repeatable, or collaborative.
• Use native recorders on phones and tablets for quick captures or when you’re away from your main machine.

On desktop, StreamYard acts like a portable studio: you see your slides or app, your camera, and your guests; you control layouts, audio, and branding in one place. Screen sharing is supported on computers, but not on mobile browsers, so your best recordings still start on a laptop or desktop. (StreamYard Help Center)

How do you record your screen on a computer with StreamYard?

Here’s a simple workflow you can reuse for demos, webinars, training, or product walkthroughs:

1. Open StreamYard in your browser and create a studio.
2. Select your camera and microphone, then enter the studio.
3. Share your screen (entire screen, a specific window, or a browser tab) from the screen-sharing menu. Screen sharing is available on desktop, not mobile. (StreamYard Help Center)
4. Choose a layout that keeps you as the presenter visible while your screen is the focus.
5. Set audio independently so your mic is clear and, if needed, system audio from your screen share is enabled.
6. Hit Record (without going live) to capture the session purely as a recording.
7. Stop the recording when you’re done and download the file or keep it in your StreamYard storage for reuse.

On paid plans, you can enable local multi-track recording, which captures separate audio/video files for each participant, giving you clean tracks for editing later. (StreamYard Help Center) Local recording is available on all plans, with a small monthly cap on the free plan and effectively unlimited use on paid plans.

A few things this desktop-first workflow unlocks:

• Presenter-visible layouts: You always see exactly what your audience will see.
• Branded overlays and logos: Apply your brand live instead of adding it later.
• Presenter notes visible only to you: Keep prompts handy without cluttering the recording.
• Landscape and portrait outputs from the same session: Record once, then repurpose for horizontal YouTube tutorials and vertical Shorts/Reels.
• Multi-participant screen sharing: Have a guest share their screen while you stay on camera to guide the conversation.

Compared with OBS, this approach trades deep encoder tweaking for speed: OBS exposes more technical settings but typically takes more configuration time and depends heavily on your hardware. (OBS) With StreamYard, you stay in the browser and focus on content, not codecs.

How do you record your screen on iPhone and iPad?

For iPhone and iPad, the built-in recorder is usually enough, especially when you only need the device screen:

1. Add Screen Recording to Control Center (Settings → Control Center → add Screen Recording once).
2. Open the app you want to record.
3. Swipe down to open Control Center and tap the Screen Recording button.
4. Wait for the 3‑second countdown, then your screen is recording. (Apple Support)
5. To include microphone audio (your voice), long-press the Screen Recording button before starting and enable the mic.
6. When finished, tap the red status bar or Dynamic Island and stop recording.

Your video lands in the Photos app, where you can trim the start/end, then upload into StreamYard, editing tools, or your favorite platform.

For longer, presenter-led content, a helpful pattern is:

• Join your StreamYard studio from your laptop as the host.
• Join from your iPhone/iPad as a guest, share the device screen natively with iOS Screen Recording, and point your device at the app you’re showcasing.
• Let StreamYard handle the combined recording with your camera, audio, and branding.

If you try tools like Loom on iOS, note that Loom itself points out you can’t record screen and device camera at the same time because of Apple’s limitations; on iPhone their app can record either the screen or the camera, but not both together. (Loom Help Center) That’s another reason many teams still anchor their main recordings on desktop.

How do you record your screen on Android phones?

On modern Android phones (Android 11+ and many earlier OEM builds), you often have a built-in recorder:

1. Open the screen you want to capture.
2. Swipe down twice to open Quick Settings.
3. Look for Screen Record; if you don’t see it, you may need to edit Quick Settings and add it. (Lifewire)
4. Choose whether to record device audio, microphone, or both.
5. Start recording and follow the on-screen countdown.
6. Stop from the notification panel when finished.

Because Android behaves differently across manufacturers, the exact steps and options may vary, but this Quick Settings pattern is common.

For polished recordings, treat Android similar to iOS: capture the raw screen natively, then pull the file into a StreamYard-powered desktop session or an editor if you need overlays and presenter framing.

What about Windows and Mac built-in recorders?

You can absolutely start with what’s already on your computer.

On Windows (Game Bar):

• Press Windows key + Alt + R to start a quick screen recording via Xbox Game Bar, then press again to stop. (Microsoft Support)
• This is handy for fast clips, but it’s not designed for multi-guest shows, branded layouts, or talking-head plus slides formats.

On macOS:

• Use Shift + Command + 5 to open the screenshot and recording toolbar.
• Choose to capture the entire screen or a selected area, then record.

These tools are great for personal notes or bug reports. When your goal is something you’ll publish repeatedly—courses, webinars, recurring walkthroughs—the limitations become obvious: no multi-guest studio, no branding, and no straightforward way to manage long-term libraries of recordings.

When does OBS make sense vs StreamYard on desktop?

OBS Studio is free software for video recording and live streaming with detailed control over sources and scenes. (OBS) You install it on Windows, macOS, or Linux, and set up:

1. Sources (display capture, window capture, webcam, overlays).
2. Scenes that combine those sources.
3. Output settings: recording path, format, encoder, and quality under the Output tab. (OBS)
4. Hit Start Recording and then Stop Recording when done.

OBS is a good fit if:

• You want pixel-level control over encoding, bitrates, and file formats.
• You’re comfortable experimenting with settings and monitoring CPU/GPU load.
• You primarily care about local, single-operator recordings (e.g., gameplay) and don’t need guests joining from a browser.

For most creators and teams, StreamYard is simpler:

• Runs in the browser, no heavy install.
• Handles camera, mic, screen, guests, and branding in one interface.
• Provides cloud recording with per-stream length caps and storage-hour limits, plus local recordings on each participant to safeguard quality. (StreamYard Help Center)

If you ever outgrow StreamYard’s defaults for a very niche, encoder-heavy workflow, you can still use OBS for capture and feed its output into a StreamYard studio—but that’s advanced territory. Many teams never need to go that far.

How does Loom fit into your toolkit?

Loom is designed around quick async recordings: you hit record, capture your screen and a camera bubble, and share a link. Paid plans offer higher resolutions (up to 4K) and longer, effectively unlimited recording time and storage. (Loom) On the free Starter tier, you’re limited to about 25 videos per person and 5‑minute screen recordings, which constrains longer tutorials. (Loom Help Center)

This is useful when you need to comment on a design, walk through a bug, or leave a quick update for teammates inside tools like Slack or Jira.

For teams doing recurring demos, interviews, or public-facing content, StreamYard usually becomes the primary studio and Loom plays a supporting role if you like link-based internal feedback. One practical financial difference: Loom charges per user, while StreamYard’s pricing is per workspace, which can be more economical when you have multiple presenters sharing one studio.

What we recommend

• Use StreamYard on a laptop or desktop as your default recording studio for anything presenter-led, multi-participant, or brand-sensitive.
• Use built-in mobile and desktop recorders for quick one-off captures or when you’re away from your main machine.
• Reach for OBS only if you want to deeply tune recording formats and encoders and you’re comfortable managing local hardware constraints.
• Layer in Loom for short async feedback videos inside your team, not as a replacement for a full recording and live studio.