iOS 18 Adds Camera Setting to Allow iPhone Audio Playback When Shooting Video

In iOS 18, Apple has added a control in the Camera app's Settings menu that lets you choose whether audio playing on your iPhone should pause or continue when you start recording in Video mode.

allow audio playback camera setting
In previous versions of iOS, shooting in Video mode in the Camera app automatically pauses any playing audio including music and podcasts. This behavior is based on the assumption that you don't want any sound coming out of your iPhone's speakers to be picked up on the video recording, but it's no good if you want to play a soundtrack to accompany whatever you're shooting.

One way to get around this is to use the QuickTake method of recording video in Photo mode, introduced in iOS 13, which allows any audio playback to continue during shooting. The only issue is that QuickTake records in lower quality than Video mode is capable of.

But that won't matter soon, because iOS 18 lets you control what happens to audio playback in dedicated Video mode, thanks to a new Allow Audio Playback toggle. "Audio playback will not pause automatically when recording video," notes Apple under the setting. "When playing audio using the iPhone speaker, audio will be recorded in mono."

iPhone users can look forward to several new features when iOS 18 arrives in the fall, around mid-September, with new customization options, generative AI features, Siri improvements, and more. For details on everything that's new, be sure to check out our dedicated iOS 18 roundup.

Related Forums: iOS 18, iPadOS 18

Popular Stories

m5 macbook pro deal

Why You Shouldn't Buy the Next MacBook Pro

Tuesday February 10, 2026 4:27 pm PST by
Apple is planning to launch new MacBook Pro models as soon as early March, but if you can, this is one generation you should skip because there's something much better in the works. We're waiting on 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, with few changes other than the processor upgrade. There won't be any tweaks to the design or the display, but later this...
iOS 26

Apple Releases iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3

Wednesday February 11, 2026 10:07 am PST by
Apple today released iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3, the latest updates to the iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 operating systems that came out in September. The new software comes almost two months after Apple released iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. According to Apple's release notes, ...
Apple Logo Zoomed

Apple Expected to Launch These 10+ Products Over the Coming Months

Tuesday February 10, 2026 6:33 am PST by
It has been a slow start to 2026 for Apple product launches, with only a new AirTag and a special Apple Watch band released so far. We are still waiting for MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, the iPhone 17e, a lower-cost MacBook with an iPhone chip, long-rumored updates to the Apple TV and HomePod mini, and much more. Apple is expected to release/update the following products...
iPhone 16e Bottom Crop

Apple Reportedly Unveiling a New iPhone Next Week

Tuesday February 10, 2026 1:51 pm PST by
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld. The report said the iPhone 17e will be announced in a press release on the Apple Newsroom website, so do not expect an event for this device specifically. The iPhone 17e will be a spec-bumped successor to the iPhone 16e. Rumors claim the device will have four key...
Apple Logo Black

Apple Acquires New Database App

Wednesday February 11, 2026 6:44 am PST by
Apple acquired Canadian graph database company Kuzu last year, it has emerged. The acquisition, spotted by AppleInsider, was completed in October 2025 for an undisclosed sum. The company's website was subsequently taken down and its Github repository was archived, as is commonplace for Apple acquisitions. Kuzu was "an embedded graph database built for query speed, scalability, and easy of ...

Top Rated Comments

0-0 Avatar
20 months ago
Now we need iOS 18 to allow for multiple audio simultaneous playback.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ghostface147 Avatar
20 months ago

Can someone explain this is kindergarten language. LOL.

If i'm recording a video, it's going to pick up sound. Unless i'm missing something
Put a song on, then put your camera in video mode. Song is paused. This overrides that.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
20 months ago
Now can we block apps from pausing my music? Sick of Instagram, AliExpress, Tumblr, and the like turning my music off cos I scrolled past a video thumbnail when the video wasn't even playing.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
maruyama Avatar
20 months ago

Why would you need this out of curiosity. I'm glad it doesn't let you do this. Hurts my brain on my Mac
In my experience, the biggest use case is where you have music playing in the background and you’re scrolling in Safari. Just scrolling a muted video into view will take over the audio, stopping your music. If you’re scrolling on X Twitter, where there’s a lot of videos you’re scrolling past, it’s maddening! It basically makes it impossible to listen to music while using certain sites in Mobile Safari.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
20 months ago
I always thought this was some kind of copy protection/analog hole thing.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheGhostWalker Avatar
20 months ago

Now we need iOS 18 to allow for multiple audio simultaneous playback.
Why would you need this out of curiosity. I'm glad it doesn't let you do this. Hurts my brain on my Mac
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)