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

MacRumors x Bloomberg Banner Cool

Apple Reportedly Plans to Unveil at Least Five New Products Next Week

Sunday February 22, 2026 9:48 am PST by
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple will have a three-day stretch of product announcements from Monday, March 2 through Wednesday, March 4. In total, he expects Apple to introduce "at least five products." Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. A week ago, Apple invited selected journalists and content creators to an "Apple Experience" in...
iOS 26

iOS 26.3.1 Update for iPhones Coming Soon as 'Apple Experience' Nears

Sunday February 22, 2026 5:29 pm PST by
Apple's software engineers are testing iOS 26.3.1, according to the MacRumors visitor logs, which have been a reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. iOS 26.3.1 should be a minor update that fixes bugs and/or security vulnerabilities, and it will likely be released within the next two weeks. Last month, Apple released iOS 26.2.1 with bug fixes and support for the second-generation...
maxresdefault

iPhone Fold: Launch, Pricing, and What to Expect From Apple's Foldable

Friday February 20, 2026 3:21 am PST by
Apple is expected to launch a new foldable iPhone this year, based on multiple rumors and credible sources. The long-awaited device has been rumored for years now, but signs increasingly suggest that Apple will release its first foldable device in 2026. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we've collated an updated set of key details that have been leaked about ...
iPhone 18 Pro Deep Red Feature

Apple is Testing These iPhone 18 Pro and Foldable iPhone Colors

Sunday February 22, 2026 8:41 am PST by
The special new color that Apple is considering for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max this year is red, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Specifically, he said that Apple is testing a "deep red" finish for the two devices. If this rumor materializes, it would be the first time that the Pro and Pro Max models ever come in red, and the iPhone 18 Pro models would be the first...
tim cook data privacy day

Tim Cook Warned by CIA That China Could Move on Taiwan by 2027

Tuesday February 24, 2026 4:03 am PST by
Apple CEO Tim Cook was among a handful of top tech executives who attended a classified CIA briefing warning that China could attack Taiwan by 2027, according to a sweeping investigative report by The New York Times ($). The previously unreported briefing was apparently held in a secure room in Silicon Valley in July 2023. The meeting is said to have been arranged at the request of the...

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)