Rec (Screen Recorder) app review: record your Android screen
| Developer: SPECTRL | Platforms: Android |
| Category: Utility | Price: Free |
Recording whatever it is you're doing on your Android device is possibly among the most sorely missed features of the versatile OS, and the years haven't been kind to any of the few solutions on the market. Even today, those apps offer a second grade recording, as quality is often far below the sanitary minimum, not to mention that the footage itself is downright laggy due to a low frame rate. Worse yet, running some of those apps puts quite the strain on your smartphone, often barring you from recording game footage.
But here are the good news: Android 4.4 KitKat fixes all of that. Thanks to a new native feature, devices running KitKat are able to record whatever is happening on your screen quite successfully. Bitrate can be tweaked to high enough levels, the frame rate is acceptable, and you can capture at a resolution of up to 1080x1920 pixels. Unfortunately, there's a catch -- you need to fire up a command prompt, tether your phone to your PC that has the correct drivers and tools running, and a bunch more. That, as you can guess, is not optimal, and that's exactly where the new Rec app comes in. Rec allows you to do all of that, and more.
Before we get into the rather shallow depths of Rec, first things first. You'll need a rooted device for this app to work, and it unfortunately also needs to be running Android 4.4 KitKat or higher. It'll also work on some custom Android 4.4 KitKat ROMs, but not all.
Anyway, Rec is very much alike the native screenrecord feature, as we noted. Unlike it, however, it gives you wider berth to tweak settings, such as the duration of the clip -- 5 minutes tops in the free version, versus the 3 minutes limit using the native screenrecord. Moreover, you don't need to be tethered to your computer for the app to work, meaning that you can record footage on the go -- a considerable advantage over Google's rather poorly-concocted solution. Lastly, Rec can record audio (up to 30 seconds in the free version) via the microphone, though that's obviously not the best solution out there. It goes without saying that, as with most free apps, there's a 'Pro' version of Rec. For the price of £1.99 ($3.25), you're getting extras, such as up to hour of video/audio capture, the option to create your own presets, play with the notifications, and the option to shake your device to stop recording. Another well thought-out feature that the Pro version adds is 'auto-show touches'. That said, the Android system itself supports such a feature, and you can enable it on your device whenever you're about to shoot manually from the developers options.
Another side of the Rec app that caught our attention is its simplistic design. True to Google's latest design guidelines, Rec will make you feel at home instantly, and you won't have to go digging through countless settings to figure out what the app can do. We only regret the developer's choice to always force you to set your preferred settings manually, as to prompt you to consider the Pro version of the app. Nevertheless, setting those is a pain-free and quick process, and the free version will get you the job done in most scenarios.
Pros
- Can operate without a PC
- Offers more settings than the native screenrecord feature
- Minimalistic and efficient design
Cons
- Lack of presets forces you to re-setup every time
- Audio recording is inevitably poor
| Developer: SPECTRL | Platforms: Android |
| Category: Utility | Price: Free |
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