# How Do I Show Taps When Screen Recording on iPhone?

> To show taps when screen recording on iPhone, use DemoScope's touch indicators: they draw a colored circle at every tap during in-app recording.

- Published: 2026-10-06
- Author: Adam Tal, developer of DemoScope (https://demoscope.app)
- Canonical: https://demoscope.app/blog/posts/show-taps-when-screen-recording-iphone.html

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iOS has no built-in setting that shows your taps when screen recording, so you need an app that draws the tap for you. DemoScope (HD Face Cam Screen Recorder on the App Store) does this with a feature called touch indicators, a one-time $19.99 purchase for Pro instead of a monthly subscription.

**Short answer:** To show taps when screen recording on iPhone, record inside DemoScope and turn on touch indicators. DemoScope draws an animated circle at every tap location, in a color you pick, and burns it into the recorded MP4. The built-in iOS screen recorder in Control Center has no tap indicator option at all.

## Why the iPhone won't show your taps by default

Apple never exposed tap visualization in iOS screen recording. There is no toggle in Settings, no Control Center option, and no Accessibility switch that paints a dot where your finger lands. AssistiveTouch adds a floating button, not a tap trail, so it does not solve this.

That means anyone watching your tutorial sees a UI change with no cause. The button highlights for 80 milliseconds, the sheet slides up, and the viewer has already lost the thread. Touch indicators fix exactly that: they are animated circles rendered at tap coordinates during recording, so the cause and the effect are both on screen.

## Steps: show taps when screen recording with DemoScope

1. Open DemoScope and choose **Record** mode.
2. Pick an in-app recording source: a website, a photo, or a video from your camera roll. Touch indicators only work in this in-app recording mode.
3. Turn on **Touch indicators** and set the indicator color. Pick something that contrasts with the UI you are demoing, a bright cyan or magenta reads better than white on a light web app.
4. Set up the face cam: choose circle, square, vertical rectangle or horizontal rectangle, drag the bubble to a corner, and pinch to resize it.
5. Optional: paste your script into the **Teleprompter** and set the scroll speed. The teleprompter is only visible to you and never lands in the recording.
6. Tap record, run the flow at a deliberate pace, then stop. The MP4 saves to your camera roll.

Free recordings carry a watermark and stop at 10 minutes. Pro is $19.99 one-time and removes both.


## The honest limitation: Other App mode cannot show taps

DemoScope's **Other App** mode records anything on your iPhone with a floating face cam, including native apps and games, but it cannot draw touch indicators. That is an iOS limitation, not a setting you missed: the system broadcast extension that captures your whole screen has no access to your touch coordinates. The teleprompter is unavailable in Other App mode for the same reason. In Other App mode the available tools are Camera, PiP Border, and Text on screen.

So if you need taps visible while demoing a native app, you have two honest options:

- **If your product has a web version**, load that URL in DemoScope's in-app recording source. You get touch indicators, the face cam, and the teleprompter together.
- **If it is native only**, record in Other App mode and use the Text on screen overlay to label what you are about to do ("tap Settings"), plus narrate it. Less elegant than a dot, but it keeps the viewer oriented.

I would rather tell you that up front than have you buy Pro and discover it mid-recording.

## DemoScope vs the free way vs Loom

| | DemoScope | iOS built-in Screen Recording | Loom (iOS) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shows taps on the recording | Yes, touch indicators with custom color (in-app recording mode) | No, no option exists | No tap indicator feature |
| Face cam overlay | Yes, 4 shapes, draggable, resizable | No | Yes |
| Records other apps | Yes, Other App mode (no tap dots) | Yes | Varies by plan |
| Teleprompter | Yes, in-app recording only | No | No |
| Price | $19.99 one-time (free tier: watermark, 10 min) | Free | Subscription |
| Built for | iPhone and iPad, iOS 14+ | iPhone and iPad | Desktop and web first |

## The free route and where it breaks down

The free way to show taps when screen recording on iPhone is to not show them at all: record with Control Center, then compensate. Pause for a beat before each tap, say what you are tapping out loud, and keep flows short so the viewer can infer the action from the result.

It works for quick internal clips. It falls apart for App Store preview videos and tutorials, where a silent viewer with autoplay sound off cannot tell a tap from a swipe from a system animation. If you are building a preview, the walkthrough in [app demo video: how to record one on iphone](/blog/posts/app-demo-video-ultimate-guide.html) covers pacing alongside tap visibility.

## Troubleshooting taps that still look unclear

- **Dots blend into the UI.** Change the indicator color. Default-ish colors disappear on busy screens.
- **Swipes look like nothing happened.** Touch indicators mark tap points only. There is no gesture path tracing, swipe visualization, or multi-finger indicator. Slow your scroll so motion itself reads as intent.
- **Taps come too fast to register visually.** Add roughly a half second between actions. Your muscle memory is faster than a viewer's eye.
- **You ran past 10 minutes on the free tier.** Split the demo into shorter takes or go Pro.


Touch indicators are the single cheapest upgrade to a mobile demo, cheaper than better lighting or a nicer mic, because they remove the main source of viewer confusion. If you are packaging taps into a full product video, [how to create an app demo video that actually gets downloads](/blog/posts/app-demo-video-guide.html) and [how to make an app tutorial on iphone in 2026](/blog/posts/how-to-make-app-tutorial-iphone.html) cover structure and script. For engineering work, visible taps matter just as much, which is the argument in [screen recording for bug reports: why it beats screenshots](/blog/posts/screen-recording-bug-reports-iphone-dev-tool.html). DemoScope is worth a look if your demos live or die on whether people can follow your finger.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Does the iPhone have a built-in setting to show taps when screen recording?

No. iOS has no setting, Accessibility toggle, or Control Center option that renders a tap indicator into a screen recording. You need a third-party app such as DemoScope, which draws animated circles at tap locations during in-app recording.

### Can I show taps while recording another app like Instagram or a game?

No. DemoScope's Other App mode records any app with a floating face cam, but iOS does not pass touch coordinates to the broadcast extension, so touch indicators are unavailable there. Use the Text on screen overlay to label actions instead, or record a web version of your product in DemoScope's in-app recording mode where touch indicators work.

### Do touch indicators show swipes and scrolling too?

No. DemoScope's touch indicators mark tap points only. There is no gesture path tracing, swipe visualization, or multi-finger gesture indicator, so slow your swipes down and narrate them.

### Do taps show up when live streaming from the iPhone?

Yes, in DemoScope's in-app Stream mode. Touch indicators, the face cam overlay, and top/bottom text overlays are all part of the stream to Twitch, YouTube Live, Facebook Live, or a custom RTMP server. Streaming another app uses the Other App source, which has no touch indicators.

### Is showing taps free in DemoScope?

Touch indicators are available on the free tier, but free recordings include a DemoScope watermark and stop at 10 minutes. Pro is a $19.99 one-time purchase that removes the watermark and the time limit, with no subscription.