Flip a switch in iOS 18 and the Camera app will add music playing on an iPhone to the video being recorded on the device. It’s an easy way to add background music to a video.
Just be careful about copyright violations.
Enhance Your iPhone videos with background music in iOS 18
Apple always assumed iPhone owners didn’t want the music playing on the device when recording video to be included with the video, so the Camera app stops music playback. Which is fine if you didn’t want the music to act as a soundtrack, but very limiting if you did. There’s been a (somewhat limited) workaround for years, but iOS 18 lets you choose for yourself whether to stop the track.
An addition to the Camera section of the Settings app gives users the option to leave the music playing while recording video. A toggle labeled Allow Audio Playback is a new feature. Flipping it on means “Audio playback will not pause automatically when recording video. When playing audio using the iPhone speaker, audio will be recorded in mono,” according to Apple.
Use cautiously
This is an easy way to add zest to a video you plan to share with friends and family. But misuse will get your video kicked offline.
Sites like YouTube consider any music playing in a video to be a copyright violation if it’s not licensed from the owner of the track.
Available in iOS 18 this autumn
The new background audio option for the Camera app is part of iOS 18 Beta 5, which went to developers on Monday (and was recently discovered by 9to5Mac.) The full version of iOS 18 is expected to go to iPhone users in September.
The feature is not included in iPadOS 18 beta 5. It’s not known if it will be added in a later beta for iPad users.
