LiteRec

A lightweight Android screen, system-audio and microphone recorder. Record exactly what you choose: just the screen, just the internal audio, just the mic, or any combination. No ads, no accounts, no analytics, and no internet permission.

Features

Record only what you pick

Screen	System audio	Mic	Result
✓			Silent .mp4
	✓		.m4a audio file
		✓	.m4a audio file
✓	✓		.mp4 with system audio
✓		✓	.mp4 with mic audio
	✓	✓	.m4a, both mixed
✓	✓	✓	.mp4, both mixed

• Pause and resume from the app or the notification
• Quick Settings tile and notification controls (pause, resume, stop)
• Start delay: off, a preset, or any custom value up to 300 seconds
• Stop when the screen locks (optional)
• Library with thumbnails, duration, size, sorting, multi-select share and delete, and a tappable folder path
• Built-in player for videos and audio-only recordings
• Editor: trim and split with an audio waveform (see below)
• Custom save folder (internal storage, SD card, or other storage providers) or the default Movies/LiteRec and Music/LiteRec
• Adjustable interface size (Normal to Huge)

Editor

Open any recording, tap Trim, and cut out the parts you don't want, such as the moments where you tapped start and stop in the notification.

• Audio waveform on a zoomable, scrollable timeline, so you can spot silences and spikes
• Split here at the playhead, then Remove or Restore any piece; Remove before / Remove after for quick start and end trims
• Fine-tune the playhead by 0.1 s or 1 s, with exact-frame preview
• Preview plays only what you're keeping
• Lossless save: kept pieces are copied without re-encoding, so quality is identical and saving takes seconds
• Saves a new _trimmed file next to the original, with an option to delete the original
• Works on video and audio-only recordings

Because video can only be cut cleanly at a keyframe (the recorder writes one every second), each kept video piece starts at the next keyframe after your cut, up to about 1 s later. The timeline shows that sliver darkened before you save. Ends are exact, and audio-only files cut almost exactly.

Quality settings

• Resolution: native screen size down to 480p (4K appears when your screen and encoder support it)
• Frame rate: 30, 60, 90 or 120 fps, where the hardware supports it
• Video bitrate: automatic or fixed, with an estimated MB per minute shown
• Codec: H.264 or H.265
• Orientation: auto, portrait or landscape
• Audio: sample rate, bitrate, and separate volume for system audio and mic
• File name pattern with {date}, {time} and {type}

Why it's light

• No dependencies at all: no AndroidX, Material or Compose, only platform widgets
• No INTERNET permission, so the app can't send anything off your device
• Hardware video encoding straight from the screen to the encoder, with no per-frame CPU copies
• Each source is its own pipeline and only runs when its checkbox is on
• R8 minification and resource shrinking in release builds

How it works

screen        -> VirtualDisplay -> MediaCodec (surface) ------------\
system audio  -> AudioRecord (playback capture) -\                   >-> MediaMuxer -> .mp4 / .m4a
microphone    -> AudioRecord (mic) ---------------+-> mixer -> AAC --/

• Encoder capabilities are detected at runtime. If your chosen resolution, frame rate or codec isn't supported, the app steps down to the next supported setting and tells you.
• Video timestamps share one monotonic clock, and audio timestamps are counted from encoded frames, so pausing never creates gaps or backwards jumps.
• Files are written straight into MediaStore (or your chosen folder) with no storage permission. If a folder provider can't seek, the app records locally and copies the file when you stop.

File	Role
Engine.kt	Encoders, audio capture and mixing, muxer, pause and resume
RecorderService.kt	Foreground service, countdown, notifications, lifecycle
StartFlow.kt	Permission and screen-capture consent sequence
Caps.kt	Encoder capability detection and fallback chain
Output.kt, Folders.kt	File creation and folder handling
EditorActivity.kt, Timeline.kt, Trimmer.kt	Editor UI, waveform view, lossless cutting
Library*.kt, PlayerActivity.kt, SettingsActivity.kt, MainActivity.kt	UI

Requirements

• Android 10 (API 29) or newer. System audio capture needs Android 10+.
• To build: Android Studio (Ladybug or newer) and JDK 17+.

Release

Download from Releases

Build

1. Clone the repo and open it in Android Studio. Let Gradle sync.
2. Run on a device, or build a release APK with Build > Generate App Bundles or APKs.
3. Command line: run gradle wrapper once, then ./gradlew assembleRelease.

The release build is signed with the debug key so it installs directly. Use your own keystore to publish.

Permissions

Permission	Why
RECORD_AUDIO	Microphone and system audio capture
FOREGROUND_SERVICE (+ media projection, microphone types)	Keeps recording while the app is closed
POST_NOTIFICATIONS	Recording notification with pause and stop controls

Known limitations

• Android asks for screen-capture permission every time. On Android 14 and newer this is mandatory and an app can't turn it off. LiteRec offers a Full screen only option to shorten the prompt to one tap. Settings also shows an optional ADB command that other recording apps document for skipping the prompt; it may not work on every phone or Android version.
• Some apps block audio capture. Their sound is recorded as silence. DRM and secure content may appear black.
• Mic and system audio together can echo if the mic hears the speaker. Use headphones.
• A force-killed recording may be unplayable, because MP4 files are finalized when recording stops.
• Trim start points snap to keyframes (up to about 1 s later) because the editor doesn't re-encode.
• Opening a folder from the library depends on your phone's file manager. LiteRec tries several routes and falls back to the system file picker or copying the path.

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome. Before opening a PR, please test the source combinations you touched (screen only, system audio only, mic only, and mixes), including pause and resume, and trimming with splits in the middle of a clip.

License

MIT