How to record a video of your screen using ReplayKit whilst hiding the HUD element.

For a solution to record video without ReplayKit : HERE.

Download an AR camera starter project here.

I needed an image.

PART A: Add your Hidden HUD to your view

Step 1: Create a Hidden Status Bar View Controller.

Create a “HiddenStatusBarViewController.Swift” file and add the following code.

import UIKit
class HiddenStatusBarViewController: UIViewController {
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
// Do any additional setup after loading the view.
}
override func didReceiveMemoryWarning() {
super.didReceiveMemoryWarning()
// Dispose of any resources that can be recreated.
}
func prefersStatusBarHidden() -> Bool {
return true
}
/*
// MARK: - Navigation
// In a storyboard-based application, you will often want to do a little preparation before navigation
override func prepareForSegue(segue: UIStoryboardSegue, sender: AnyObject?) {
// Get the new view controller using segue.destinationViewController.
// Pass the selected object to the new view controller.
}
*/
}

Step 2: Add a UI Window property to your ViewController

var windowToHideHUD:UIWindow!

Step 3: Instantiate the Window and add the HUD elements to it

Add this to your viewDidLoad()

self.windowToHideHUD = UIWindow(frame: self.view.frame);
self.windowToHideHUD.rootViewController = HiddenStatusBarViewController();
////////////////////////////
// ADD YOUR ELEMENTS HERE //
////////////////////////////
// THIS IS HOW YOU ADD A SUBVIEW TO THE WINDOW
self.windowToHideHUD.rootViewController?.view.addSubview("YOUR VIEW / THING");
self.windowToHideHUD.makeKeyAndVisible()

PART B: Add the ReplayKit functionality.

Step 1: Add the ReplayKit functionality to your viewcontroller

// Mark: ReplayKit
func startRecording(){
guard RPScreenRecorder.shared().isAvailable else {
print("Recording is not available at this time.")
return
}
RPScreenRecorder.shared().isMicrophoneEnabled = true;
RPScreenRecorder.shared().startRecording { [unowned self] (error) in
guard error == nil else {
print("There was an error starting the recording.")
return
}
}
}
func stopRecording(){
print("STOP RECORDING")
self.windowToHideHUD.isHidden = true;
RPScreenRecorder.shared().stopRecording { [unowned self] (preview, error) in
print("Stopped recording");
guard error == nil else {
print("There was an error stopping the recording.")
return
}
guard preview != nil else {
print("Preview controller is not available.")
return
}
if let unwrappedPreview = preview {
unwrappedPreview.previewControllerDelegate = self;
self.present(unwrappedPreview, animated: true)
}
}
}
func previewControllerDidFinish(_ previewController: RPPreviewViewController) {
dismiss(animated: true)
self.windowToHideHUD.isHidden = false;
}

Step 2 : Wire it up to a button

You can now start a video using:

self.startRecording();

And end the recording using:

self.endRecording();

Oscar