iShowU Instant FAQ

Mac M1

Q: Is the app compatible with the new mac M1?
A. Yes. As of build 1.4.1, the app is compiled natively for the M1. And it's FAST. See: iShowU Instant - M1. Note: there is currently an unresolved issue recording from iOS devices on M1 macs. We have yet to find a workaround.

About the app

Q. What are Advanced Features in iShowU Instant?
A. Advanced Features are a set of extra features in iShowU Instant that require an additional In-App purchase to use. See this article for more information.

Q. What's the difference between Basic and Advanced mode?
A. Basic mode is a simpler view with a cleaner and minimal UI, where as Advanced mode has a more complicated UI but allows configuration of all the recording settings. See this article for more information.

Q. What's the difference between iShowU Instant and iShowU Studio?
A. The main difference is that iShowU Instant is a realtime screen recording app where as iShowU Studio is a complete screen recording and editing suite. For a feature-by-feature comparison have a look at the website.

Purchasing, trial, licensing

Q. How can I try iShowU Instant?
A. You can download a 14 day free trial of iShowU Instant from the iShowU Instant web page. See this article for more information.

Q. How can I purchase iShowU Instant?
A. You can purchase iShowU Instant on the website or in the app itself. See this article for more information.

Q. How can I purchase iShowU Instant Advanced Features?
A. iShowU Instant Advanced Features can be purchased in-app by selecting Purchase Advanced Features from the main app menu. See this article for more information.

Q. Why doesn't my shinywhitebox account show my iShowU Instant license?
A. Because we're using Paddle for iShowU Instant purchases and licensing. See this article for more information.

Q. What's the difference between my shinywhitebox and my Paddle account?
A. Your shinywhitebox account is used to manage your licenses for Stomp, iShowU, iShowU HD/Pro, and iShowU Studio. Paddle is used to manage your licenses for iShowU Instant. See this article for more information.

Q. I've forgotten my license code, how can I retrieve them?
A. You can use the "recover license details" feature on our website on in-app. See this article for more information.

Q. I've changed computers and don't have Advanced Features anymore.
A. Once you've activate iShowU Instant on your new computer you can just enter your Advanced Features license code. See this article. Don't have the codes? Get them here.

Q. Can I upgrade to iShowU Instant from an older version of iShowU?
A. If you are an existing customer, you may be eligible for a discount when purchasing iShowU Instant - go to the upgrade page on the website to check.

Audio

Q. Why do I need iShowU Audio Capture to record application audio?
A. OS X doesn't provide a built-in way for apps to record application audio so we created our own audio device called iShowU Audio Capture that helps us do this. See this article for more information.

Q. How can I uninstall iShowU Audio Capture?
A. See this article for instructions on how to uninstall iShowU Audio Capture.

Q. I can't hear audio when recording application audio, how can I fix it?
A. See this article for instructions on how to get recording application audio working properly.

Q. Why isn't audio being recorded from some of my application?
A. iShowU Instant records application audio that is played to the default output audio device, which is where most applications play their audio. Some applications, such as professional recording and composing software, directly control where the audio is played to. If you are using an app like this you will need to configure the audio output to be iShowU Audio Capture in order for iShowU Instant to be able to record the application audio.

Q. I get an error when trying to record audio from my multi-channel device?
A. There is currently an issue with recording audio from some multi-channel audio devices (primarily FireWire devices). A suggested workaround is to take the master output of your device and plug it in to the microphone port on your Mac and record the audio through there.

Q. When I play back recordings the audio is out of sync?
A. Capturing application audio in iShowU Instant introduces a bit of playback delay; if you have iShowU Instant open in the background while playing back a recording, this may cause the audio to seem out of sync. Try closing iShowU Instant and then playing back the recording.

Q. Why aren't the audio filters showing any input?
A. For some output channel layouts (with more than two channels), the audio filter visualizations don't show any input. Don't worry though; they are still being applied to the audio, you just can't see it.

Recording

Q. How can I stop a recording?
A. You can stop a recording at any time by pressing ⌘⇧2 (customizable in Preferences), or by clicking on the menu bar item or dock icon and selecting Stop Recording.

Q. How can I change the position of the camera in Picture-in-Picture (PIP) mode?
A. Switch to Advanced mode, select the Visuals tab, and then you can drag and resize the camera to your desired position. This is the position that will be used when the camera is shown in PIP mode.

Q. Where are my completed recordings?
A. Your completed recordings can be found by clicking the recent recordings button in the top-right of the main window. From here you can open, edit, and share all of your previous recordings.

Select Area

Q. How can I select an area when the full screen is already selected?
A. When you enter Select Area mode and you already have a full screen selected, clicking and dragging to create a new area won't work. You can clear the current selected area by pressing the C key or click and drag the corners/edges of the selection to make it smaller.

Q. How can I select an area of a full screen app?
A. Unfortunately full screen apps on OS X are unable to have other windows shown on top of them so you won't be able to see the select area mode when trying to select a full screen app. One workaround is to select the screen/area that the app will be on before making it full screen. Once that's done, you can start recording and the app will still be captured.

iOS Recording

Q. Why does my iOS recording suddenly stop?
A. If you rotate your iOS device while it is being recording, the recording will end. This is a limitation of the iOS recording system in OS X. To prevent this, we recommend enabling rotation lock on your iOS device while recording.

Q. Why is there black in my iOS recording?
A. When your iOS device goes to sleep and the screen turns off, then black will be recorded as there is nothing showing on the screen. To avoid this, make sure that your iOS device doesn't go to sleep while you're recording.

Q. How can I record from an iOS device and my screen at the same time?
A. iShowU Instant does not directly support recording an iOS device and a screen at the same time, but there is a way to achieve this using QuickTime Player. See this article for more information.

Getting Help

Q. How do I get help when something isn't working?
A. You can contact shinywhitebox support right here on this website, but first read this article to make sure you provide us with the information we need to help you as best as we can.

Q. Why am I having issues after upgrading from a demo/beta version?
A. If you used the beta version of iShowU Instant (before release) or any of the demo versions we released when developing the app then you may experience some issues when you update to the release version of iShowU Instant. See this article for some tips on how to fix this.

Sharing

Q. When I upload my video to YouTube, why can't I hear the microphone audio?
A. When you record a movie with both application audio and microphone audio, iShowU Instant stores them as separate audio tracks within the movie file. However when you upload the movie to YouTube, only the first audio track (application audio) is used. In order to upload a movie with both audio tracks merged together, make sure you upload the movie to YouTube from within iShowU Instant, via the Share button in the Recent Recordings list.

Q. Why do I get an error when uploading to YouTube?
A. This is usually a result of a bug or maintenance within YouTube. Try uploading again later and see if the problem still exists. There is a known issue where you'll get an error if your YouTube account does not have a channel associated with it, so make sure you create a channel before trying to upload to YouTube.

Miscellaneous

Q. How do I update iShowU Instant?
A. Automatic updates are available in-app and can easily be enabled so you don't have to do anything manually. See this article for more information.

Q. Why do I have to enable accessibility access for iShowU Instant?
A. iShowU Instant needs accessibility access enabled so that it can record mouse clicks and key presses. See this article for more information.

Q. Why doesn't the countdown show for full screen apps?
A. Unfortunately full screen apps on OS X are unable to have other windows shown on top of them so you won't be able to see the countdown when recording one. Just count down in your head before starting your recording or disable the countdown altogether.