Area Capture stops unexpectedly after a random duration and saves a truncated recording

[jsattler]

Discussed in #180

^{Originally posted by jsato0807 July 11, 2026}

Version

v2026.3

macOS Version

15.5(Sequoia)

What happened?

Description

When using Area Capture, the recording stops automatically after a seemingly random duration, even though I do not manually stop it.

The selected-area dotted border disappears, BetterCapture remains responsive, and the partial recording is saved successfully as a MOV file.

This occurs with both the iOS Simulator and a browser playing a YouTube video, so it does not appear to be specific to the Simulator or the captured application.

Environment

• BetterCapture version: v2026.3 (6124e54)
• macOS: Sequoia 15.5
• Mac: Apple Silicon MacBook Pro
• Capture mode: Select Area
• System audio: Enabled
• Microphone: Disabled
• Container: MOV

Steps to reproduce

1. Open BetterCapture.
2. Select Select Area.
3. Select an area of the screen.
4. Enable Capture System Audio.
5. Start recording.
6. Leave a YouTube video playing, or operate the iOS Simulator.
7. Wait without manually stopping the recording.

Actual behavior

The recording stops by itself after a variable duration.

Observed recording durations include:

• 1 minute 23 seconds
• 1 minute 34 seconds
• 3 minutes 9 seconds

When this happens:

• The dotted Area Capture border disappears.
• BetterCapture does not freeze or crash.
• A notification is shown.
• The recording is saved successfully, but only up to the unexpected stopping point.

Expected behavior

The recording should continue until I manually stop it.

Settings tested

The issue reproduced with:

• 60 fps / H.265
• 30 fps / H.264

Changing the frame rate and codec did not resolve the issue.

The issue also reproduced when recording a browser playing YouTube, so it is not specific to the iOS Simulator.

Storage information

The recording files are relatively small, and recordings larger than the failed recordings have previously been saved successfully.

The stopping point also varies, so this does not appear to be a fixed MOV file-size limit.

The internal disk had approximately 3.6 GB available during testing. This is low, but the recorded MOV files were only around tens of megabytes, and AssetWriter completed saving them.

Logs

The logs indicate that the capture stream stopped unexpectedly and BetterCapture then attempted to save the partial recording.

Relevant messages include:

Capture stopped with error
Stream stopped unexpectedly, attempting to save recording
Stream stopped with error

### What did you expect to happen?

The recording should continue until I manually stop it. It should never stop automatically during recording.

### Steps to Reproduce

1. Launch BetterCapture.
2. Select "Select Area".
3. Select any area of the screen.
4. Enable "Capture System Audio".
5. Start recording.
6. Play a YouTube video in Chrome (the issue also occurs with the iOS Simulator).
7. Wait without manually stopping the recording.
8. After approximately 1–3 minutes, the recording stops automatically.

### Video Codec

H.264

### Audio Codec

AAC

### Container Format

MOV

### Alpha Channel

Disabled

### HDR

Disabled

### Content Filters

- [X] Show Cursor
- [ ] Show Wallpaper
- [ ] Show Menu Bar
- [ ] Show Dock
- [ ] Show Window Shadows
- [ ] Show BetterCapture

### Microphone

Disabled

### I confirm that:

- [X] I have searched existing Discussions and Issues and this is not a duplicate.</div>