diff --git a/src/chrome/ScreenCaptureButtons.tsx b/src/chrome/ScreenCaptureButtons.tsx
index d16cb516f..bd6495a78 100644
--- a/src/chrome/ScreenCaptureButtons.tsx
+++ b/src/chrome/ScreenCaptureButtons.tsx
@@ -102,11 +102,7 @@ class ScreenCaptureButtons extends Component<Props, State> {
       return;
     }
     const videoPath = path.join(CAPTURE_LOCATION, getFileName('mp4'));
-    await selectedDevice.startScreenCapture(videoPath);
-
-    this.setState({
-      recording: true,
-    });
+    return selectedDevice.startScreenCapture(videoPath);
   };
 
   stopRecording = async () => {
@@ -114,18 +110,28 @@ class ScreenCaptureButtons extends Component<Props, State> {
     if (!selectedDevice) {
       return;
     }
-    const path = await selectedDevice.stopScreenCapture();
-    this.setState({
-      recording: false,
+    const path = await selectedDevice.stopScreenCapture().catch(e => {
+      console.error(e);
     });
-    openFile(path);
+    path ? openFile(path) : 0;
   };
 
   onRecordingClicked = () => {
     if (this.state.recording) {
       this.stopRecording();
+      this.setState({
+        recording: false,
+      });
     } else {
-      this.startRecording();
+      this.setState({
+        recording: true,
+      });
+      this.startRecording().catch(e => {
+        this.setState({
+          recording: false,
+        });
+        console.error(e);
+      });
     }
   };
 
diff --git a/src/chrome/VideoRecordingButton.tsx b/src/chrome/VideoRecordingButton.tsx
index 33d54241d..20d3efcea 100644
--- a/src/chrome/VideoRecordingButton.tsx
+++ b/src/chrome/VideoRecordingButton.tsx
@@ -46,10 +46,15 @@ export default class VideoRecordingButton extends Component<Props, State> {
       .toISOString()
       .replace(/:/g, '')}.mp4`;
     const videoPath = path.join(flipperDirectory, fileName);
-    await selectedDevice.startScreenCapture(videoPath);
     this.setState({
       recording: true,
     });
+    selectedDevice.startScreenCapture(videoPath).catch(e => {
+      console.error('Screen recording failed:', e);
+      this.setState({
+        recording: false,
+      });
+    });
   };
 
   stopRecording = async () => {
diff --git a/src/devices/AndroidDevice.tsx b/src/devices/AndroidDevice.tsx
index 693dfb8d8..8980aa10f 100644
--- a/src/devices/AndroidDevice.tsx
+++ b/src/devices/AndroidDevice.tsx
@@ -132,6 +132,23 @@ export default class AndroidDevice extends BaseDevice {
     }
   }
 
+  private async isValidFile(filePath: string): Promise<boolean> {
+    const fileSize = await this.adb
+      .shell(this.serial, `du "${filePath}"`)
+      .then(adb.util.readAll)
+      .then((output: Buffer) =>
+        output
+          .toString()
+          .trim()
+          .split('\t'),
+      )
+      .then(x => Number(x[0]));
+
+    // 4 is what an empty file (touch file) already takes up, so it's
+    // definitely not a valid video file.
+    return fileSize > 4;
+  }
+
   async startScreenCapture(destination: string) {
     await this.executeShell(
       `mkdir -p "${DEVICE_RECORDING_DIR}" && echo -n > "${DEVICE_RECORDING_DIR}/.nomedia"`,
@@ -140,17 +157,28 @@ export default class AndroidDevice extends BaseDevice {
     this.recordingProcess = this.adb
       .shell(this.serial, `screenrecord --bugreport "${recordingLocation}"`)
       .then(adb.util.readAll)
+      .then(async output => {
+        const isValid = await this.isValidFile(recordingLocation);
+        if (!isValid) {
+          const outputMessage = output.toString().trim();
+          throw new Error(
+            'Recording was not properly started: \n' + outputMessage,
+          );
+        }
+      })
       .then(
         _ =>
-          new Promise((resolve, reject) =>
+          new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
             this.adb.pull(this.serial, recordingLocation).then(stream => {
               stream.on('end', resolve);
               stream.on('error', reject);
               stream.pipe(createWriteStream(destination));
-            }),
-          ),
+            });
+          }),
       )
       .then(_ => destination);
+
+    return this.recordingProcess.then(_ => {});
   }
 
   async stopScreenCapture(): Promise<string> {
diff --git a/src/devices/BaseDevice.tsx b/src/devices/BaseDevice.tsx
index deb6cf931..e1816e13b 100644
--- a/src/devices/BaseDevice.tsx
+++ b/src/devices/BaseDevice.tsx
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ export default class BaseDevice {
     return false;
   }
 
-  async startScreenCapture(_destination: string) {
+  async startScreenCapture(_destination: string): Promise<void> {
     throw new Error('startScreenCapture not implemented on BaseDevice ');
   }