Did you know that you can use your iPhone’s volume buttons to take photos and videos? If you didn’t know that, now you know a shortcut to take pictures with hardware buttons. But that’s not all. You can also use the long press action of Volume up and down buttons to take burst photos and quick video.
However, these features are a bit confusing as they depend not only on the iOS version but also on the iPhone model you are using. In this article, I will explain all this and show you how you can use the volume buttons to take burst photos, fast motion videos, slow motion videos and more on iPhone.
Use Volume buttons to Capture Photos and Videos on iPhone
Apple has made it very confusing to take photos and videos using the volume buttons as the feature varies depending on your iPhone model and iOS version. In this article, we will first discuss the single-press movements of the volume buttons, which are fixed between devices and iOS versions, and then move on to their differences.
One Press Action for Volume Buttons
Apple has historically allowed users to use the volume buttons as physical shutter control for the camera app. So, no matter what iPhone you are using or what version of iOS it is running on, all these actions will work. Remember that for these actions to work, you need to be in the same mode in the camera app. For example, to use the volume button as a photo shutter, you must be in photo capture mode.
- Photo Mode: Click the Volume up/down buttons once to take a picture.
- Portrait mode: Click the Volume up/down buttons once to take a portrait mode photo.
- Panorama Mode: Click the Volume up/down buttons once to start the Panorama mode photo. Click the button again to stop recording.
- Video mode: Click the Volume up/down buttons once to start recording. Click the button again to stop recording.
- Accelerated Mode: Click the Volume up/down buttons once to start recording time-lapse video. Click the button again to stop recording.
- Slow Motion Mode: Click the Volume up/down buttons once to start recording slow motion video. Click the button again to stop recording.
Long Press Actions for Volume Buttons
This is where things get a little unclear. In iOS 13, you get the following long press actions for iPhone 11 or newer.
- Video mode: Press and hold the volume up/down key to start a video. Release the button to stop recording.
- Slow Motion Mode: Press and hold the volume up/down button to start a slow motion video. Release the button to stop recording.
- Panorama Mode: Press and hold the volume up/down button to start capturing the panorama. Release the button to stop recording.
In iOS 14, the above features also work on iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max. No other iPhone model supports these features.
Quick Check and Burst Photo Operations
In camera’s photo mode, long press actions of volume buttons behave differently. If you have iPhone XR or newer models of iPhone, a long press of the Volume up or down buttons will start a quick video recording. You can release the buttons to stop recording.
However, fast recording does not work on iPhone X or older models. Instead, the phone takes burst photos. But that’s not all, with iOS 14 you can now allow iPhone XR and newer models (iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max…) to take burst photos using the Volume up button. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Open settings and tap on Camera.
2. Here, enable the “Turn Up Volume for Burst” toggle.
After enabling this toggle, you can use the Volume down button to take quick videos while the camera is in Photo Mode, and the Volume up button to take photos in burst mode.
Use Hardware Volume Buttons to Capture Photos and Videos
That’s all you need to know about taking photos and videos using iPhone volume buttons. As you can see, the system is a bit confusing. However, I tried to explain everything as clearly as possible.
If you are still having trouble understanding anything. Let us know in the comments below and I’ll help you out. If you love taking photos on your iPhone, be sure to check out our article on the best iPhone camera apps. They give you more freedom when shooting.
