Skip to main content

How-to: Use the new Camera app in iOS 7

Screen Shot 2013-09-20 at 9.56.50 AM

Everyone loves taking pictures. And with iOS 7, Apple has attempted to improve the picture and video taking experience with a completely redesigned Camera app. First, let’s discuss the different ways to open up the Camera app, as it is the only app in iOS that has four different methods to launch it.

1
  1. Tap on the home screen. This should be very simple, as this was the original method to open up the camera. Find the camera icon, tap on it.
photo

2. Slide the camera up on the lock screen. This method came out in iOS 5. By swiping up the camera icon located in the lower right hand corner of the screen, it opens the camera.

3. Use Siri. Even though Siri came out with iOS 5, the ability to use Siri to open Apps did not come out until iOS 6 was launched. You can say “Open Camera,” or “Launch Camera,” and Siri will open up the camera app so you are able to use it.

3

4. Use Control Center. This feature is new in iOS 7. Control Center allows you to easily access your camera wherever you are on your iOS device. To activate Control Center, swipe up on any screen. Then you can press the camera button in the lower right hand corner, which will then open up the camera app.

Now that you’ve opened your camera, let’s discuss navigating between the different modes in the new interface.

By default, it opens up to Photo. The image fills the whole screen. This is your standard mode for taking photos. Apple has also added a Square photo mode, and to get to it, you can slide the viewing area to the right. Square mode resembles Instagram-style photos.  Slide once more to the right and you get the panorama mode. If you want to take a video, you can slide the screen all the way to the left..

Now let’s learn about taking pictures.

IMG_4001

The controls for Photo Mode and Square mode are exactly the same. Starting in the upper left hand corner you have the Flash control button. Tapping on that will allow you to turn Flash on or off, or have it set to automatically flash based on lighting conditions.

The HDR button is in the top center of the screen. Tap on it to turn it either on or off. HDR stands for high dynamic range, and it takes three pictures in a rapid succession with different exposures. It then combines the three for the perfect picture. Keep in mind a few things if you are using HDR. You cannot take pictures in a quick, rapid succession, because of the intense image processing to create the HDR picture. Additionally, HDR photos take up more room on the device by default, because in Settings under the Photos & Camera settings, Keep Normal Photo is turned on.

5

This is also where you’ll find the option to turn on the photo grid. 

Moving back to the controls for the Camera, if you want to take a picture of you and your friend, or a picture of yourself (a Selfie), you can switch between the back facing camera and front facing camera by pressing the icon in the upper right hand corner that has a camera with a semi circle in it. If you press the button in the lower left hand corner, it will open up the pictures in your Camera Roll, and you can press done to get back to the camera. To take your picture, press the white button down in the center, or use the volume keys as a shutter button. New in iOS, in the lower right hand corner, you’ll find the Filters button. It has three shades of grey circles. Not all iOS devices will support Filters. Apple’s website says:

Filters in Camera are available on iPhone 5 and iPod touch (5th generation). Filters in Photos are available on iPhone 4 or later, iPad (3rd generation or later), iPad mini, and iPod touch (5th generation).

However, since iOS 7 Beta 4, filters have been on the iPhone 4S. The filter button will appear grey when not in use. When you tap the filter button, a zoom out animation appears, followed by 9 tiny preview screens with live filters. When you tap on one of the filters, the effect will be applied.

If you don’t want to use a filter, press the none button to go back.

Panorama is available on iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s and fifth generation iPod touch. Panorama works exactly the same as in iOS 6, with just a minor change in the color of the buttons.

Taking videos also works exactly the same as it did in iOS 6. Press the red button on the bottom of the screen or the volume buttons to record. You can also take videos with the flash on, which is great if you are trying to take a video in low light. To do so, just tap the flash button in the upper left hand corner.

IMG_4004

If you own an iPhone 5s, you’ll have a few additional features in the Camera that are exclusive to it, such as True Tone Flash, Burst Mode, Auto Image Stabilization, and Slow Motion Videos.

Hopefully this will help you enjoy taking pictures and videos in iOS 7.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Comments

  1. Peter Evans (@PeteCE) - 11 years ago

    Even on older hardware, there’s a “burst lite” version that I haven’t seen anyone mention. If you hold your finger down on the shutter button, it will snap photos as fast as possible. I figured this out because I used to hold my finger on the shutter and release when the shot was framed properly; I took 3 photos of my son using this method and ended up with 16.

    I’ve tested it on both an iPhone 5 and 4s.

    • Mike Roberts - 10 years ago

      I use the same method as Peter and end up with dozens of unwanted shots. How do I turn off burst mode?

  2. Mike Glenn - 11 years ago

    >>>If you don’t want to use a filter, press the none button to go back.<<<

    I don't see the "none" button on iPhone5. Where is it?

  3. “Taking videos also works exactly the same as it did in iOS 6”

    Were you able to take pictures while you were recording a video in iOS 6? Or are you forgetting about that one?

  4. This didn’t help me at all. What I need to know is why the heck my photo’s don’t save to my photo stream. Whether I’m saving the photo from safari, or just taking a picture with my phone, it doesn’t save!

    • Kanny Grewal - 10 years ago

      Most likely because you have exceeded the memory capacity on iCloud.

      • Callie Blackburn - 10 years ago

        I have an iphone 4s, and i dont even have the fliters at all, not even the grey circle things, nothing is on that corner of the screen, anyway i can turn them on?

  5. Brad Tinman - 10 years ago

    Why don’t I have a flash button on my iPad anymore

    • Kathryn Marmion - 10 years ago

      Did you ever find out the answer? I would like to know this too. My photos are coming out too grainy, especially in low light and the flash feature never seems to activate. Help!

    • dsnwiirocks - 10 years ago

      If you look closely, you can see that your iPad never had a flash.

  6. Norman Schwartz - 10 years ago

    The camera of i-Pad’s OS-7 has a ‘telephoto’ perspective as compared to that of OS-6. Can one return it to its former perspective? (I now can’t get far enough away from an object so that I can capture it all in a single frame. It didn’t behave that way using OS-6.)

    • dsnwiirocks - 10 years ago

      *iPad *iOS 7 *iOS 6. These are proper nouns with a defined format of use. Learn to respect it.

  7. Leonard Brendel - 10 years ago

    Why do the videos that I send via message from my iphone 5 appear very small on others’ phones? Other iphone 5 phones, they appear full size.

  8. The Tatted Blogger - 10 years ago

    i Couldnt find the dumb None Button In Photo Mode than i Read below. i Felt Stupid! it is there! it was the whole time lol

  9. Sabrina Fields Bailey - 10 years ago

    With ios7 my camora does not take very good pictures like it did before can anybody tell me why.

    • Cindy Young Campbell - 10 years ago

      Mine is horrible!!! I have tried contacting so many different people on this and I get no response. My pictures all look like they are negatives. So frustrated!!!!

  10. Robert Ashworth - 10 years ago

    No help at all! Taking a photo is easy but saving it is beyond me. I used to be able to take a photo, save it and/or email it…………on my old iPhone.

  11. Mike Roberts - 10 years ago

    The answer to all of the comments above seems to be to abandon the Apple iOS camera app, which is not ‘fit for purpose’, and use a decent camera app. I now use ProCamera which is streets ahead of the Apple app.

  12. Super useful! Many thanks!!!

  13. Lindsay Lategan - 10 years ago

    i have the IPhone 4 and updated IOS 7, but i do not have the option of the Panorama in my camera. When opening the camera it gives you three oprions, Video, Photo, Square …… is there any setting that i need to activate in order to get the panorama added to the camera? please help.

  14. Callie Blackburn - 10 years ago

    I have an iphone 4s, just got it. and i have no fliters what so ever, not even the little grey cirles, there is nothing in that corner where theyre supposed to be. HELP!

  15. Cindy Young Campbell - 10 years ago

    My camera is so messed up. I just got this phone 2 days ago. When you go to the camera icon and bring up the camera to take a photo the button is black with a tiny white ring around it. All the pictures turn out blue and in a picture of negatives. Can this be fixed??? I am so wanting to take pictures with this phone. It is a refurbished phone.

  16. Cindy Young Campbell - 10 years ago

    I do not understand what the control center is good for when adjusting the camera. Anyone???

  17. Cindy Young Campbell - 10 years ago

    Guys I figured mine out. I had to go to Wallpapers and brightness and adjust everything there. It works perfectly now.

  18. Katja Lehmonen - 10 years ago

    I’ve just got an iphone 4s after having had samsungs with android for years. I’m amazed by the fact that there is absolutely no settings to change anything like picture size, iso etc. And the same for video, just no settings at all. All I have managed to find are those stupid filters. Is that really all you get in the 4S????

    • Mike Roberts - 10 years ago

      Hi Katja, solution is use the ProCamera app off the Apple store. Lots of useful settings in advanced mode.

  19. Tita Zeffren - 10 years ago

    Can I zoom with the camera?