How to Change the Default Camera Settings on Your iPhone

Have you ever tried to take a picture on your iPhone, only to realize all your favorite settings have been changed since you last opened the Camera app? By the time you set the right camera mode, zoom in, add a filter, turn on the flash, and turn off Live Photos, the moment has passed and you missed your shot.

If you don’t want to fiddle with your camera settings when you should be taking the picture of a lifetime, here’s how to set default camera settings on the iPhone.

Preserve Settings

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If you have a preferred camera mode, lighting setting, or want to permanently remove Live Photos, head to Settings > Camera > Preserve Settings, and enable Camera Mode to make the last used mode the new default.

Enable Creative Controls (called Filters & Lighting on iPhone X and older models) to do the same for any filters, aspect ratio, lighting, or depth settings you last used. Enable Exposure Adjustment (unique to iPhone 11 and up) to preserve exposure settings you may want to keep.

Don’t like Live Photos? Disable Live Photo to ensure the setting never turns back on once you turn it off in the Camera app.

Set New Defaults

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Once your options have been set, it’s time to transition to your Camera app and set your camera preferences. Using the buttons at the top of the screen and, if you have an iPhone 11 or higher, the icons hidden in additional settings behind the down arrow, you can turn the flash on or off, enable or disable Live Photos, set a timer, add filters, and zoom in or out.

For those with an iPhone 11 or higher, you can also manage Night Mode for low-light conditions, change the aspect ratio, and alter the exposure. If you want to set Portrait as your default mode, you can also set a default lighting and change the depth of field.

This time, when you close the Camera app, your preferred settings will be saved and you will no longer need to switch them back.

Change Video Resolution Settings

To change your phone’s video settings, open Settings > Camera and choose Record Video or Record Slo-mo to change the default video resolution settings. Set video to record 720p at 30fps, 1080p at 30 or 60fps, or 4K at 24, 30, or 60fps. Slow-mo vidoes can be set to 1080p at 120fps or 240fps.

From the Camera settings screen, enable Grid to add a grid to the camera viewfinder, which can help improve the composition of your pictures. Other options include HDR, View Outside the Frame, Scene Detection, and Lens Correction, if your phone has those options.

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