Your phone is full of hidden features that you are not taking advantage of.
Use an iPhone? Tap or click to get 10 smart tricks that you will use all the time. Android lovers, did you know that you can now easily program minute-by-minute text messages?
The fun doesn’t stop there. We go beyond the default camera settings. Pick up your phone and jump to five settings to take your photos and videos to the next level.
1. Record 4K video
Remember how bad smartphone videos used to be? Now, the iPhone in your hand is good enough to shoot a real movie if you use the correct setting.
Turn on 4K video, a resolution measure equivalent to about 4,000 pixels on a screen. Capture your subject in much more detail. This option is especially useful if you are viewing a video on a larger screen, such as your TV.
To enable 4K recording on your iPhone, go to Settings> Camera> Record video and select from the list of options. It is available on iPhone 8 and later models.
Most Samsung models produced after 2018 – starting with the Note 9, S9 and S9 + – offer 4K video at 60 fps. Google Pixel users can only record 4K videos at 30 fps. Other Android users can record 4K videos with Sony’s Xperia and almost all OnePlus phones. To turn it on, open the camera settings.
Note: shooting in 4K can take up a lot of space. Remember to go back to the default video settings when you’re done.
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2. Don’t wait for the perfect moment
Capturing movement can be a struggle. Dog owners, you know what I mean. Burst mode can help. This feature allows your camera to take photos faster than humanly possible. You get multiple photos every second and you can select your favorites.
On almost all compatible smartphones, you can activate burst mode by holding down the shutter button. To see all your photos, go to your gallery and choose the photo set.
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3. Take it slow
If you’ve never shot in slow motion, you’re missing out. This can yield some really cool or hilarious videos. To use it, swipe through the options in your phone’s camera app.
To capture the best video possible, use a tripod to stabilize your phone. This is a small, affordable model that you can take with you anywhere.
4. Use a shortcut
Imagine this: it is winter and you want to take a picture of the snowy landscape, but you are wearing gloves. You can remove one and expose yourself to the elements or use the volume up button. It also helps with stability and focus.
The feature is standard on most iOS and Android phones. You can change the functionality of the volume button to take consecutive photos, zoom and more in camera settings.
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5. Take quality to the next level
Your smartphone takes JPEG photos by default, which is suitable for everyday use and social media. If you want to get the most out of your photos, try shooting in RAW.
RAW is an image format that retains all information when you take a digital photo, such as contrast, exposure and saturation. It also maintains all your settings, such as ISO, shutter speed and aperture for later viewing. It all comes into play when editing photos.
Apple’s iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max allow you to take photos using Apple’s ProRAW format. Go to Settings> Camera> Formats, then switch to Apple ProRAW on. A RAW icon will now be available when taking a photo.
Most major phones from Samsung, LG and Google produced after 2016 also have this feature. You can usually find it in the camera application settings. Just change the format from .jpeg to .raw.
Like shooting in 4K, RAW photos are much larger files and can quickly fill up your storage. Keep this in mind when playing around with the camera settings.
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