Learn how to use Action mode to fix shakiness when recording iPhone videos instead of using a gimbal or specialized camera equipment.
The iPhone’s camera captures awesome stabilized video clips unless you’re running or otherwise moving a lot. In that case, you can use a gimbal for video stabilization or rely on Action mode, a built-in feature leveraging the power of software and image processing that helps you capture smooth handheld video without requiring extra hardware.
Supported iPhones for Action mode
Action mode works inside Apple’s built-in Camera app on the iPhone 14 and newer models. Action mode is unavailable on the iPad.
Record stabilized iPhone videos with Action mode
Action mode works best when you’re under bright light, like outside on a sunny day. For dark environments, turn on low-light recording for Action mode in the camera settings. Action mode is disabled by default, buy you can turn it on by following these steps:
- Open the Camera app on your iPhone and switch to VIDEO mode.
- Tap the Action mode button near the top-right corner, resembling a running person.
- A yellow-tinted icon means the feature is turned on. Tap the record button to start capturing stabilized video in Action mode.
Using Action mode to stabilize zoomed-in recording
Action mode is incredibly useful for stabilizing city walks or zoomed-in objects in the telephoto lens, especially on iPhones offering 5x optical zoom like the iPhone 15 Pros and newer. Tyler Stalman shared a video demonstration of this trick on his X account.
I didn’t expect this to blow up and guess I rushed the edit, so the two takes are mismatched. Here is the correct original and result side by side, but try it for yourself!
Works on iPhone 14 Pro too pic.twitter.com/11d5LMJRLT
— Tyler Stalman (@stalman) September 25, 2023
Whether you use optical or digital zoom, you need a steady hand or a tripod to capture smooth handheld video. That’s especially true if you’re moving around a lot like Stalman does to capture various details of the beautiful plaza in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The limitations of Action mode
Due to heavy cropping required for stabilization, Action mode caps your video recordings to either 1080p or 2.8K resolution at up to 60 frames per second. Shooting 4K video is unsupported in Action mode. According to Apple, Action mode takes advantage of the entire camera sensor by using advanced roll correction and more overscan.
Action mode can also capture video in Dolby Vision HDR and Apple’s ProRes format. Action mode on the iPhone is similar to GoPro’s HyperSmooth algorithm but Apple’s computational photography magic produces better results.
Also, check out: How to take spatial 3D photos and videos on iPhone and Vision Pro