Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. Guides

How to create time-lapse video on your iPhone 6 and 6 Plus

By

create time lapse video iphone 6 plus guide copy
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Time-lapse photography isn’t a new thing. However, although the technology has been around since French filmmaker Georges Méliès first utilized the technique at the turn of the 20th century, it’s only recently come to the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus (as well as other iOS-compatible iPhones) via iOS 8. The remarkable and fun feature had been available through third-party apps, but it’s now baked directly into the iPhone Camera app, letting you easily snaps photos at dynamically selected intervals before speeding up the resulting video to produce a film that’s quite the opposite of slow motion. It’s a clever process, one much more apparent when tracking the movement of stars across the night sky, flowers blossoming with the rising sun, and other changes that appear subtle to the human eye. Nonetheless, using the advanced technique on your iPhone requires you to do little more than launch the Camera app, press the Record button, diligently wait, and watch the resulting video at a standard 30 frames per second in glorious high definition. Follow the directions below for details on how to take a time-lapse video on an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus, so you can capture those cliche clouds.

Note: Although the screenshots below are from an iPhone 5 running iOS 8, the process is exactly the same on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, along with any other iPhone capable of running iOS 8 or later.

Recommended Videos

Related: Our favorite photography apps for the iPhone and the best iPhone 6 cases.

Related

Launch the camera app

Film a time-lapse video on an iPhone isn’t particularly difficult. Tap the gray camera icon while viewing the home screen, or tap the camera icon and swipe up while viewing the lock screen, to launch the Camera app. Afterward, continually swipe right until you access the iPhone’s time-lapse mode, indicated by the words Time-lapse in yellow at the bottom.

Time Lapse Tutorial
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Capture the time-lapse video

Once you’ve found a scene you want to capture, press the red Record button at the bottom of the screen — or either volume button — to begin recording your time-lapse. You can record video for as long as you’d like, whether it be 30 seconds or 30 hours, but keep in mind the images in the frame will appear to move faster than they do in real life. Click the Record button or either volume button again when finished with your recording to save the resulting video to your camera roll. Afterward, access the Photos app to view your new time-lapse on your Retina HD display!

[iPhone 6 time-lapse montage courtesy of Uncage the Soul Productions/Vimeo]

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Brandon Widder
Brandon Widder
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Brandon Widder is a multimedia journalist and a staff writer for Digital Trends where he covers technology news, how-to…
Best iPhone 14 deals: Unlocked and refurbished
The Apple iPhone 14 Pro's camera module

While the iPhone 15 may be Apple’s most recent iPhone release, that only makes the iPhone 14 a better way to save. The iPhone 14 isn’t far removed from being among the best phones on the market, and it’s still a powerhouse option for most smartphone users. There are a lot of ways to save on an iPhone 14, with shopping refurbished models being one of the best. You'll get a good warranty and a large return window shopping refurbished with most major retailers, which makes them some of the best iPhone 14 deals you'll find. With so many to take advantage of right now, we thought we’d do the heavy lifting and put all of the best iPhone 14 deals together in one place. Reading onward you’ll find some impressive savings on all models of the Apple iPhone 14.
Apple iPhone 14 -- from $479, was $699

With the Apple iPhone 14 you’re getting what is still one of the most popular smartphones on the market. This is the iPhone 14 model that’s meant for everyone. It holds back a few features you can only get on the Pro model, but it still has an impressive 6.1-inch display, an impressive camera, and dozens of ways to personalize your iOS experience with widgets and fonts. The phone can reach up to 26 hours of battery life on a single charge, and it’s powered by Apple’s A15 Bionic chip. Face ID, emergency SOS via satellite, and super fast 5G cellular connectivity round out the top features of the Apple iPhone 14.
Buy Refurbished at Amazon — from $479

Read more
How to turn off call forwarding on iPhone and Android
A person holding the Apple iPhone 15 Plus, showing the camera.

If you’re mysteriously missing calls on your iPhone or Android smartphone, it may be because call forwarding is activated on your line. In that case, all your incoming calls could be going somewhere else.

Call forwarding shouldn’t typically be active unless you’ve specifically turned it on, but another person or app may have done so without your knowledge. And since call forwarding is a carrier feature, it could still be enabled on a line you inherited from someone else, even if you’ve swapped their SIM card into your phone or transferred it to a new account.

Read more
iPhone 16: news, rumored price, release date, and more
A person holding the Apple iPhone 15 Plus and Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

We're more than six months removed from the launch of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro, so you know what that means: iPhone 16 rumors are in full force. Talk is heating up about everything from design leaks and rumored specs to camera changes and more.

Read more