How to turn night mode on iphone camera

If you don’t want your iPhone to make certain adjustments when shooting in lowlight conditions, just follow these steps.

Many smartphones, including iPhones, have lots of clever software at play to enhance photos that you take with the camera. This can be especially useful when you’re shooting in darkness and there’s no enough natural light to illuminate the scene, and for the most part we’ve been highly impressed by the results achieved by the iPhone’s Night Mode.

However, if you find these enhanced images too artificial-looking or are merely curious to see what difference Night Mode actually makes, then you can turn off this automatic effect on your iPhone by following our guide below.

The first two steps refer to switching Night Mode off for one shooting session; the remaining steps explain how to turn it off for good.

What we used

  • We used an iPhone 13, but you can use any iPhone that has iOS 15 or above.

The Short Version

  • Tap the yellow button when shooting in the dark
  • Adjust the Night Mode dial to zero
  • Open the Settings app
  • Tap Camera
  • Go to Preserve Settings
  • Toggle the Night Mode switch to on

  1. Step
    1

    Tap the yellow button when shooting in the dark

    How to turn night mode on iphone camera

    When your camera app is open and you’re shooting in lowlight conditions, tap the yellow button above the viewfinder. It may have a number from 1s to 3s, which dictates how long the Night Mode shooting process lasts.

    How to turn night mode on iphone camera

  2. Step
    2

    Adjust the Night Mode dial to zero

    How to turn night mode on iphone camera

    After pressing this button, a dial will appear at the bottom of the screen. Turn it all the way to zero to switch Night Mode off.

    How to turn night mode on iphone camera

  3. Step
    3

    Open the Settings app

    How to turn night mode on iphone camera

    If you want to take more permanent action against Night Mode, then you’ll need to open up the Settings app on your iPhone. This has an icon like a mechanical cog.

    How to turn night mode on iphone camera

  4. Step
    4

    Tap Camera

    How to turn night mode on iphone camera

    Scroll down the options, and tap on Camera to change its settings.

    How to turn night mode on iphone camera

  5. Step
    5

    Go to Preserve Settings

    How to turn night mode on iphone camera

    Once you’re in the Camera’s setting menu, tap on the option which says Preserve Settings.

    How to turn night mode on iphone camera

  6. Step
    6

    Toggle the Night Mode switch to on

    How to turn night mode on iphone camera

    Now, simply tap on the Night Mode toggle so that it is green, meaning that it is on. From now, Night Mode should be disabled by default.

    How to turn night mode on iphone camera

Troubleshooting

How can I enable Night Mode again?

Just as in the steps described above, you can reinstate it by tapping on the Night Mode symbol when shooting in the dark, and to permanently change it back to the original settings you can tap the toggle to off.

Would you advise me to switch Night Mode off or on?

Our opinion is that the iPhone’s Night Mode does an excellent job of restoring detail and reducing noise when you’re shooting in difficult lowlight conditions, so for most users we’d recommend keeping it on.

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How to turn night mode on iphone camera

IDG / Jason Cross

For the most part, Night mode in the Camera app on modern iPhones is a great feature that can absolutely transform photos taken in very low light. If the Camera app detects a dark scene, Night Mode is enabled automatically, but sometimes you want that dramatic dark effect, and it’s annoying to disable Night Mode to get it. You have to tap the Night Mode indicator and then slide the timer down to zero seconds.

If you wait a while before taking another photo, it will re-engage automatically. But maybe you don’t want it to re-engage. Maybe you want the Camera app to remember that you’ve disabled Night Mode. Fortunately, iOS 15 lets you do just that.

[For more tips, tricks, news, features, and updates, check out our iOS 15 superguide.]

How to keep Night Mode from automatically engaging

With iOS 15, you can head to Settings > Camera > Preserve Settings to find an option to preserve your Night mode settings (among other things). With this enabled, Night mode will remember when it has been turned off and won’t re-enable itself. If you want to take a Night mode shot, you can manually tap the Night mode indicator to enable it yourself.

How to turn night mode on iphone camera

IDG

That last bit is important! This isn’t so much a button to turn Night mode off forever as it is a switch to remember your last Night mode setting. With it enabled, your Camera app will always use the same the amount of Night mode you’ve selected. If you slide the Night Mode slider all the way up to Max, you’ll find that it engages more readily and uses an even longer shutter speed. If you slide it to Auto (in the middle), it will engage as it usually does. Only by sliding it to Off and leaving it there will the Camera app never engage Night mode.

How to turn night mode on iphone camera

I have written about technology for my entire adult professional life - over 25 years. I enjoy learning about how complicated technology works and explaining it in a way anyone can understand.

How do I turn off Night mode on my iPhone Camera?

What to Know.
Temporarily turn it off: Tap the Night Mode icon and then slide it to the left to Off. ... .
Disable Night Mode: Settings > Camera > Preserve Settings > Night Mode and toggle on the button..
In the Camera app, you can turn off Night Mode, and the app will remember the last setting of Night Mode..

How do I turn on night Camera mode?

Use Night mode To begin, open the Camera app, and then swipe to and tap MORE. Tap NIGHT, and then tap the zoom icons if you'd like to get a closer shot. Tap Capture when you're ready to take your photo. Night mode uses multi-frame processing to combine 30 images into one clear photo.

How do I put my iPhone 11 on Night mode Camera?

How to use Night mode on iPhone 11 and 12.
With the Camera app open, look for the moon icon in the top left corner (top right in landscape orientation).
If it's grayed out, it's available to use, but not auto-enabled..
If it's yellow, Night mode is auto-enabled..
Tap the moon icon to manually adjust the exposure time..