How to Change the Default Camera Settings on Your iPhone

Have you ever used the camera app on your iPhone to take a picture only to discover that all your preferred settings had been altered since you last used it? The shot was missed by the time you selected the proper camera mode, zoomed in, added a filter, activated the flash, and turned off Live Photos.

Here’s how to set the default camera settings on an iPhone if you don’t want to mess with your camera settings when you should be taking the photo of a lifetime.

Preserve Settings

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 earlier models) to replicate the procedure for any filters, aspect ratio, lighting, or depth settings you most recently employed. Enable Exposure Adjustment (unique to iPhone 11 and up) to preserve exposure settings you may want to keep.

Not a fan of 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

It’s time to switch to your Camera app and configure your camera preferences after your options have been set. You can zoom in or out, enable or disable Live Photos, turn on or off the flash, set a timer, add filters, and more using the buttons at the top of the screen and, if you have an iPhone 11 or higher, the icons tucked away in additional settings behind the down arrow.

You can control Night Mode for low-light situations, modify the aspect ratio, and adjust the exposure for those who have an iPhone 11 or higher. Change the depth of field and set the default lighting if you want to make Portrait your default mode.

This time, your preferred settings will be saved when you exit the Camera app, eliminating the 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 the video to record in 720p at 30 frames per second, 1080p at 30 or 60 frames per second, or 4K at 24, 30, or 60 frames per second. 1080p slow motion videos can be set to 120 or 240 frames per second.

From the Camera settings screen, enable Grid to add a grid to the camera viewfinder, which can help improve the composition of your pictures. If your phone has those features, you can also choose from HDR, View Outside the Frame, Scene Detection, and Lens Correction.