How To Turn On Iphone Night Mode

Night mode is a feature on the iPhone 11 and 12 that makes photos taken in the dark look better.
Unlike Portrait or Video modes, Night mode will turn on automatically in low-light environments.
Night mode lets more light into your iPhone's camera, making dark photos brighter and clearer.
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Gone are the blurry snaps of faces hidden in shadow after the sun goes down. With Night mode, iPhone photographers can take great photos at any time of day.

Night mode lengthens the exposure time on your photos, letting in more light and making pictures look brighter. And unlike the iPhone's other camera modes, you don't need to choose between a Night mode photo and a normal one — Night mode turns on and adjusts automatically in low-light environments.

Which iPhone models have Night mode?

To use Night mode, you'll need an iPhone 11 (including Pro and Pro Max), or iPhone 12 (including the Mini, Pro, and Pro Max).

If you want to use Night mode with the front-facing "selfie" camera, in portrait mode, or with a time-lapse video, you'll need one of the iPhone 12 models.

Night mode improves photos taken in the dark.

It's not confirmed whether future iPhone models will have Night mode too, but it's more than likely that they will. There's also a chance that it'll come to other Apple devices with cameras, like the iPad or Mac.

How to use Night mode on your iPhone

Night mode will turn on automatically when you're trying to take a picture in low-light environments. You'll see the small symbol near the top left, which looks like a moon, turn yellow. A time like "1s" or "5s" will show up near the moon symbol when it's activated, which signifies the exposure time (or the length of time the camera lets light in before taking the picture).

Tap the Night mode icon to adjust its settings.

When Night mode is activated, press the round shutter button to take a photo as you normally would. Hold the camera as still as possible until the exposure completes — this takes a little getting used to, but to get a good night picture, you need to give your camera time to take in light.

Hold the camera still while you're taking the Night mode photo.

How to adjust the capture time of Night mode photos

When Night mode is activated on your iPhone, the moon icon will display an exposure time next to it, which is how much time it'll take to capture a good Night mode picture. But you can adjust this timer manually if you want the picture to be quicker or higher quality.

1. When you're in the camera app in low-light conditions and Night mode has been activated with a suggested time, tap the Night mode icon.

2. A slider will appear below the frame — move it to the right for more light or left for less light. For more light, there will only be one option: "Max." This lets the camera take as much time as it needs to produce the best possible Night mode shot. You can also turn off Night mode completely here.

Choose how intense the Night mode effect will be.

3. Take the picture as normal, while holding the camera still.

Sophie Putka is a freelance writer and reporter for Insider's Tech Reference team. Her work frequently focuses on the health and wellness, science, tech, and food beats. She writes how-tos, lists, and reported features, including pieces on how to use tech to dine safely during the pandemic and the impacts of blue light on your sleep. Sophie has been published in The Wall Street Journal, Inverse, Discover Magazine, Cannabis Wire, Atlas Obscura, Edible New Mexico, and more.