How to use both iPhone cameras at once (2026)
You want one shot that shows both sides: what you're looking at, and you looking at it. The iPhone hardware has been able to do this since 2018 — Apple just never put a full version of it in the built-in Camera app.
Short answer: for photos, you need a third-party app on any iPhone. Selfie captures simultaneous front-and-back photos and videos in a picture-in-picture layout, with 50+ vintage camera filters on top. For video only, iPhone 16 and newer models have a native Dual Capture mode.
What the built-in Camera app can do
- Photos with both cameras at once: no iPhone can do this natively. The stock Camera app shoots one camera at a time, on every model.
- Video with both cameras: only on iPhone 16 and newer. Apple added a "Dual Capture" video mode with the iPhone 16 line — it records the front camera as a fixed picture-in-picture over the back camera video. No photos, no layout control, no filters.
Everything else — dual photos, movable picture-in-picture, filters, older iPhones — needs a third-party app.
How dual capture actually works
Since the iPhone XS and XR, iOS has included a multi-camera capture engine (AVCaptureMultiCamSession) that can run the front and back cameras in one session. Apps built on it capture both views in the same instant — a genuine simultaneous exposure, not two shots taken back-to-back.
That distinction matters. Some well-known apps fake dual capture sequentially: BeReal, for example, takes the back photo first and the front photo a beat later — which is why your face in a BeReal always looks like it's reacting to the app, not the moment.
Taking a dual photo, step by step
- Install Selfie (free, iOS 17+) and open it — Dual mode is the default.
- Frame the scene with the back camera; your front camera appears as a picture-in-picture window.
- Drag the window to whichever corner works, pick a frame color, or tap to swap which camera is the big view.
- Optionally pick a camera preset — 35mm film, instant, VHS and 50+ more render live on both cameras.
- Tap the shutter. Both exposures are captured simultaneously and saved to your photo library as one image.
For video, switch to video mode and record — both cameras plus microphone audio, in one file.
Common questions
Does dual capture work on my iPhone? If it runs iOS 17, yes — that covers iPhone XS/XR (2018) and everything after.
Why can't I use 0.5x zoom in dual mode? Running two cameras at once requires the standard wide-angle lens on each side, so dual mode covers 1x–5x. Single-camera mode gets the full 0.5x–5x range. The full technical explanation is in our dual-camera zoom guide.
Is the quality worse than the normal camera? Both cameras capture at their normal photo quality. The picture-in-picture window is smaller in the composed image, but the exposure itself is a real photo, not a screen grab.