How to Blur the Background in a Video on iPhone (Live, While Recording)

The built-in options and their limits

Cinematic mode on iPhone 13 and later uses depth to blur what is behind the subject, and it looks great when it works. It is limited to certain resolutions and frame rates, it focuses on whatever it decides is the subject, and it sometimes blurs the wrong thing when the scene changes. Older iPhones do not have it at all.

Portrait mode on FaceTime blurs your background on calls, but it is only for calls, not recordings. Editing apps can add a blur afterwards, but tracking a moving person frame by frame is slow and rarely clean.

Blur everything except people, on-device

Multi-mode Video Recorder has a Blur mode that uses Apple's on-device person segmentation. On every frame it works out which pixels belong to a person and blurs the rest, live, while you record. It does not need a depth sensor, so it works on any iPhone the app supports, and nothing leaves the phone: the analysis runs entirely on the device.

1. Open the app and select Blur in the mode strip.
2. Drag the blur strength control to taste, from a gentle softening to a strong blur.
3. Step into the frame and check the preview; the background softens around you as you move.
4. Tap record. The blurred result is what gets saved, with no rendering step afterwards.

How to get a clean edge

• Light your face. Segmentation is more precise when the person is well lit and contrasts with the background.
• Keep yourself fully in frame. Partial bodies at the edge of the picture are harder to detect.
• Avoid very fast movement during important moments; the mask follows you, but motion blur softens any edge.
• Dial the strength down for a natural look, up for a privacy-first look where the room is unrecognisable.

When to use Blur instead of Cinematic

Use Cinematic mode when you want a film-like shallow depth of field with focus pulls between subjects. Use Blur mode when you want people sharp and everything else soft, every frame, with a strength you control, including on iPhones without Cinematic mode. For talking-head videos, lessons, product demos in a messy space and anything you would rather not reveal the location of, Blur is the simpler tool.