How to Record With the Front and Back Camera at the Same Time on iPhone

Why the Camera app only records one camera

Since the iPhone XS, Apple's camera system can stream from two cameras at the same time. Apple uses it for FaceTime effects and some third-party apps use it for multi-cam, but the stock Camera app records a single camera and lets you flip between them. If you flip mid-recording, you get a cut, not two pictures.

Instagram offers a Dual layout inside Stories and Reels, but it only works inside Instagram, with Instagram's limits on length, resolution and where the file ends up.

Record both cameras into one video

Multi-mode Video Recorder has a Dual mode. The back camera fills the frame and the front camera appears as a small picture-in-picture window; both are recorded together into a single 1080p file, so there is nothing to sync or edit afterwards.

1. Open the app and choose Dual in the mode strip.
2. Drag the small picture to any corner, or anywhere else, with one finger.
3. Tap the small picture to swap the cameras, so your face becomes the main view and the scene becomes the inset.
4. In Settings, pick the inset's shape: rounded square or circle.
5. Tap record. Both cameras stop together when you tap stop.

Microphone, frame shape, resolution and the rest of the controls work exactly as they do in the other modes.

Which iPhones can do this?

Recording from two cameras at once needs hardware support that arrived with the iPhone XS, XR and later; iPhone 11 and newer handle it comfortably. The app only shows Dual mode on phones that support it, so if you do not see it in the mode strip, your phone cannot run two cameras together.

Running two cameras is heavier than one, so the phone warms up faster and the battery drains quicker. For long sessions, keep the phone cool and plugged in.

Ideas that work well with Dual mode

• Reaction videos: the screen or scene in the main view, your face in the inset.
• Unboxings and tutorials: hands and product in the main view, you explaining in the corner.
• Travel: the view in front of you, your commentary in the inset, swapped whenever you like.
• Interviews on the move: the person opposite you and your own reactions, in one take.