If you’ve seen any videos of aurora borealis, star trails, or a solar eclipse, then you’re probably well familiar with time-lapse photography. Whether it’s a beautiful moving landscape or a deadly natural disaster, time-lapses show us what would otherwise be hour-long recordings as short and sweet videos.

While the iOS App Store has plenty of time-lapse photography apps, the majority of them cost at least a few bucks. Instead of making you pay, Apple has now added a native time-lapse feature to their stock camera in iOS 8, shooting photos in dynamically selected intervals.

How Shooting a Time-Lapse Works in iOS 8

Just open your camera, slide over to Time-Lapse, and tap on the shutter to start recording (for as long as you please). Once you’re done, tap the shutter again and the video will crunch down into a few seconds and automatically save to your Camera Roll.

Unfortunately, there is no way to control the interval in which pictures are taken, which are shot in “dynamically selected intervals“. Shooting for about ten minutes condenses the video into about thirty seconds, in my experience. Results may vary, depending on those “dynamically selected intervals”.

As for tips for shooting time-lapses, you should definitely set up your device somewhere where it can’t be moved or disturbed—either on a tripod or against something sturdy. Otherwise, you’re just wasting battery power and a good opportunity for an awesome video.

And please, whatever you do—do not shoot in vertical mode!

More iOS 8 Tips…

To see what else you can do in Apple’s latest mobile operating system, check out the Coolest Hidden Features of iOS 8, as well as the Best Hidden Safari Features, Top Hidden Features in Messages, and our other iOS 8 tips.

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