Little-known iPhone hack will help parents take perfect pics with their kids and ban use of self-timer forever

A MOM has revealed the perfect trick for taking photos on iPhones – by ditching the self-timer.

She regretted wasting so much time “running back and forth with the dang self-timer.”

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Kallie Branciforte – otherwise known as “that practical mom” on TikTok – spent less than a minute updating her iPhone ‘s settings.

“You’re telling me I’ve been running back and forth for a self-timer when I could have done just this the entire time?” she joked.

“OK parents, I just learned a new iPhone camera hack that you are gonna want to know, and it is how to use a voice command to take pictures.”

She directed iPhone users to head for the settings on their device, and then tap on “accessibility.”

The next step is to press the voice control button.

“Make sure in this section that you have voice command set up – with the voice control option toggled on,” added Branciforte.

“If it’s not, it won’t work.”

The next step is to create a new command.

Under the “phrase” section you can type in whatever you want to record – this is the phrase you will say to turn on your iPhone camera when needed.

Then, under application, scroll down to the camera option, and under the “action” section, she advised to do it as a “run custom gesture.”

And you then record your custom gesture – “in this instance it is where you are tapping where the camera shutter button is on your camera.

“So you have to tap a few times where the camera button usually is.”

iPhone tricks to try today

Here are some of the best…

• Typing cursor – When typing, hold down the space bar to turn your keyboard into a trackpad, letting you move around words and sentences more easily
• Close all Safari tabs – To do this in one go, simply hold the overlapped squares in the bottom right-hand corner, and press close all tabs
• Delete lots of photos quickly – Hold down on a photo and then drag your finger diagonally in Photos to select lots of images at once, then hit delete
• Convert currency quickly – Swipe down from the top of your Home screen, then tap in the bar and type a currency (like €200) and it will automatically covert to your local currency
• Check if you’re due a battery upgrade – Batteries inside smartphones degrade over time. Just go to Settings > Battery > Battery Health, and check out the Maximum Capacity reading. Generally a battery is considered worn when you’re down to 80% capacity. If you’re below, you can buy a battery swap from Apple
• Move apps around faster – Hold an app until it starts wiggling, then (while still holding) tap other apps, causing them to stack so you can move them around easier

That gesture will activate the burst mode in your iPhone’s camera.

You want your custom voice command to trigger the taking of a few photos, rather than just one – hence the burst mode option.

Make sure you tap “back” and save.

MAGIC WORD

Once complete, there is no need for self-timers, as you just get your perfect photo pose set up and “say your magic word.”

Your iPhone will do the rest.

“Make sure your voice control is toggled on,” the mom repeated.

Also ensure your camera is open when you use the command – it’s only set to the camera application.

“Bear in mind that – when you’re out and about – you’ll need to say this word or phrase loud enough for your iPhone to hear it, so we’d advise against choosing something embarrassing,” said Tech Radar .

“When you open the camera app and say your phrase of choice, your iPhone will automatically trigger a burst shot.

“You’ll still only get about a second of time between saying your phrase and the photos being taken, but at least you’ll have all the time in the world to properly frame yourself in front of the camera.”