How to Fix iPhone Camera Lag

Tired of the iPhone camera lag issue and want to fix it?

If you’re a frequent camera user, you must understand the importance of capturing moments while they’re real and candid. But what if as soon as you take out your iPhone to take a photo, it shows you nothing but a loading black screen?

While iPhones are famous for their cameras due to their highly advanced software and unbeatable lens quality, several users have reported the issue of their iPhone cameras lagging. Most frequently, it results from the Camera app being used extensively by the user. 

But don’t worry, as there are ways to solve the problem and get you back to capturing some incredible moments and views. This guide includes several troubleshooting methods to help you find the remedy to fix your iPhone camera from lagging.

So brace yourselves and check out the various methods below!

1. Close All Background Apps.

Although the iPhone has a lot of memory, all the unnecessary background activity may sometimes cause its camera to lag. Background apps consume RAM, rendering the running apps—in this case, the Camera app incapable of utilizing the required resources to run properly.

Therefore, force closing apps that are running in the background is the first step you should take whenever you encounter a sudden issue with an app. Here’s how to do it:

  1. First, unlock your iPhone.
  2. Then, open the App Launcher. On iPhones with Touch ID, double-press the Home button. On iPhones with Face ID, swipe up from the bottom and hold.
  3. Now, swipe up on each app to remove it, including the Camera app.
iPhone Camera Lag

2. Restart Your iPhone.

The next step to fix the iPhone camera lag is to restart your device. This will clear up all the cache build-up, resulting in a better performance. It also refreshes the memory and eliminates any temporary glitches that may be causing the Camera app to act up.

To restart iPhones with a Touch ID, follow these steps:

  1. Press and hold the Power button.
Restart iPhone
  1. Let go once the slider appears.
  2. Drag the slide to power off slider all the way to the right.
slide to power off
  1. Once turned off, wait for at least 30 seconds.
  2. Then, press and hold the Power button again.
  3. Release when you see the Apple logo appear on the screen.

To restart iPhones that have a Face ID, follow these steps:

  1. Press and hold the Side button and Volume Up/Down button at the same time.
restart iPhone
  1. Let go once the slider appears.
  2. Drag the slide to power off slider all the way to the right.
  3. Then wait for about half a minute.
  4. After that, press and hold the Side button and release once the Apple logo appears on the screen.
iPhone Camera Lag

3. Disable Live Photo.

Live Photo is an incredible iPhone feature that records 1.5 seconds of movement before and after you press the shutter, turning your still photo into a short animation. That means that with Live Photo enabled, your camera is always recording, resulting in some persisting lags.

The problem is prominent in old iPhones and if you want to fix it, try disabling the Live Photo feature. Here’s how to do it:

  1. Open the Camera app and tap on the Concentric circle icon from the top. 
  2. You can also do it from Settings. For that, open the app.
  3. Then, scroll down to Camera and tap on it.
  4. Now, choose Preserve Settings.
iPhone camera preserve settings
  1. Finally, toggle off Live Photo.
enable Live Photo

4. Disable Low Power Mode.

Apple released a Low Power mode with iOS 9 to improve your device’s battery health, especially when it gets low. While it does preserve the battery, the performance of your apps is affected, which results in them having their loading time prolonged.

So, to fix the iPhone camera lag, it’s recommended to disable the Low Power mode. Here’s how to do it:

  1. To start, go to the Settings app on your iPhone.
  2. Then, scroll down and tap on Battery.
  3. Finally, switch the toggle off next to the Low Power Mode option.
Disable Low Power Mode iPhone

5. Place Your iPhone in A Cool Environment.

Your smartphone can easily heat up if you’re performing heavy tasks or using it while it’s on charge. The temperature can also rise if the surrounding temperature is well above the recommended extremes. This heat can slow down the processes occurring in your iPhone and also prevent the Camera app from loading.

When the temperature exceeds the recommended range of 32°F to 95°F (0°C to 35°C), it will display a warning sign on the screen, rendering it inoperational until the temperature is brought back to normal. 

iPhone Camera Lag

In this situation, place your iPhone in a cool environment, away from direct sunlight or any source of heat. Avoid placing it in enclosed spaces such as car dashboards where there is no proper ventilation since heat is not dissipated properly in such places.

6. Clear Some Space.

Another reason for the iPhone camera lag is your device being low on storage. Excessive cache build-up and too much data will affect the overall performance of your device. For a guaranteed smoother operation, your phone should have at least 1 GB of free storage.

If you have less storage space than 1 GB, try deleting unwanted pictures and apps sitting idly on your phone. For important files and photos, you can upload them to iCloud. Also, consider offloading apps that will not delete the local data and information of the application.

But before you proceed with anything, check your device’s storage first. Here’s how:

  1. Firstly, launch the Settings application.
  2. Then, go to General.
  3. Now, tap on iPhone Storage.
iPhone Storage
  1. On the next screen, the bar at the top will display the current storage space on your device. You should also take a look at the Recommendations below and follow them if you’d like.
iPhone Camera Lag

7. Adjust Camera Settings.

If none of the other solutions have worked till now, you should check out the camera settings and adjust them accordingly. Through it, you’re putting out your preferences for how you’d like the Camera app to capture photos. 

Follow the steps below to adjust the iPhone camera settings:

  1. Begin by going to the Settings app.
  2. Then, scroll down to Camera and tap on it.
  3. Next, tap on Formats.
iPhone Camera Formats
  1. Lastly, choose Most Compatible
iPhone Camera Lag

Although this setting is not assured to produce the best quality of photos or videos, it will put less load on the application and fix the iPhone camera lag.

8. Update to the Latest iOS.

Generally, each iOS update brings with it several fixes for the reported bugs and glitches present in the previous build. So if you’re facing the iPhone camera lag issue, go through your device’s settings and check whether an update is available.

Follow the steps below to do so:

  1. Open Settings and go to General.
  2. Then, tap on Software Updates.
Software Update iPhone
  1. Your iPhone will take some time to check for any available updates. If it is, simply tap on Download and Install.

9. Check Your iPhone’s Battery Health.

iPhone batteries have always been a drawback when it comes to the Android vs. Apple debate. Over time, they lose their ability to hold a considerable amount of charge, which causes the device to shut down considerably faster than when you first got your hands on the device. Inevitably, it also impacts the applications and causes them to lag.

You should consider replacing the iPhone batteries after it completes 500 charge cycles. But Apple doesn’t give you this information. However, you can check the Battery Health of your iPhone by following these steps:

  1. First, go to Settings.
  2. Next, scroll down to Battery and tap on it.
  3. Then, tap on Battery Health.
iPhone Battery Health
  1. Check the percentage next to Maximum Capacity.
iPhone Camera Lag

If the Battery Heath falls below 80%, consider replacing the battery to fix the iPhone camera lag. Otherwise, take proper measures to Maintain Your iPhone Battery Health.

10. Reset Your iPhone.

Your last resort to solving the iPhone camera lag is to factory reset your device. It will delete all settings, data, and any bugs that are causing the lag on your device. But if the data is important, you can always create a backup beforehand.

11. Contact Apple Support.

When you’ve tried all the mentioned fixes and still fail to resolve the iPhone camera lag issue, most probably, the problem resides in the hardware. In that case, you need to contact Apple Support immediately.

This brings us to the end of our guide on how to fix iPhone camera lag. If you’re still confused about anything regarding the topic, don’t hesitate to talk to us through the comment section below. We’ll be more than happy to assist you further.

If this guide helped you, please share it. 🙂

Author

  • Aimen Choudhry

    Aimen Choudhry is an architecture student who has always been fascinated by science. She now finds her therapy researching and writing about the latest technology and the issues that come alongside. Otherwise, you’ll find her playing video games, listening to music, or watching fantasy/sci-fi movies.

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