iOS 8 Time-Lapse Camera Feature

Apple announced at last month’s World Wide Developer’s Conference that they have created a time-lapse feature in iOS 8, the opposite of the slo-mo feature in iOS 7.

The new mode has now been opened up to the beta testers before the launch of the new operating system in the autumn/fall, and reviews so far have generally been positive.

Of course if you’re in to apps you may have already come across time-lapse functionality already, but Apple notes on their site that the feature is simple and intuitive, and is very much a refining of what’s already out there.

“It’s unbelievably cool … photogs will fall in love,” says Buster Hein, one of the beta testers from Cult of Mac. He and many others agree that its easy to use and the results are good.

While hardcore photographers and film makers will probably already have their own methods for filming in time-lapse, for the wider public this allows them to join in the craze that has slowly been hitting Youtube and the like over the past few years. All you have to do is simply enter the mode, set the time and record. It even handles some advanced settings itself.

“Like slo-mo in iOS 7, Time Lapse gives iPhone users the ability to shoot videos that look like they came from a DSLR,” continued Hein. “My exposure was too low to start with, but the app automatically adjusted about eight seconds into the video when it got too dark.”

Once all the pictures have been taken over the set time, they are automatically rendered in to a sped-up video, which at least to the untrained eye is exactly what you’d expect from time-lapse.

Some who had early access to the feature however are not as convinced by its simplicity, saying care and time still needs to be taken to produce something of quality. True time-lapse can obviously take days or even weeks, a lot of pre-planning is involved with that, and extras might be needed like tripods and filters. That being said if you were that serious about the shots to begin with, you probably already have a bunch of camera gear and accessories expressly for this purpose. Apple’s audience would appear to be the general public.

Time-lapsing probably won’t be the new selfie, but it’s a cool new feature that’s there should you want to use it. At the very least it’s a novelty that will spark some intrigue upon launch.

Compatibility wise, as long as you get iOS 8, it will work on the iPhone 5 and iPad Air.