Night Mode on iPhone: Everything You Need to Know

The newest iPhones from Apple, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max, are fitted with a new feature called Night mode, designed to take crisp, clear pictures even if lighting conditions, such as at night, are low.

 Unfortunately, Night mode is not supported on the iPhone SE or iPhone XR. It remains an exclusive feature for the ‌iPhone 11‌ line of phones.

As the name suggests, Night mode allows you to take pictures at night, with lighting that has never been possible on an iPhone before, thanks to new hardware and new machine learning algorithms. Although Night Mode brightens photos, it also preserves the feeling of night time, balancing an image's light and dark elements.

For a while now, Android smartphone manufacturers such as Google and Samsung have had unique modes to brighten up evening shots, and Apple is on equal footing with these other smartphone cameras with the 2019 iPhones.

What is Night Mode?

Night mode is an automatic setting that takes advantage of the new wide-angle camera in the 11 and 11 Pro models of the iPhone. It is equipped with a larger sensor that can let more light in, allowing, when the light is low, brighter photos.

Night mode uses the new sensor along with machine learning and the Neural Engine in the A13 processor to create Night mode shots.

When the Night mode is engaged, the cameras analyse the available amount of light in the iPhone and then the iPhone selects the number of frames required to create an appropriate image. For a set amount of time, the camera then takes a series of images, such as one second, three seconds, five seconds, or even longer in some situations.

The images are taken at different exposures, some with longer exposures and some with shorter exposures, similar to what's done when the ‌iPhone‌ composes an HDR image. This lets the ‌iPhone‌ pull out the best parts of the scene, highlighting what's important.

You'll need to hold the camera steady when using Night mode, and optical image stabilisation also works to reduce shake as you take the photos. After the set amount of time, the A13 chip in the ‌iPhone‌ analyses each photo that was taken, aligns them to account for movement, tosses out the images that are too blurry, and then fuses all the sharpest images of the bunch.

The resulting photo is the end image that you get when using Night mode, with Apple's software algorithms adjusting color, eliminating noise, and enhancing details to create a night time shot that preserves an impressive amount of detail.

Taking and combining several images allows Night mode to pick up more light than would be available in a single shot, which is why you can see so much more detail than the lighting conditions would normally allow for.

All of the Night mode calculations are done behind the scenes — you'll only see the final shot, rather than being able to choose from a series of images as you can do in Burst mode even though it's a similar concept.

In a nutshell, Night mode is the result of a better camera sensor and some behind the scenes magic from Apple's A13 processor.

How to Turn on Night Mode

Night mode turns on automatically when the lighting conditions call for it, so there's no need to enable it. Tapping the moon icon at the top of the Camera app will let you access the Night mode settings, though, allowing for the time length of photos to be adjusted in some situations.

How to Turn Off Night Mode

To turn off Night mode, tap on the moon icon at the top of the Camera app interface to open up the Night mode slider and then slide it all the way to the left to turn the feature off entirely for a photo.

Night mode will need to be turned off on a photo by photo basis, as it is meant to come on automatically. There is no setting to disable it permanently.

Night Mode Lenses

On the ‌iPhone 11‌, Night mode is limited to the wide-angle camera as it is the only camera with optical image stabilisation and because Night mode requires a camera with 100 percent focus pixels to analyse and align images.

On the ‌iPhone 11‌ Pro and Pro Max, Night mode can be used with either the wide-angle camera or the telephoto camera because both of these lenses support optical image stabilisation and the other necessary features for Night mode to work.

Night mode images look best with the wide-angle camera as it is the better lens, but the telephoto is an option when needed. The ultra wide-angle camera in the ‌iPhone 11‌ and 11 Pro models doesn't work with Night mode.

Using Night Mode's Time Intervals

The iPhone 11 and 11 Pro can analyse the lighting in a situation and will provide a suggested night mode interval that is usually between one and five seconds, although it can vary depending on how much ambient lighting is available.

You can tap the moon icon at the top of the camera interface to go to the settings for night mode, where you can change the interval from the recommended level to a longer level if you like, which can change the look of the picture you are capturing.

The darker the subject of the photo, your iPhone will give up the longer time period options. Your exposure options may max out at around 3 to 5 seconds at sunset, where there is still a decent amount of light.

As an example, you can see longer time periods available in complete darkness when taking a picture of the night sky, and choosing a longer time period in this situation may allow you to see more of the night sky in the resulting image than you would have been able to capture with a shorter exposure. A tripod is sufficient for the maximum time.

To get the specific look you want for a specific picture, the different time intervals are worth playing with but Apple's default shot length is calculated using a multitude of factors and almost always results in a nice looking low light shot.

How to Get the Best Night Mode Shots

Night mode takes a series of shots and is similar to a long exposure picture, so it can also be useful for Night mode to use techniques used for long exposures.

To cut down on blur, Apple utilises optical image stabilisation and software, but it's a good idea to use a tripod for the very best night mode images. When taking the many photos that are used for a Night mode shot, a tripod means there will be no shake.

A tripod is not needed, but it will provide longer exposure times than you can get while keeping the iPhone yourself when the iPhone is stable and senses that it is being held steady. For eg, if you want a 30-second night-mode shot of the night sky, you'll need a tripod to do it. The night mode operates at intervals of 1 to 30 seconds, depending on conditions such as steadiness and ambient lighting.

Night mode can lead to blur, even with shorter time periods, so if you don't have a tripod, do your best to keep the iPhone as steady as possible. It can help to stabilise your arms.

Night mode shots work best on photographs where individuals, pets, or items don't move. There needs to be minimal movement, because the iPhone takes several shots of a subject and stitches them together. A pet running around or an active kid will not shoot for a good night mode, but if your subject can sit still you can get good night time portraits of people and pets.

Night mode will not work for every picture because it can lead to dramatic colours, high contrast (especially in circumstances where the ambient lighting is an unusual colour like the yellow of a street light), unnatural shadows, and light reflection problems, but it produces fantastic photos more often than not and allows iPhone users to capture scenes that simply can not be captured with an iPhone.

What Devices is Night Mode Available On?

On the latest 2019 iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max, Night Mode is a feature. It is not available on older iPhones, but it will continue to be a feature for upcoming iPhones, like other camera additions, and is likely to see changes over the years.

Night Mode vs. Earlier iPhones

As can be seen in the contrast images between the iPhone 11 Pro Max and the iPhone XS Max, night mode is a functionality that is unmatched by earlier iPhones. In lower lighting conditions, the iPhone 11 models can get a whole new level of detail that was just not possible before. It is a big move forward in camera technology which will lead to much better images than with the iPhone XS line and earlier were feasible.

Comparisons With Android Smartphones

Night mode is not new—and it's actually something Google popularised with its Pixel 3 smartphones last year. In Pixel 3, Google implemented a feature called Night Sight that blew people away.

Similar features have also been introduced to their smartphones by other Android smartphone makers, so this is not a feature that originated with Apple. Below with a similar feature, we have shared some comparison videos and photos between Night mode on the iPhone and other Android phones.

Apple's technology isn't too far off from the technology used by other smartphone makers, and as with any camera setup, image preference is going to vary from person to person.