How to flip your camera and zoom in using FaceTime

December 9, 2022

You may have used FaceTime on your Apple smartphone, tablet, or computer before, but there are features you can use during FaceTime on your iPhone and iPad you may not even know about.

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Instead of turning your wrist around to try and show another angle to the person on the video chat, try flipping the video right from within your phone. Or if you want to give a better view of something a little further away, zooming in and out on FaceTime is as easy as it is on the camera app.

Follow these steps to flip your camera or zoom in and out on FaceTime, plus I’ll teach you how to blur the background during your FaceTime call on some iPhones.

FaceTime on any phone

These features work on Apple’s iPhone and iPad, but not Mac computers as they don’t have a front and rear camera. You’ll need to have iOS 15 or later.

With iOS 15, you can also FaceTime with users on Android or Windows devices, as long as they have Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge installed. Someone with an iPhone or iPad must create the link and send it to the person using an Android or Windows device.

You can flip the camera while on FaceTime on iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows devices.
(Kurt Knutsson )

How to flip your camera on FaceTime

You can flip the camera while on FaceTime on iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows devices.

If you’re on a video call and want to switch the camera from using the front camera (which is facing you) to the main camera, it’s easy to flip the camera. It’s great to be able to switch the view from you to another subject you’re facing if you want to show someone on FaceTime what you’re looking at.

While the person you’re FaceTiming may be larger on your screen, let’s focus on the smaller tile that shows your face in the corner.

Tap the screen over your face, and you’ll see a small camera icon with two rounded arrows. It looks like this:Tap that small camera icon, and the camera view will switch from the front camera pointing at you to the main iPhone or iPad camera. You can then aim your iPhone or iPad as you would if you were going to take photo of whatever you’d like to show the person on FaceTime.If you want to flip the camera back to your face again, simply tap the smaller tile in the corner again, and tap that small camera icon once again.

If you want to flip the camera back to your face again, simply tap the smaller tile in the corner again, and tap that small camera icon.
(Kurt Knutsson )

How to zoom in on FaceTime

While on a FaceTime call, if you have an iPhone or iPad with iOS 15 or later, you can zoom in and out using the main camera.

FaceTime calls begin using the front camera, which is pointed at you (like a selfie).

First you’ll need to flip your camera using the steps above so that it’s not pointing at you.Once the camera is flipped, you’ll be able to zoom in and back out. You’ll now have a better view of your camera angle – use two fingers together and swipe them apart on the screen to zoom in. Pinch your fingers back together on the screen to zoom out again.In the other corner of the small box showing your view, tap the icon that looks like a star made out of looped triangles:This is the effects button, and you can access lots of effects (including filters and memojis) by tapping this.

Tap the icon that looks like a star made out of looped triangles. This is the effects button, and you can access lots of effects (including filters and memojis) by tapping this.
(Kurt Knutsson )

How to blur the background on FaceTime

On iPhones X through iPhone 14 models, you can use features like portrait mode which blurs the background.

Instead of hitting the buttons to flip the camera or get effects after you tap your tile in the corner, hit the icon that looks like a person in a rectangle:

If your phone has depth control, you’ll be able to use portrait mode during FaceTime.

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