Apple’s upcoming iOS 18.1 software lets you swipe your way to the selfie lens with the Camera Control capture button on the iPhone 16 lineup.
Apple debuted Camera Control on the iPhone 16 models as a dedicated capture button on the right side near the bottom, where it’s easy to reach with your thumb. The upcoming iOS 18.1 update will adjust how the swiping gesture for changing lenses via the capture button works by adding support for the front-facing lens.
Currently, swiping cycles through the different lens options for the back camera, like 0.5x, 1x, 2x and 5x, but the FaceTime camera isn’t included in the rotation. With iOS 18.1, swiping cycles through all available lens options, including the selfie camera.
iOS 18.1 adds a selfie lens to Camera Control
To get to the selfie camera, open up the Camera app with a press on the Camera Control button, and then use a swipe gesture on the button to scroll through the lenses. The person icon at the very top swaps to the front-facing selfie camera.
The small tweak means you can now switch to the selfie camera without having to select an option in the Camera interface. This may sound easier said than done to some because using the capture button temporarily hides onscreen controls.
iOS 18.1 adds new selfie option for iPhone 16 Camera Control in Beta 5 pic.twitter.com/IC9JPIU139
— Ben Manzi (@HalfManHalfTech) September 23, 2024
You can disable this by turning off the Clean Preview switch in Settings > Camera > Camera Control (it’s on by default). Of course, this is a matter of personal preferences, so you might wanna leave it as-is. Another update coming to Camera Control in iOS 18.1 or later: DSLR-like shutter functionality where a light press will lock your focus and exposure and a hard press will trigger the shutter.