Ways to capture photos and videos

Don’t miss a shot! You've got shortcuts to open the Camera app and, after it's open, lots of ways to capture photos and videos. Choose what's best for each situation.

Quickly open the Camera app

Open your camera instantly from any screen, even when your phone is locked.

Use the Power button
Press the Power button twice.
Use a gesture (Quick capture)

Twist your phone twice like this:

You can choose which camera to open, or turn the gesture off.

Use your voice

If you haven't already, set up Google Assistant to recognize your voice.

For photos:

Say “Hey Google, take a picture” or “Hey Google, take a selfie” to open the Camera app in Photo mode, start a three-second countdown timer, and capture the photo.

For videos:

Say “Hey Google, record video” to open the Camera app in Video mode and start capturing video. To stop recording, press a Volume key or tap on the screen. You can't use a voice command to stop recording.

Capture photos or video

After you've opened the Camera app, you've got options for snapping pics or starting to record video.

Press a Volume button

To take a photo or start/stop recording video, press either Volume button.

To capture a series of photos, press & hold a Volume button.

Tap the screen

Tap to take a photo.

Press & hold to capture a series of photos.

To tap anywhere on the screen instead of using , turn on Tap anywhere to capture. Learn how.

Tap to start recording video and to stop.

Use smile detection

Want the Camera app to automatically take a photo when it detects a smile? Just turn on Auto Smile Capture. Learn how.

For groups of two to five people, your camera will only take a photo when all detected faces are smiling.

Show your palm to take selfie

To start a countdown timer when you raise your palm:

  1. Open the selfie camera.

  2. Without covering your face in the view, show your open hand (palm) to the camera.

    Three dots at the top of the screen indicate a countdown timer.

  3. Smile and wait for the timer.

If this doesn't work, turn on Gesture Selfie. Learn how.