How to Record Portrait and Landscape Video at the Same Time on iPhone

If you create content for multiple platforms, you've faced this problem: TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts need vertical video (9:16), while YouTube, LinkedIn, and presentations need horizontal video (16:9). Filming the same scene twice wastes time and kills spontaneity.

Your iPhone actually has the hardware to solve this. Modern iPhones have two or three rear cameras that can record simultaneously. With the right app, you can capture both orientations in a single take.

What You Need

• iPhone XS or newer — any iPhone with dual or triple rear cameras
• iOS 16 or later
• A dual camera recording app (the built-in Camera app doesn't support this)

Apple's built-in Camera app only records from one camera at a time. To record from two cameras simultaneously, you need a third-party app that uses Apple's AVCaptureMultiCamSession API, available since iOS 13.

How It Works

Your iPhone's wide (1×) and ultra-wide (0.5×) cameras are physically separate lenses. A dual camera app activates both at the same time, assigns one to capture portrait video and the other to capture landscape video, and saves two separate, synced files to your Photos library.

The two files share the same audio track and identical timestamps, so they stay perfectly in sync without any alignment in post-production.

Step-by-Step: Recording Dual Format Video

1. Choose your lens pair

The most common pair is wide (1×) + ultra-wide (0.5×). The wide lens gives a natural field of view, while the ultra-wide captures more of the scene. On Pro models, you can also pair with the telephoto (3× or 5×) lens.

2. Set orientation per camera

Assign portrait (9:16) to one camera and landscape (16:9) to the other. Some apps lock you into a fixed assignment, but more flexible apps like DoubleFrame let you choose independently — so you could do both portrait, both landscape, or one of each.

3. Frame your shot

Keep in mind that each camera has a different field of view. The ultra-wide will capture significantly more of the scene than the wide lens. Use the live preview to check both frames before you start recording.

4. Hit record

One tap starts both cameras. When you stop, two files appear in your Photos library — one vertical, one horizontal, perfectly synced.

Tips for Better Results

• Keep your subject centered — since both cameras crop differently, centering your subject ensures it appears in both frames
• Watch your lighting — the ultra-wide lens has a smaller aperture and may produce slightly darker footage in low light
• Start with 1080p at 30fps — dual camera recording is demanding on the processor; 4K at 60fps may cause thermal throttling on longer recordings
• Check storage first — two simultaneous video files use roughly double the storage of a single recording

What About the Built-In Camera App?

Apple's native Camera app doesn't support simultaneous dual-camera recording with separate file output. The iPhone 17 introduced a "Dual Capture" feature but it outputs a single combined picture-in-picture file — not two independent files ready for different platforms.

For separate portrait and landscape files, you need a third-party app.