How to Record Both Cameras on iPhone at Once (Free)

Why you need an app for this (and which iPhones don't)

You may have heard that iPhone 17 added a built-in "Dual Capture" mode to Apple's own Camera app. It's a nice feature, but it only exists on iPhone 17 and later, and it's limited to a single picture-in-picture style. If you have an iPhone 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, or 16, the stock Camera app won't do it at all. SplitRig does it free on the iPhone already in your pocket, with four layouts instead of one. (Not sure if your model supports it? See can iPhone record the front and back camera at the same time.)

The iPhone hardware has been able to do this since the iPhone 11; the stock Camera app just does not expose it. So you need a dedicated app that captures both feeds at once, combines them into your chosen layout, and keeps them in sync frame for frame.

SplitRig captures both cameras together as you record and writes them into one video file in the same pass, so the result is genuinely synchronized. The two halves come from a single recording, not two clips lined up later.

The 60-second setup

1. Install SplitRig from the App Store. It's free: no subscription, no in-app purchases.
2. Open the app and grant camera + microphone permission. (Optional: location access if you want the GPS speedometer overlay.)
3. Pick your layout in the bottom control tray: Picture-in-Picture, Split Screen, Single Camera, or Face Mode.
4. Tap the red shutter (or press Volume Down, or click your iPhone 16 Camera Control button). Recording starts immediately.
5. Tap shutter again to stop. The file saves to Photos automatically: both camera feeds, in one video, frame-perfectly synced.

Picking the right layout

Picture-in-Picture: your face floats in a movable, resizable bubble over the main shot. Best for vlogging while recording the world around you.

Split Screen: the screen splits between front and rear, with an adjustable 30–70% ratio. Best for interview-style content where both faces matter equally.

Face Mode: the iPhone's Neural Engine removes your background from the front camera and overlays just your face on the rear feed. Best when you want a "you talking over the action" look without a green screen.

Single Camera: full-screen rear camera with all the SplitRig overlays still available. Use this when you want one clean shot with the speedometer or activity widgets baked in.

Split camera on iPhone: how the split-screen layout works

If you searched for "split camera iPhone," what you usually want is the split-screen layout: the front and rear cameras side by side (or stacked) in one frame, both recording at once. SplitRig calls this Split Screen, one of the four free layouts: pick it in the layout picker, then drag the divider to set the ratio anywhere from 30/70 to 70/30 so the camera that matters most gets more of the frame. The full guide is split screen camera on iPhone.

Because you are recording with both cameras at the same time, the two halves stay perfectly in sync: there is no second take to line up and no editing afterward. It is the cleanest way to put two points of view, your face and the scene, in a single shot. You can also flip the same recording to a split-screen Instagram Reel or a TikTok with no re-encoding.

What you get out of the box

• Full HD (1080p) HEVC recording at 30 FPS by default. Switch to 24 FPS Cinematic (24 instead of 30 frames per second) for less heat on long shoots.
• Action Cam mode automatically captures at 60 FPS with Cinematic Extended stabilization for high-motion content.
• Cinematic stabilization on both cameras: automatic, no toggle.
• Live overlays you can drag and resize: speedometer, distance, altitude, pace, sound level, goal gauge, watermark.
• Apple Watch companion: start/stop, change layout, change zoom, screenshot, all from your wrist.
• AirPods stem control (iOS 26 + AirPods Pro 2 / 4 / Pro 3), hands-free shutter from across the room.
• Free: every feature is unlocked the moment you open the app. No subscription, no in-app purchases, no ads, no account.

Built to stay smooth on a real phone

Recording two cameras at once is heavy work, and a lot of dual-camera tools, especially all-in-one editor apps doing it on the side, feel laggy because of it. SplitRig is a purpose-built recorder built natively for iPhone, so capture stays smooth and the two feeds stay in sync instead of stuttering or drifting apart. There's no editing suite running in the background and competing for resources; the app does one job and stays out of the way.

It's also tuned for long shoots: SplitRig's Iron Stream thermal management quietly scales the frame rate down gracefully if the phone heats up, so a long recording keeps rolling instead of cutting out. (Fair warning: recording in extreme direct sun can still warm any iPhone. That's physics, not the app.)

Things other dual-camera apps get wrong

The most common failure modes I've seen creators run into:

• Recording caps. Where an app limits how long you can record, that limit is usually what the upgrade removes. SplitRig has no time limit and no upgrade. It records until your storage fills.
• Forced watermarks. Some apps brand your video and only remove it if you subscribe. SplitRig has an optional logo, removable free in one tap. No payment, ever.
• Lag and stutter. Editor-first apps often record two cameras as a secondary feature and drop frames under the load. SplitRig is a dedicated recorder, so capture stays smooth.
• Audio drift. Cross-platform wrapper apps often desync audio when files are long. SplitRig keeps audio and video locked together for the length of the recording, so the sound stays matched to the picture even on long takes.

Both cameras, one file, nothing to edit afterwards. That is the whole workflow, and it is free on the iPhone already in your hand.

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Related: Every way to record front and back at once on iPhone · Split screen camera on iPhone · Best dual-camera app for TikTok react videos · How to record Instagram Reels with split screen · Best dual-camera app for iPhone 17 Pro