Time-lapse videos are glorious because they allow you to see the world in a way you just can’t otherwise. It’s observation for the impatient, allowing speed running through a sunset and the most interesting way to watch anything that takes a long time. These kinds of videos were once purely the domain of fancy and expensive equipment but, like many camera functions, it’s now available on most phones and can be used by anyone. So, how do Apple and Samsung’s time-lapse modes compare, and how do you use them?

The method of getting a good time-lapse from any kind of camera varies, depending on equipment and what you’re wanting to film. But they all start at the same spot: you need to hold the camera very, very still, preferably with a tripod, and point it at something interesting. While you can slowly move it on a gimbal, like the very excellent DJI Osmo Mobile 3 (which allows you to program the amount of time you want it to take to move from A to B), beginners are advised to start with a tripod and then plan from there.

You’ll also need access to a power point or large battery pack if you’re wanting to record for a long time because, unsurprisingly, filming video for hours at a time drains the battery.

In the Apple corner I used an iPhone 12 and found it had the most straight forward time-lapse mode with the least amount of customisation. This is for the absolute beginner who wants to end up with roughly a minute of good footage. It uses AI to make some secret calculations in the background to decide how many frames per minute to shoot, and then spits out a video with the length of its choice at the end.

Supposedly these videos can be any length, but mine have come out at 2–5 seconds for time-lapses taken over a few minutes, or 23–39 seconds from filming up to 24 hours. This works just fine if you’re wanting to show traffic movement at an intersection, or a nice sky, but probably wouldn’t work as well if you’re wanting to create some longer ASMR content or condense the days-long construction of a craft or building into a few minutes.

For more customisation you’re going to need a third-party app and some knowledge of what you’re wanting to do. Skyflow and Moment Pro Camera are two good apps to check out. They allow you to determine how long you want to film for, and how long you want the finished product to be. It’s worth playing around with both quite a bit to get acquainted with what you’re trying to achieve.

Over with Samsung there are a lot more customisation options, which you can access by choosing ‘Hyperlapse’ in the ‘More’ menu of the camera app.

Hyperlapses are a bit different to traditional time-lapses, because the phone essentially films everything and then just fast-forwards, dropping whichever frames aren’t required, which gives more options and a slightly different effect.