Have you ever experienced your iPhone camera’s viewfinder shaking violently? We know it can look very scary, but based on our experience, it’s actually a pretty common problem with iPhones, even before the iPhone 7, 8, or X models were released.
In fact, back in 2015, Apple launched the iSight Camera Replacement Program, where customers can send their eligible iPhone 6 Plus units to Apple for a free replacement of the camera module (the so-called “iSight”).
Yet sadly, as of 2023, the program has already ended and we’ve yet to see another Apple service program related to any iPhone model’s camera module.
Good thing there are several things you can do by yourself to troubleshoot your iPhone’s camera software or hardware before sending it for repairs or worse, even straight to recycling.
In this article, we’re discussing 10 possible fixes to help you fix the camera shaking issue on your iPhone in about 10 minutes! Some of the possible iPhone camera shaking issue fixes we’ll discuss will be very easy, while some will be quite complex—read on!
| Difficulty | Easy ●●○○○ |
| Duration | 5-10 minutes (average) |
| Number of Methods | 10 |
| Things You Need | iPhone 7, 8, or X |
Why is my iPhone camera shaking?
Different factors can cause iPhone camera shaking. These can usually be software-related such as app bugs and lack of updates, or hardware-related like magnetic interference or the iPhone’s image stabilization feature.
Although the iPhone 7, 8, and X models have two lenses (wide and telephoto), which are definitely lesser than what’s in newer models, fixing a camera shaking issue for these phones can still take a couple of different “moves,” or even be very complex.
10 Ways to Fix a Shaking iPhone Camera
Fixing your shaking iPhone 7, iPhone 8, or iPhone X camera can be done in a jiffy or take as long as a few weeks, depending on the cause of the issue. Nevertheless, it’s best to follow each of the instructions below until your camera goes back to normal.
Let’s get to it!
1. Wipe the camera lens.
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 1 |
| Duration | 5 seconds |
The shaking of your iPhone camera can simply be affected by the cleanliness of its camera lens. A dirty camera lens is a physical barrier that will prevent your phone’s camera from correctly focusing on its subject.
Here, we suggest that you first try to wipe or clean your phone camera lens to get rid of dirt, grime, and other particles that could block the camera’s view.
You can use a clean, dry cloth as it is (we highly suggest a microfibre cloth that’s specifically made for cleaning electronics). You can also use a special cleaning solution for tougher grime.
2. Remove your iPhone case.
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 1 |
| Duration | 5 seconds |
Phone cases come in different sizes, colors, and styles. Some are minimalist, while others can be as bulky as possible.
A phone case is a godsend for the iPhone back glass because it could prevent scratches or breakage.
However, if you have a bulky type of case for your iPhone, it might be the reason your camera is shaking. You shouldn’t use a phone case that is too bulky because it could block your camera’s viewfinder or lens.
If removing your iPhone case doesn’t fix the shaking of your camera, the problem might be the inside parts of your phone.
3. Don’t use a metallic or magnetised phone case.
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 1 |
| Duration | 5 seconds |
Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) is an excellent feature of the iPhone camera available in the iPhone 6 Plus, 7, 8, X, and later models. It uses a gyroscope or a tiny spinning device that helps the phone determine whether it’s in portrait or landscape orientation.
The gyroscope is a very sensitive internal part of an iPhone. Thus, it can easily be affected by interference from other metallic or magnetized components inside the phone.
Interference can come from phone cases, too. If your phone case is made of metal or has parts that have magnets, then there is a chance that these are affecting your iPhone’s gyroscope and making your camera viewfinder shake.
In this case, avoiding metal and magnetized phone cases would be better. Stick with nonmetals like rubber, wood, or silicone instead.
However, if the camera shaking problem persists, maybe doing the opposite could work:
4. Stick a magnet to your iPhone case.
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 1 |
| Duration | 5 seconds – 1 minute |
The total opposite of avoiding metals or magnets that could affect the gyroscope is adding magnets to your phone case.
It may sound counterintuitive since magnets could easily affect the gyroscope, but there’s also a chance that your gyroscope is already malfunctioning and that the magnet would fix it by providing needed stabilization.
Either way, there’s nothing wrong with trying out this and our previous tip for troubleshooting your shaking iPhone camera.
5. Teach the camera where to focus.
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 1 |
| Duration | 1-2 seconds |
There are times when your iPhone camera would need some help in identifying what it should focus on. The shaking of your iPhone camera could be the phone’s signal for help, asking you to show where it should look.
Simply tap on the area you want the camera to focus on to eliminate shaking and blurry view.
6. Restart the camera app.
Sometimes, it just happens that your iPhone’s camera app glitches. This is normal for any app or software, and can easily be remedied by closing and opening again the offending app.
The process of restarting an app differs slightly among older iPhone models. iPhone 8 and below still have a physical home button, while iPhone X and later have it removed.
We’ll show you how to restart your camera app either way below:
How to Restart the Camera App on the iPhone 7 and iPhone 8
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 3 |
| Duration | 5 seconds |
| Step 1: Click the home button while inside the camera app. You’ll see the app minimize a bit into a “card” in the middle of the screen. |
| Step 2: Swipe up on the card to exit the app. You’ll be taken back to the home screen. |
| Step 3: Tap on the camera app icon to open the app again. |
How to Restart the Camera App on the iPhone X
| Difficulty | Easy ●●○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 4 |
| Duration | 1 minute |
Step 1: In the camera app, do an upward flick from the bottom edge of your screen. It will then send you back to the home screen. |
Step 2: Swipe up from the bottom of the home screen to somewhere in the middle, until the App Switcher (cards showing all of your open apps) appears. This is a tricky move and might need some practice for newbies, but we’re sure you’ll get the hang of it.  |
Step 3: Scroll sideways to look for the camera app’s card and flick its card upwards quickly to exit all of its processes. Tap or flick the bottom of the app switcher to go back to the home screen.   |
Step 4: Then tap on the camera app icon to open it again (restart). |
Now, we hope your camera app will run smoothly as it should.
7. Update your iOS.
iPhone software is consistently being updated by Apple. This makes it possible for the tech giant to iron out any bugs, fix any substantial issues, and roll out new features to all supported iPhone models.
Updating your iOS could help solve the shaking camera issue of your iPhone 7, 8, or X unit. You can update iOS via computer (PC or Mac) or wirelessly on your iPhone.
| REMINDER: Back up your data before proceeding with iOS updates. There is a high risk of losing any of your precious data when doing a software update. |
Update iOS on Your Computer with iTunes (PC) Or Finder (Mac)
| Difficulty | Moderate ●●●○○ |
| Number of Steps | 7 |
| Duration | 10-40 minutes |
- Open iTunes (PC) or Finder (Mac).
- Use a cable to connect your iPhone to the computer.
- If you’re on iTunes, a prompt for software update will automatically appear once you connect your iPhone to your computer. Click Update and follow the rest of the on-screen instructions.
- Another way is to find your device’s button on the Finder (Mac) or iTunes toolbar (PC) and click it to get to the summary page of your device.
- Click Check for Update on your phone’s summary page (both on PC and Mac).
- If an update is available, click Download and Update on the pop-up.
- Follow the rest of the on-screen instructions from iTunes or Mac until the iOS update finishes.
Update iOS on Your iPhone
| Difficulty | Moderate ●●●○○ |
| Number of Steps | 5 |
| Duration | 16-40 minutes |
- Ensure that your iPhone has enough power (we highly suggest plugin it in) and has an internet connection.
- On your unlocked phone, go to Settings. Scroll up a bit to see and select General.
- Tap on Software Update. Your iPhone will automatically check if updates are available if it hasn’t yet.
- Click the Download and Install button if an update is available. Enter your passcode to proceed with the software update.
- Let the phone download the iOS update. Once done, an Install Now button will appear; tap it to proceed and let the phone do its thing.
8. Restart your iPhone.
Using your iPhone for a long time without any restarts or reboots could lead to some glitches, including camera shaking or even app freezing. In this case, you need to shut down and restart the iPhone to refresh its internal processes.
The normal way of shutting down an iPhone is the same for all models. On the other hand, doing a force restart can have distinct steps, depending on your iPhone model.
How to Turn Off and Restart the iPhone the Normal Way
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 3 |
| Duration | 30 seconds – 1 minute |
This is the simplest procedure for restarting your iPhone 7, 8, or X unit.
Here’s how to do it:
| Step 1: Hold down the power button while waiting for a slider to appear. |
| Step 2: Move the slider to the right to power off the phone (“Slide to power off”). |
| Step 3: To restart the iPhone, just press and hold the power button again until the Apple logo shows up. Wait for your iPhone to finish booting up to finish the restart. |
How to Force Restart the iPhone 7
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 2 |
| Duration | 30 seconds – 1 minute |
Force restarting the iPhone 7 with a camera shaking problem differs from its siblings, the iPhone 8 and iPhone X. Here’s how it goes:
Step 1: Press and hold the Power and Volume Down buttons at the same time, until the screen abruptly cuts to black. |
| Step 2: Let go once you see the Apple logo. This means that the iPhone is rebooting. |
H4: How to Force Restart the iPhone 8 and iPhone X
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 3 |
| Duration | 30 seconds – 1 minute |
You can force the iPhone 8 or iPhone X to restart if it freezes while you’re using the camera. Here’s how it should go:
| Step 1: Press the volume up button briefly. |
| Step 2: Quickly press the volume down button. |
Step 3: Long press the power button until the screen goes black.  |
Let go of the power button until the Apple logo appears. Wait until the phone finishes rebooting, and voila, you’ve force restarted your iPhone 8 or X.
9. Do a factory reset.
If all the previously mentioned tips fail, you can reset your iPhone 7, 8, or X to revert it to factory settings. Hopefully, the camera app will also reset itself to a workable state.
| REMINDER: Back up your data before doing a phone reset. |
Factory Reset the iPhone on Your Computer
| Difficulty | Moderate ●●●○○ |
| Number of Steps | 4 |
| Duration | 15-30 minutes |
If you’re going to do a factory reset using a computer, here’s how to do it:
| Step 1: Connect your phone to your computer (Mac or PC) via cable, or via Wi-Fi sync. |
Step 2: Once it shows up on your Mac (via Finder) or PC (via iTunes), click your device’s name to see its summary. |
Step 3: Click Restore iPhone. |
Step 4: Click Restore > Next > Agree on the confirmation pop-ups that will appear. Follow the rest of the on-screen instructions from your computer and iPhone to finish the factory reset.   |
How to Factory Reset Using Only Your iPhone
| Difficulty | Easy ●●○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 4 |
| Duration | 5-10 minutes |
If you don’t have a computer at hand, you can always reset your iPhone via its Settings. Here’s how to proceed:
Step 1: Open Settings and look for General.  |
Step 2: Scroll a little bit upwards to find and tap Reset.  |
Step 3: A couple of options for resetting your iPhone will be shown. Tap Erase All Content and Settings for a factory reset. |
Step 4: A popup confirmation will appear, so tap Erase iPhone. Your phone will now do the work and delete all its content and previous settings and revert to its factory state.  |
After doing the factory reset, weima hope that the camera app and its other related settings are now going to function properly.
10. Switch off portrait mode (iPhone 8 and up only).
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 3 |
| Duration | 1-5 seconds |
The camera app of the iPhone 8 and later models has a function called “portrait mode.” This enables users to take pictures focusing sharply on the subject while blurring the background at the same time (also called the depth-of-field effect).
Your iPhone uses both its wide-angle and telephoto lenses in portrait mode. The catch is that the telephoto lens does not work well in low-lighting conditions, so the ensuing instability in catching light can make your camera app viewfinder (screen) shake.
Here’s how to turn portrait mode off for your shaking iPhone 8 camera and later:
| Step 1: Make sure your camera app is open. |
Step 2: Look at the area right above the shutter button. In the yellow and white text are the iPhone’s different camera modes. |
Step 3: If your camera is in “Portrait,” slide left or right to change to another mode. |
So, if your iPhone X camera is shaking, you’re better off sticking with the traditional photo mode instead of portrait.
Wrapping Up
There you have it. We hope our list of fixes for the camera shaking problem in the iPhone 7, iPhone 8, and iPhone X would be helpful in your case.
Stay tuned for more guides here on TechJive!
FAQs about iPhone 7/8/X Camera Shaking
Why is my iPhone 7 camera shaking?
Software-related issues or hardware-related ones could cause your iPhone 7 camera’s shaking. Either way, something internal or external is interfering with the processes of your iPhone cameras and needs fixing.
How do I stop my iPhone 8 camera from shaking?
You can stop your iPhone 8 camera from shaking by trying a couple of things, like cleaning the externals of your phone and updating or restarting its software. The last resort is to send it out for repairs or get a replacement device.
Is Apple fixing the shaking camera?
Apple has consistently responded to customer concerns by providing software updates to fix the iPhone’s shaking camera. As of writing, the phone giant’s most recent software fix is for the iPhone 14 and 14 Pro cameras.
What makes the iPhone camera shake?
The iPhone’s camera can shake if you’re not using it with the official Apple camera app. Using third-party camera apps has been noted to trigger the camera shaking issue for these phones.
