Apple introduces yet another tool to let our creativity run loose

Jun 9, 2014 12:05 GMT  ·  By

iOS 8 has a ton of new abilities under its belt, including the awesome new Time Lapse feature which instructs the camera to shoot a photo once every few seconds and mash thousands of these images into a smooth video that shows you the progression of things like the sunset, plants growing, traffic lights, etc.

Time Lapse is such a small new addition to iOS that it didn’t even deserve stage time at WWDC. We were left to discover it in the marketing pages of iOS 8 under the form of a brief memo (reproduced below).

“Capture the experience of the sun setting, a city street bustling, or a flower blooming with the new Time-lapse mode in Camera. iOS 8 does all the work, snapping photos at dynamically selected intervals.

"The result is a video showing an accelerated sequence of the photos over time. Just set up your device to shoot what you want. Swipe to select Time-lapse mode, tap the Record button, and let Camera record as long as you choose," adds the Cupertino, California-based tech titan.

At first, it may not sound like much. But if you’re a fan of David Attenborough’s nature shows, you’ll know precisely how awesome this new addition really is.

Ask yourself this: how often do you see a flower bloom before your very eyes? Not very often, I assume. Or at least not without specialized tools. And that’s exactly what Apple is doing with iOS 8: turning the iPhone and the iPad into specialized, time-lapse shooting hardware. You’ll be making your own nature shows in no time. How cool is that?

To showcase the feature, YouTuber Twe4kz decided to shoot some slow-occurring things on his iPhone 5s running the iOS 8 beta. Likely using a tripod, he shot morphing clouds, a sunset, construction work in the big city, melting wax and icecream, burning cigarettes, and objects that dissolve submerged in water.

His clip, embedded below, is the perfect example of what iOS 8 empowers every one of us to do with the iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. When iOS 8 rolls out in the fall, make sure you have a tripod at hand.

Here’s a tip: if you want to make sure you take everyone’s breath away with your Time Lapse video, try finding a really dark spot in the countryside somewhere, point your device to the stars, and leave it untouched for an hour or so.