To photograph the northern lights with a phone, turn the flash off, switch on Night mode (or Pro mode), keep the phone completely still and use exposures of about 3–10 seconds. A tripod or a solid surface matters more than the phone model. Most phones made since about 2019 can record aurora that your eyes see only as a pale grey band.
This guide gives model-by-model steps for iPhone, Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy, starting settings by how bright and fast the aurora is, and fixes for the most common problems. For a dedicated camera, and for why the camera sees more colour than you do, see our shorter photography guide.
Before you start: five things that matter more than settings
- Something solid under the phone. A small phone tripod is ideal. A rock, a car roof, a backpack or a fence post works. Handheld night shots are the main cause of blur.
- Darkness. Walk or drive away from street lights and face away from town. Our tonight pages show when the sky gets properly dark.
- The right direction. Face the magnetic pole: north in the northern hemisphere, south in the southern. During strong displays look up as well; the corona overhead is the most dramatic shot.
- Warm batteries. Cold drains lithium batteries quickly and phones can shut down near −20 °C. Keep the phone in an inside pocket between shots and carry a power bank.
- Dim screen and red light. Turn screen brightness down and use a red headlamp. White light ruins your night vision for minutes, and other people's photos too.
iPhone: Night mode step by step
Night mode is on iPhone 11 and later. It turns on by itself in low light; you will see a yellow moon icon with a number of seconds.
- Open Camera in Photo mode and use the 1× main camera. It has the largest sensor and widest aperture; the ultra-wide (0.5×) is wider but noisier.
- Make sure Flash is off, not on Auto.
- Put the phone on its tripod or surface. When it senses it is steady, Night mode offers longer exposures; on recent models this can reach about 30 seconds.
- Tap the Night mode icon and drag the slider to Max for faint, slow aurora. For bright, fast-moving curtains choose a shorter time, such as 3–5 seconds, so you keep their shape.
- Lock focus and exposure: press and hold on a distant light or a bright star until you see "AE/AF Lock". Then drag the sun icon down slightly so the sky does not turn grey.
- Set the 3-second timer so tapping the shutter does not shake the phone.
- On Pro models, turn on ProRAW in Settings > Camera > Formats if you plan to edit. RAW keeps more detail in the shadows and lets you fix white balance afterwards.
If you want full control, third-party manual camera apps let you set the shutter time, ISO and focus directly. The starting values are the same as for Samsung Pro mode below.
Google Pixel: Night Sight and Astrophotography
- Open Camera and swipe to Night Sight.
- Turn the flash off and put the phone on something solid.
- For most aurora, plain Night Sight is the better choice. It takes a few seconds and keeps moving curtains reasonably sharp.
- Astrophotography switches on when the phone is held perfectly still in very dark conditions. Google's research team describes total exposures of up to four minutes made of many shorter frames on the Pixel 4 (Google Research). That is superb for stars and a static aurora arc, but it smears active curtains into a green haze. Use it on quiet nights.
- Tap a distant light to set focus, and lower the brightness slider a little so the sky stays dark.
- Recent Pixel Pro models add manual controls for shutter speed and ISO; if yours has them, use the Samsung values below.
Samsung Galaxy: Pro mode
Pro mode gives the most control of any stock phone camera app.
- Open Camera, tap More and choose Pro.
- Set ISO 800–1600 to start.
- Set shutter speed 4–10 seconds. Many recent Galaxy models go up to 30 seconds.
- Set focus to MF and slide it to infinity (the mountain icon). Check by zooming into the preview on a bright star or a distant light.
- Set white balance to about 3500–4000 K for natural colours. Auto white balance often makes snow blue and aurora teal.
- Use the timer (2 or 3 seconds).
- Turn on RAW in the camera settings if you plan to edit. Samsung's separate Expert RAW app offers similar controls on supported models.
Other Android phones from Xiaomi, OnePlus, Oppo and others have similar Pro or Manual modes with the same controls.
Starting settings by how the aurora looks
| What you see | Shutter | ISO | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Faint grey arc, hardly moving | 8–15 s | 1600–3200 | Night mode Max on iPhone; Astrophotography on Pixel |
| Clear green band, slow movement | 4–8 s | 800–1600 | The most common situation in the Arctic |
| Bright, fast curtains or corona | 1–3 s | 1600–3200 | Short exposures keep the rays; accept more noise |
| Red glow on the horizon in a mid-latitude storm | 5–10 s | 1600–3200 | Include the horizon and lights for scale; the camera will show more than your eye |
Take a test shot, look at it, then change one thing. If it is too dark, lengthen the exposure first; if the aurora is smeared, shorten it and raise ISO.
Fixing common problems
- Everything is blurry. The phone moved or focus hunted. Use a solid support, the timer, and focus locked at infinity.
- Stars are sharp, aurora is a smudge. The exposure is too long for how fast it is moving. Halve it.
- A green blob without structure. Same cause, or the phone's processing has stacked too many frames. Use a shorter Night mode time or Pro mode.
- Very grainy. ISO is too high or the shot is underexposed and brightened. Lower ISO and lengthen the exposure if the aurora is slow.
- Orange or white glow at the bottom. Light pollution from a town. Turn away from it or move further out.
- Night mode stops early. The phone detected movement. Do not touch it; use the timer.
- Lens fogs up. You brought the phone from a warm car into the cold, or breathed on it. Let it adjust in a pocket before shooting.
People in the picture
Ask your subject to stand very still for the whole exposure and face away from the aurora or look up at it. A one-second flick of a dim torch across their face during a five-second exposure lights them without overpowering the sky. The built-in flash will light them harshly and nothing else.
Video and time-lapse
Real-time aurora video on a phone works only with very bright displays, and it looks grainy. A time-lapse from a phone on a tripod is easier: recent iPhones and many Android phones use night processing in time-lapse mode. Start it, leave the phone alone for 10–20 minutes, and you will see the movement your eyes missed.
Share honest photos
It is tempting to push saturation until the sky is neon. A light edit is fine; if you share, it helps to say what you saw by eye. If you were out, add a quick "seen" or "not seen" sighting report. Both kinds help us check how accurate our score is.
On the next clear, active night, check your place on our map, glance at a nearby webcam, and set an alert so you are outside with the phone ready when it starts. If you are deciding where to go, our Tromsø guide and ranking of 21 places are good next reads.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best iPhone settings for the northern lights?
Flash off, Night mode on, the phone on a tripod or a steady surface, and the Night mode slider set to Max. Use the 1× main camera rather than the ultra-wide or telephoto, and start the shot with the 3-second timer. If the curtains are moving fast, choose a shorter Night mode time instead of Max.
How do I photograph the northern lights on a Samsung phone?
Open Pro mode. Set ISO 800–1600, shutter 4–10 seconds, focus to manual at infinity and white balance around 3500–4000 K. Put the phone on something solid and use the timer. Many recent Galaxy models allow shutter speeds up to 30 seconds; check yours.
Can a phone photograph the aurora when I cannot see it?
Often, yes. In the dark your eyes lose most of their colour vision, while a phone sensor collects light and colour for several seconds. Faint aurora that looks like grey cloud can show up green on a phone. That is why NOAA staff suggest pointing a phone at the poleward sky on active nights.
Why are my northern lights photos blurry?
Usually because the phone moved during a long exposure or the focus searched in the dark. Rest the phone on something solid, use the timer, and lock focus on a distant light or set manual focus to infinity. If the stars are sharp but the aurora is a smudge, the exposure is too long for how fast it moves.