Navigating iPhone Camera Not Auto-Focusing Woes

How to Fix iPhone Camera Not Focusing Problem

Ollie Mattison

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

When taking a photo with our iPhone, focus is all what we need. As the word ‘Focus’ itself defines as centre of interest, it helps to keep our image subject as the main part by emphasizing and giving attention to exactly what we want to capture in the image. But how many of you have come across a situation where iPhone camera focus fails to work. An out of focus photography clearly looks clumsy as due to the blurriness. The iPhone camera not focusing issue usually appears and many people get annoyed by unclear picture. Thus, with the help of this article, we will make you aware about some tips you can attempt to fix the issue.

• Part1: The Easiest Way—Auto Focus
• Part2: Lock AE/AF
• Part3: Stand too close is not good
• Part4: Upgrade iOS
• Part5: Turn off your iPhone

Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links

If you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Part1: The Easiest Way—Auto Focus

When you are getting troubles with iPhone camera focus, perhaps you are trying to focus a subject other than someone’s face. Putting it simply, iPhone camera’s autofocus feature is designed to make it powerful enough to read the face and focus it automatically. If there is no face, the iPhone will focus on the center itself. There is a yellow squared box which will let you identify the focusing part. But having the subject at the center is not necessary every time. If this is the case, you need to simply tap on the same part of the srceen where the subject is and the camera app will begin focusing on it. Check if it works or else go down to the next tip.

Part2: Lock AE/AF

As in the above tip, we explained to tap on the srceen where you wish to set the focus. However, sometimes, single tapping on the srceen isn’t sufficient. This is because if any kind of movement happens in the scene or if you move, the camera will start re-adjusting its focus which obviously you don’t want. If you seriously want to take a better picture, make sure to lock the focus on the subject in the scene. This can be done by enabling AE/AF feature and doing this will keep the focus on the subject even if anything moves in the scene. To do this, just tap and hold on the subject for a few seconds until you get to see a yellow box at the top of the srceen saying “AE/AF LOCK”. Once you notice, you can release your fingers and start having fun with picture capturing moment.

Part3: Stand too close is not good

If you are not getting standard iPhone focus, check if you are standing too near to the subject. Probably this is the case, and if yes, the problem of focus got the solution. Make sure to stand at least three inches apart from the subject. This is because the camera of iPhone is designed in a way that it can’t give you clear picture if it is placed too close to the subject. All in all, if you are holding your iPhone excessively close to the subject, pull it back little inches otherwise you will end up clicking a blurred photo.

Part4: Upgrade iOS

If you are still experiencing out of focus photography after giving try on the above solutions, the problem may have been occur due to the software. When iOS issues bother you and creating such problems, getting the latest iOS update typically solves the issues by removing any bugs and advancing the performance. Hence, it is recommended to update your iOS into the latest version when you are stuck with this iPhone focus issue. To execute this method, just head on to “Settings” > “General” > “Software Update” and look for the updates. You will be able to observe if there is any new update available. If yes, tap on “Install Now”.

Part5: Turn off your iPhone

If still the problem persists after using all the fixes, you can try turning off your device as a last resort. This will probably solve your problem and has worked in many cases. If in case it doesn’t work either, the last suggestion we could give you is, stepping towards the nearest Apple support center and consulting there. As they say that the work suits in the hands of the one who is skilled to do it. So, an expert at the iPhone customer service will surely understand the problem and will fix your issue.

Final Verdict

When owning an electronic gadget, many unpredictable issues can occur and you get stuck with any of those without getting any notice. And this is quite disturbing when you find your iPhone camera is not focusing and you are unable to capture the quality picture. The situation can be more frustrating when you are fond of photography. We provided some easy to perform solutions above and hope they were useful to you. However, if unfortunately nothing worked and you are still there, we would suggest you to replace your device to the new one.

Images come from the Internet

Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Ollie Mattison

Also read: