Lately, I found my iPhone camera freezing randomly. At times, the camera app would freeze or show a black screen, failing to launch. At different times, the shutter button would become unresponsive and not allow me to click photos. The camera freezing issue on my iPhone was so tenacious that I had to stop using the camera app for a while.
Fortunately, I wasn’t alone to have encountered this problem, and a gazillion other iPhone owners have faced it over the years. And iOS 14 hasn’t fixed this issue much like its predecessors. However, as is the case with common iOS issues, there are a few reliable tips and tricks to fix the iPhone camera freezing problem. Therefore let’s not waste any more time trying out these viable fixes to get your iPhone camera working again!
Fix iPhone Camera Freezing Issue
Firstly, it would be better to get to the root of the problem, trying to figure out the causes why the iPhone camera is freezing or stops working.
Why does iPhone Camera Freeze?
There is no definitive solution to why the camera app on iPhone freezes randomly. But, few possible reasons cause the stock camera app on an iOS device to become unresponsive. From what I can speak based on my personal experience, it’s the occasional software glitches that cause the problem.
Besides, you should not rule out the possibility of bugs preventing the camera app from working normally. Let’s see into each aspect and attempt to troubleshoot the ill-functioning camera app on your iPhone. It’s worth identifying that most of these tricks further resolve the camera app not working issue on iPad. Therefore, it doesn’t matter if you face camera problems on your iPhone or iPad; check out these tips to fix the problem.
Update Software on Your iPhone
There is a great chance that the issue is due to a specific software bug. As Apple keeps refining iOS with regular updates and bug fixes, you count on the software update to resolve the camera issues on your iPhone.
Move to the Settings app on your iPhone -> General -> Software Update. Next, download and install the freshest version of iOS on your iPhone. This could effectively solve the camera freezing, black screen, or other issues on your iOS device.
Reset All Settings
When easy tricks fail to fix persistent iOS issues, I mostly go for this radical resolution. And I give credit to it for saving me on several occasions. Keep in thought that it will remove all the existing settings and change them back to the factory default. Thus, you’ll have to take the pain of setting up everything again in line with your needs.
Proceed to Settings app on your iOS device-> General -> Reset -> Reset All Settings. Now, iOS may further ask you to enter your Screen Time passcode if you have set it up. Lastly, hit the “Reset All Settings” button to finish.
Restart Your iPhone
Another easy trick that you should try to resolve the camera freezing or not working issue is to restart your iPhone. On occasions, a quick reboot is all you need to fix some miscellaneous software issues.
- Restart your iPhone with Face ID: Press & hold the volume button and side button at once. Next, drag the “power off” slider to shut down your iPhone. Now, wait a few times and then hold down the side button to reboot your device.
- Restart your iPhone with Touch ID: Press & hold the power button and then drag the “power off” slider to turn off your iPhone. Next, press & hold the power button again to turn on your device. This should probably fix the camera lag, freezing, and other similar issues.
Force Quit the Camera App & Relaunch It
At some times, you can fix the iPhone camera freezing problem by force quitting the camera app and relaunching it. Therefore, make sure to try this useful trick before moving onto other resolutions.
- Force Quit Camera App on your iPhone with Face ID: Swipe-up from the bottom and then hold along the middle of the screen. Next, swipe up on the app card to close the camera app.
- Force Quit Apps on your iPhone with Touch ID: Double press the home button and then swipe-up on the app card to quit the app.
When too many applications remain open in the background, it tends to create problems and slow down your iPhone over time. Therefore, I would also recommend you to force quit all open apps on your iPhone. Now, start the Camera app once again to see if it has started to work as expected.
Hard Reset Your iPhone
Whenever my iPhone suffers a common issue, I usually go for a hard reset to iron out random software bugs, and it does not disappoint me on most occasions. Given the great reliability, I’m going to count on it to fix the camera freezing problem as well. Bear in thought that the process of hard resetting varies based on iPhone models. Therefore, do check out the following instructions.
- Hard reset iPhone 8 or next, including iPhone with Face ID: Press & quickly release the volume up button. Then, press & quickly release the volume down button. After that, hold-down the side button until the screen goes black and the Apple logo shows up.
- Hard reset iPhone 7 or 7 Plus: Press & hold the side button and the volume down button simultaneously until you see the Apple logo on the screen.
- Hard reset iPhone 6s or earlier: Hold-down the power button and the home button at once until the Apple logo appears on the screen.
Declutter Your iPhone
While decluttering the iPhone may not appear to be a surefire resolution to fixing the iPhone camera freezing issue, it is related some way or the other. We all understand how abnormally and sluggish a cluttered device feels. If a device doesn’t have enough free space, it will face several issues, including overheating, crashing, battery draining, freezing, and the dreaded black screen of death. Therefore, do not think that you are shooting in the dark with this one!
Before you wipe the redundant data, move to the Settings app -> General -> iPhone Storage. Now, iOS will give a breakdown of how the storage has been used on the iPhone. Additionally, you will also be able to check how much storage each app consumes. It will help you nab the storage-hogging culprits and give you a fair perspective about what you need to clean up.
Restore Your iPhone As New
If you’re still trying to resolve the camera app not working or freezing issue on your iPhone, I would suggest you restore your device as new. Due to the great reliability of this method, experts call it a nuclear solution as it can troubleshoot even complex iPhone problems.
But before you go for this radical resolution, make sure you have successfully backed up your iPhone via iCloud or Finder/iTunes. Once you’ve backed up your device, open iTunes on your Mac running macOS Mojave or earlier or PC running Windows.
Do note that you’ll need to launch Finder on your Mac running macOS Catalina or later. Next, choose your device and then click on Restore iPhone. Next to that, follow the on-screen instructions to restore your iPhone and fix the camera freezing issue.
Note:
- You can further restore your device without a computer. Go to Settings app -> General -> Reset -> Erase All Content and Settings. Next to that, set up your device again. Along the process, restore your iPhone from an iCloud backup.
Also, Check :
Fix iPhone Camera Freezing or Not Working:
That’s it! I believe the camera app has started to behave normally on your iPhone again. Having encountered this issue myself, I can vouch for the viability of the solutions mentioned above in troubleshooting the camera freezing issues on the iPhone. Therefore, I’m pretty sure that the smile is back on your face, and so are your fun-filled mobile photography endeavors.
