How to Take Amazing Selfies From the Back Camera

While selfies have been all the rage for quite some time now, this trend isn’t showing any signs of dying. Manufacturers have already started paying more attention to the front camera. However, whether you are on a budget phone or a premium one, the back camera still comes out as the better one.

It has more megapixels under its belt along with better aperture, and features like dual focus and dual cameras in premium smartphones. This makes your smartphone’s back camera a better candidate to take selfies but there is just one tiny problem: there is no screen on the back which means you are in the blind spot.

Let’s try to solve this problem and explore some apps that will allow you to take amazing selfies from the back camera.

1. Back Camera Selfie (Android)

First up is Back Camera Selfie which comes with voice guidance to help you take the perfect selfie. Surprisingly, it worked amazingly well and I was able to take several selfies within a short span of time.

When you launch the app on your Android phone, you will see a notification asking you to turn your phone around with the back camera facing your face and follow the voice-activated guidance. So, I did.

The app will then ask you to move your face up, down, left or right. To make it simpler, just look straight into the eye of the camera and you should be fine. Finally, Back Camera Selfie will ask you to smile and when you do, it will click your selfie.

The app works in both portrait and landscape modes. The app will not save your photos automatically because you may want to take another selfie, maybe from a different angle!

Back Camera Selfie is free to download and ad-supported with no in-app purchase option.

Download Back Camera Selfie

2. SelfieX (iOS)

SelfieX app does the same thing for iOS devices that Back Camera Selfie did for Android devices. Download the app on your iPhone or iPad and launch it. Simply turn the device around with the back camera facing your face.

You will receive voice-guided instructions to move your face upwards or downwards. If you are out of frame, you will hear the app say ‘I can’t see you’. The app is available in multiple languages with both male and female voiceovers. Again, to make things simpler, look at the eye of the camera. SelfieX will ask you to ‘say cheese’ and take a selfie!

The app comes with frames that you can use to beautify your snaps but you and me, we both know better than that. There are several apps available that can help you edit your photos far better than SelfieX.

SelfieX was designed to do one thing and it does it well.

Download SelfieX

3. Face It (iOS)

While voice-guided instructions are cool and everything, sometimes it can be annoying. If you can hear the app, so can the others. What if you wanted to be discreet or don’t want to make a sound. Think of a meeting or the classroom!

Face It works pretty much the same way as other apps in the list. You launch the app and turn your iPhone around with your back camera facing you. Now, instead of voice, you will hear a buzz when you are looking at the camera in the right angle. That’s when you smile and Face It will snap a selfie.

Because there is no voice-guidance to assist you, look in the eye of the camera and play around with the app for a while and you will get it. The app will snap a selfie only when your hands are steady to avoid blurry images.

Face It is a smart app because it knows we are humans and tend to make errors. So, it will take up to three selfies in a row so that you can choose the one you like the most. The app will cost you just $2.99 but it’s well worth the additional trouble it takes.

Download Face It

4. Smart Selfie (Android)

The first thing to note when you launch Smart Selfie is your default camera settings. This includes stuff like zoom level, orientation, voice-guidance, white balance, and eyeliner position which I have no idea what it is but hey, I am cool. You can change these settings inside the app.

The basic premise remains the same here as well. Turn your mobile, face the camera, follow the voice instructions and when she says cheese, you say cheese! The selfies were not so stellar in my opinion and other apps I tested performed better.

I found the UI to be a little less functional and intuitive than it should be, and the resolution was restricted to 5MP. I believe the app is more focused on low-end devices with lower specs or with no front cameras at all.

Smart Selfie is ad-supported but free to download.

Download Smart Selfie

5. Whistle Camera (Android)

What if you are not in a position to hold your phone? Like when you are driving your car or when you are in the pool? Whistle Camera app will take a selfie, with front or back camera, when you whistle. It’s that simple.

When you whistle, the app will set a three-second timer after which your selfie will be clicked. You can change the countdown duration and sound in the settings. People who live in colder regions will love this app. They know how difficult it is to use smartphones with the gloves on.

While the concept is cool and I was able to take some nice selfies, there is just one flaw. The app won’t tell you to move your head in the right direction when you are out of focus. You have to figure that out yourself which is not that difficult either, but still an important factor.

The plus point is that the app is free to use and if you upgrade for $0.99, you also get the video mode that works similarly. To activate the video mode, just shake your phone. None of the other hands-free back camera selfie apps offer a video mode, not yet at least.

Download Whistle Camera

Believe in Yourself-ie!

To make your selfies even better, I would suggest you to set focus, white-balance, exposure, and other settings on auto mode. This will help the back camera selfie apps do a much better job because there are no human hands involved here. Try these apps and let us know which one you liked the most.