Are you looking to use the front flash feature while recording a TikTok?
The addition of front flash on phone cameras has allowed people to take high-quality videos, even in low-light situations. While using it as easy as pressing a button on your normal camera app, it can be challenging to do elsewhere – such as on TikTok, for example.
Therefore, you may be wondering – how do you use front flash on TikTok?
In this article, we’ll cover everything that you need to know!
Does TikTok Support Front Flash?
Unfortunately, the standard front flash functionality isn’t supported by TikTok. What I mean by that is that there isn’t any button you can press that will turn on the LED light next to your front camera lens.
That being said, not all hope is lost.
There are a few workarounds you can use to achieve effectively the same thing, and ensure your face is adequately lit while filming.
Let’s look over some of these options now!
How To Get The Front Flash Effect On TikTok
1. Invert Your Screen Colors, And Move Phone Closer To Your Face
This trick is actually pretty neat!
Most phones – including iPhone and Android phones, allow you to invert the colors of your screen. This is traditionally used as an accessibility feature for those with impaired eyesight, who can benefit from the colors being inverted.
What this means for you however is that the dark parts of your screen will become bright – creating a lot more light from the screen itself.
Since your screen will be mostly bright white, as long as the screen is close to your face it should do a great job at lighting it up – just like the front flash normally would.
When you’re done filming, all you’ve got to do is invert your colors again so they’ll appear normal. Your video will be completely normal, but you’ll still have benefited from all of the extra light while your screen was inverted.
Pretty neat!
So, how do you invert your phone’s colors?
To invert your phone colors on iPhone, follow these steps:
- Open the Settings app.
- Scroll down, and tap on ‘Accessibility.’
- Under the ‘Vision’ section, tap on ‘Display & Text Size.’
- Scroll down, and toggle ‘Classic Invert’ on.
To invert your phone colors on Android, follow these steps:
- Open the settings app.
- Tap on ‘Accessibility.’
- Under display, toggle ‘Color Inversion’ to on.
Once this is done, your phone’s screen should immediately change colors.
Now, head back to the TikTok app and record your video.
Once you’re done, follow the same steps to turn the color inversion back off. Don’t worry, your TikTok will now appear as completely normal!
2. Film Outside The TikTok App
As you know, front flash works just fine when using the normal camera app that ships with your phone.
So, take advantage of this!
TikToks do not have to be filmed directly within the app itself. In fact, recording your TikTok – or even just parts of it outside the app gives you a lot more control.
So, don’t be afraid to film using your phone’s regular camera app. You can always trim the clips, add stickers, and other effects after uploading it to TikTok.
Plus, you’ll get to take advantage of the front flash feature for better lighting in your clips!
3. Purchase A Small Light
If you’re serious about growing your TikTok page, you should consider investing in a cheap lighting setup.
For example, a ring light can cost as little as $20, but make a dramatic difference to the quality of your videos.
In fact, better lighting often goes further to improve video quality than even a better camera does! It’s by far one of the most important factors, especially if you’re shooting your videos indoors where there is not a lot of natural sunlight.
While it’s not as convenient as using the front flash on your camera, ring lights are even more powerful, and will usually hurt your eyes less as well.
So, if you plan on filming a lot of videos, you should definitely consider picking one up!
4. Film In Areas With More Natural Light
Finally, the last thing you should try is moving to an area with more natural light.
As creators, we are required to work with what’s available to us. While having fancy lighting setups gives us a lot more flexibility, most people can create professional-quality videos with just their smartphone, as long as the lighting situation is taken care of.
Front flash is a useful tool, but it’s far from an ideal solution.
Instead, plan your filming around times when there is lots of natural sunlight, and film in areas where the light really shines through.
This may mean that you record in places within your house that you normally wouldn’t record at, just because there are multiple windows that allow light to shine through.
Ultimately, natural light can make a far bigger difference than front flash ever could – without harsh light appearing across just one area of your face, either.
Experiment with different recording locations, at different times of the day. You’ll be amazed how different the results can be!
Conclusion
Unfortunately, there is no way to use the front flash functionality that may be present in your phone’s native camera app.
However, there are a few workarounds that can provide a similar effect, lighting up your screen so your face is easier to see while filming.
Of course, the best thing you can do is to invest in a good lighting solution, which may be as little as $20. Additionally, look over these tips to fix blurry or low quality TikTok videos.
I hope that you’ve found this article to be helpful. If you have any questions about filming TikToks, please ask them using the comment form below.
Wishing you the best,
– James McAllister