Your iPhone has a hidden camera with cool effects and masks: how to find it

Smartphone users love to share beautiful and funny photos taken with their gadgets' cameras, "decorating" themselves with cool filters and effects that turn them into cartoon characters, animals, or alien creatures. That's why Apple's decision to hide the camera with filters in a third-party application looks strange.

According to Screen Rant, the iPhone has a lot of built-in filters and camera effects, but perhaps the most interesting ones are in an app that users think of last when it comes to creative photos that will attract attention on social media.

We are talking about the text messaging app iMessage, which allows not only to chat with friends but also to send them witty photos and videos using filters and masks.

Despite the fact that one of Apple's main goals is to make an iPhone that is easy to use and "just works," the American company hides some features from users for reasons that are not very clear. Some interesting and useful options can be activated using gestures, while others can be found in unexpected applications.

The iPhone camera app itself has a set of fairly standard filters for adjusting color and exposure, and newer iPhones also have photographic styles. But it will be quite a challenge to create a funny photo with them that would amuse children, for example.

Filters and effects in iMessage

However, as it turned out, the real fun with filters and masks for photos and videos is hidden not in the Camera app but in the message app or iMessage.

You can access them in the app itself, where you need to create a new message and tap the camera logo. When the app launches the camera, you can choose a photo or video mode, front or rear camera, and then tap the star icon at the bottom of the screen to select effects, stickers, or masks that will appear on the photo or video you take.

After you're done having fun and taking photos or videos, you don't even have to send them via message because the result will be automatically saved in the Photos app. Then you can share them via any third-party app installed on your iPhone or social media.

Among the effects available in iMessage are Memoji, Animoji, and various stickers, including those from third-party applications installed on your iPhone. If your iPhone has Face ID, stickers can be attached to the user's face, and custom Memoji can be used as a mask. Animoji will allow you to use animated Memoji with a mouth, eyes, and head that exactly repeat the movements of the user's face and head and look like a virtual mask.

You can also add inscriptions or stickers to turn your photo into a meme.

Among the filters available in the camera launched through messages are comic book, ink, watercolor, and many others that work much better than standard camera filters.