How to brighten a video on your iPhone before or while recording, or by using a free third-party app after recording

• You can brighten a video on your iPhone to make it easier to see and help it look better when posted to social media platforms.
• The best way to ensure your videos are bright enough is to set the brightness level on your iPhone camera before you begin recording, or while you are recording. 
• Though your iPhone camera does not allow you to brighten a video after it has been recorded, you can download a free app that lets you brighten and edit existing videos.
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A dark video is hardly enjoyable, but it's often hard to tell in the moment that the footage you're recording is too dimly lit to be easily viewed. 

Brightening an iPhone video can make it easier to see the action on screen and will make the video more appealing if you upload it to a social media site or webpage.

Unfortunately, the iPhone's built-in camera app does not allow you to brighten videos after you have created them, so you should always try to brighten a video before you start recording. 

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How to brighten an iPhone video before or while recording 

1. Open the camera app and swipe left to toggle to video. 

2. Tap on the screen so that a box with a sun-shaped icon appears.  

3. Hold your finger on the iPhone screen and slide it upward to brighten the scene before you start recording. You can also do this while you are recording the video at any time. 

How to brighten an iPhone video after recording 

The free features of the app InShot allow you to brighten an iPhone video after recording, not to mention adding filters, text, cropping, and many other editorial features.

1. Open the InShot app and tap the icon for "VIDEO," then tap "New."

2. Select the video (or videos if you are merging files) you wish to brighten from your iPhone's library.

3. Tap the green circle with the check mark.

4. On the next screen, tap the word "FILTER."

5. Tap the "Adjust" tab, then using the "LIGHTNESS" effect, move the slider as far to the right as you want to brighten the video.

You can also play around with other effects, like "WARMTH" and "SATURATION," as increasing these will make some videos appear brighter.

Related coverage from How To Do Everything: Tech:

• How to crop a video on your iPhone using a free third-party app

• How to easily combine videos on your iPhone using the iMovie app

• How to mute a video on your iPhone using Apple's free iMovie app

• How to turn off auto-brightness on your iPhone, and manually change its brightness in 2 ways

Steven John

Freelance Writer

Steven John is a freelance writer living near New York City by way of 12 years in Los Angeles, four in Boston, and the first 18 near DC. When not writing or spending time with his wife and kids, he can occasionally be found climbing mountains. His writing is spread across the web, and his books can be found at www.stevenjohnbooks.com.

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