How does iPhone Night Mode actually work? is the shutter open for 30 seconds or does the phone stack 1 second exposures?

Seawild111 wrote:

Thank you! Do you know if the IOS lets the sensor collect light for a full 30 seconds or if it digitally combines and processes 1 second exposures for 30 seconds? So 1 second x 30 rather than 1 full 30 second exposure.

No, but I highly doubt it is stringing together a series of 1 second photos. It is simply choosing how long to let the sensor collect light. And depending on the level of light, it may not collect light for a specified length of time. It determines how long to let light hit the sensor.

There really is no shutter on a digital camera, which of course iPhone uses. What happens is the camera determines how long to let light hit the sensor, which during night mode is longer than during better lit conditions.

Your iPhone's Night Mode, which is also called Dark Mode in iOS 13 and later, can be set to automatically switch based on sunrise and sunset.

When you enable automatic Night Mode, your iPhone uses your location to access sunrise and sunset times. This information likely comes from the built-in Weather app.

While it relies on sunrise and sunset, there may be a slight delay or difference compared to the exact times listed in the Weather app.

So, in essence, Night Mode is designed to work based on the sun's cycle, though there might be minor discrepancies.