Those $10 Bluetooth shutter buttons have three well-known problems: they pair like it's 2012 (and un-pair after iOS updates), the coin-cell battery is dead exactly when you need it, and — the big one — they can't show you the shot. You press the button blind and walk over to check.
If you have any second Apple device, you can skip the clicker entirely: Remote Shutter turns an iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, or Apple-silicon Mac into a full camera remote for your iPhone — with a live preview of the frame.
What "full remote" means
A Bluetooth button gives you one thing: a shutter press. A second-device remote gives you the whole camera:
- Live preview — see exactly what the camera sees before you shoot
- Photo and video — start and stop recording remotely, not just snap
- Camera controls — switch lenses, flip front/back, toggle flash and torch, all from the remote
- No pairing ritual — the devices discover each other directly; there's nothing to put in pairing mode
Setting it up
- Install Remote Shutter on both devices (free download, no account).
- Open the app on both. They connect directly over peer-to-peer Wi-Fi — no network required.
- Pick which device is the camera and which is the remote.
- Frame on the preview, then shoot photos or roll video from wherever you're standing.
When a Bluetooth button is still the right tool
Honesty department: a clicker is smaller than a second phone, costs $10, and clips to a selfie stick. If all you need is "fire the shutter while holding the phone at arm's length," a button is fine. The app approach wins when the phone is away from you — on a tripod, across the room, up on a shelf — because then you need to see the frame, not just trigger it. Full comparison: Remote Shutter vs. Bluetooth remotes vs. Apple Watch.
No second device handy?
Two built-in fallbacks worth knowing: the iPhone self-timer (Camera → arrow → timer — no preview at shot time, but reliable), and if you have an Apple Watch, Apple's built-in Camera Remote app gives you a small preview of your own paired iPhone. Both are fine for quick shots; the two-device setup is what you graduate to when you care about framing.