What iOS version do you need for dual camera recording on iPhone?
DualCam requires iOS 17 or later. That is a real requirement, but it is easy to mix up with the other one — an iPhone XS, iPhone XR or newer — because both have to be true at once and only one of them is about software.
The distinction matters because the fix is completely different depending on which one you are missing. An iOS version is something you update for free in Settings. A chip is not. Knowing which wall you have hit saves you from updating a phone that was never going to qualify, or assuming a qualifying phone is broken when it just needs an update.
Two separate checks, not one
Simultaneous capture is a hardware capability first: it needs an A12 Bionic chip or later, which is why iPhone XS and iPhone XR are the floor. No update changes what chip is soldered into a phone, so an iPhone X or earlier will not gain this ability no matter how current its iOS is.
The iOS version is a separate, independent condition on top of that. DualCam is built against iOS 17, and a phone that has the right chip but is still running an older iOS will not run the app — not because the hardware cannot do it, but because the app itself was not built for the older system. Both checks have to pass. Neither one substitutes for the other.
Checking and updating your iOS version
Your current version is under Settings, then General, then About — it is listed next to “iOS Version”. To check for and install an update, go to Settings, then General, then Software Update instead; that screen tells you if you are already current or offers the update to install.
The App Store also enforces this from its side: an app that requires iOS 17 will not offer itself for download to a device running an older system, or will only offer an older, compatible build if one still exists. So in practice, if your iPhone is new enough and you cannot install or open a dual-camera app at all, checking Software Update before anything else is the right first move.
What updating iOS can and cannot fix
If your iPhone is an XS, XR or newer and you are simply behind on updates, installing the latest iOS is the whole fix — there is nothing else to configure, and the multi-camera capability was already present in the hardware waiting for software that could use it.
If your iPhone is older than that floor, updating iOS will not add the capability, because there is no software path to it. The multi-camera capture framework Apple provides has existed on iOS for longer than DualCam’s own iOS 17 requirement — DualCam’s floor reflects what the app itself is built against, not the age of the underlying camera API. Either way, the chip is the wall that no update moves.
Common follow-up questions
My iPhone is new enough — do I still need a specific iOS version?
Yes. DualCam checks both: iPhone XS, iPhone XR or newer for the chip, and iOS 17 or later for the software. A qualifying phone on an old iOS still needs the update before the app will run.
I updated iOS and dual recording still is not available. Why?
At that point the chip is almost certainly the limit. Updating iOS cannot add a capability tied to hardware that came before it — that applies to iPhone X and earlier.
How do I see what iOS version I am running right now?
Settings, then General, then About shows your current version. Settings, then General, then Software Update is where you check for and install a newer one.
Want to just do this?
DualCam records the iPhone front and back cameras at the same time and writes one finished MP4 while you shoot. Free, no account, no ads, nothing leaves the phone.