This post overviews Slo-mo Mod, a jailbreak tweak that enables the iPhone 5s’ slow motion video capture mode on older iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches.
One of the features that Apple used to show off the power of its newest flagship phone, the iPhone 5s, was its slo-mo video capture mode. The iPhone 5s’ A7 processor packs in enough power for the phone to capture slow motion HD video at 120 frames per second. Unfortunately, as often is the case with Apple’s best and newest features, the slo-mo video mode that was released on iOS 7 for the iPhone 5s didn’t find its way onto Apple’s older or less powerful iPhones, iPads, or iPod Touches. This makes a lot of sense as it’s that extra boost from the blazingly fast A7 chip that allows the iPhone 5s’ iSight camera to capture incredibly smooth slow motion video.
However, the jailbreak community has taken it upon itself to make sure that owners of older iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches aren’t left out in the cold when it comes to capturing slow motion video on their devices. Why not allow slo-mo mode, but just at a lower framerate… one that less powerful devices can handle? The answer to this question is a great jailbreak tweak called Slo-mo Mod.
Upon downloading and installing Slo-mo mod and respringing your device, you’ll notice that SLO-MO mode has become available just to the left of the VIDEO mode in the Camera App. All you need to do to access the new mode is swipe over to it.
Once in the new mode, you’ll see an fps (frames per second) setting in the lower right of the screen. Tapping on this allows you to change the number of frames per second that your device will capture in slo-mo mode. Please note that you’ll need to select numbers in multiples of 30 (i.e. 30, 60, or 120 fps). Please also note that if you choose an fps setting that is too much for your phone you will encounter an error. On my iPhone 5, 30fps and 60fps work just fine. Inputting 120fps, however, returns an error message and the tweak resets the fps to 60. That said, 60 frames per second slow motion video is still pretty incredible to look at. Though it’s not as buttery smooth as what the iPhone 5s can capture, it still allows you to take some pretty amazing shots.
Slo-mo Mod also comes with its own settings pane in the Settings app that gives you finer control over how the tweak behaves. The first option in the settings pane allows you to adjust the framerate at which your device will capture video. This is essentially the same as changing it in the Camera App as described above. Other settings include:
Force Slo-mo for All Videos which allows you to mark all videos taken on your device as slo-mo.
Enable Slo-mo which allows you to toggle the tweak off and on.
Slo-mo Rate which gives you control over how slow your videos will actually play.
Slo-mo Video Ramp Volume which lets you adjust the volume level of the slow motion part of your videos.
Fake Framerate. This setting is all about looks. It allows you to change the framerate that’s displayed in the Camera App even if you set a different framerate in Settings (i.e. displaying 120fps even if it’s not supported on your device).
Because of these settings, it even makes sense to install Slo-mo Mod on your iPhone 5s since the tweak gives you finer control over how the slo-mo feature works.
Slo-mo Mod is a great example of something the jailbreak community does often: implement a feature that Apple has decided doesn’t work well enough on older devices. The tweak works very well and, since it uses iOS 7’s own interface in the Camera Apple, once you get it working how you want it to you almost forget that the tweak is installed. If you want the ability to take slow motion video on your older or unsupported iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, give Slo-mo Mod a try. It’s available for free on Cydia. Find it and install it by searching on the Search tab.
In order to install Slo-mo Mod, you’ll need to jailbreak your iOS device. For more information on jailbreaking, please see our series on the subject starting here. To find out how to jailbreak iOS 7, click here.
