Did you know that the Apple Watch has a native Camera app? While it can’t actually record or save images like your iPhone can, it’s a helper remote control app that lets you compose and preview your iPhone camera shots. All you need to operate your iPhone camera from your wrist is to be located within Bluetooth range — about 33 feet or 10 meters.

Launching the Watch Camera app automatically launches the iPhone Camera app. The cameras pair automatically and almost instantly. This lets you take a shot with your phone at a greater distance than your arm’s length. It lets you position your iPhone for a photo, use your Apple Watch to preview the camera image, and then take the photo from your watch face shutter button. It also gives you a three-second countdown so you can get in the shot if you want to. There are significant interface differences in iPhone camera operation between iOS 13 and iOS 14 and WatchOS 6 and WatchOS 7. For iOS 15 and WatchOS 8, the process is nearly identical. We show you all the moves that let you get your best shot in all instances.

The easiest way to call up the Camera app is with Siri. Just say to your watch face, “Hey Siri, take a picture.” That will immediately launch the Camera app on your iPhone and Watch. Or do the following:

You can use your watch to shoot Live Photos, HDR, or specify the front or rear camera. Flip lets you alternate between the front or rear camera. HDR shots have a broader tonal range and better details because the iPhone takes multiple photos in rapid succession at different exposures and blends them into a single shot. Flash lights the scene. With both HDR and Flash settings, you can further specify on, off, or auto from the watch interface. It works somewhat differently in iOS 14 and WatchOS 7 but is similar to the updated iOS 15 and WatchOS 8.

In iOS 14 and WatchOS7: In iOS 14, you do that by pressing hard on the watch face within the Camera app until additional controls appear on the screen and choosing the one you want — Live, Flip, HDR, or Flash — to engage any of those four modes.

In iOS 15 and WatchOS8: In iOS 15, you access those same controls via the three-dot More menu. Just keep scrolling until you find the controls you’re looking for.

You can remotely control your camera with both still images and video, time-lapse, slo-mo, portrait, or square. But for these, you need to control the mode from the iPhone Camera app first.

You can review your recent photos on the Apple Watch using the Camera app, though the actual picture resides on your phone. Once you close out a camera session, the watch preview disappears. This function operates identically in iOS 14 and iOS 15.

The Apple Watch comes in handy for so many different routine tasks, and having it remotely control your iPhone camera is a logical extension of its capabilities — all the more reason to always have your watch strapped to your wrist.