You’ve heard of the selfie. Of course, you have, and you’ve doubtless taken a few in your time, even if you’re not prepared to admit it. Now, you’re ready to graduate, and a groufie — that’s a selfie with lots of people in it — isn’t enough. You want a bothie.
What on Earth is a bothie? It’s the name given to a special camera feature found on some new Nokia phones, and despite the slightly silly name, it’s actually really fun — and it can be surprisingly creative too. It lets you take a picture with the front and rear camera at the same time, and the two images appear alongside each other in a specially created photo.
There’s considerable software trickery involved in getting this exactly right, and Nokia has nailed the final product — which works with both stills and video. Now, it’s time to get out and take some Bothies. This is how to make the most of this cool feature.
Which phones can take a Bothie?
This is a feature that you’ll find only on modern Nokias — by which we mean those created under license by HMD Global and that run Android. You can’t dig out that Lumia 1020 or Nokia N95 and expect to take a Bothie.
While the photo itself is known as a Bothie, the camera feature is actually called Dual Sight, and it’s this you’ll need to find in your camera app. If you own phones including the Nokia 8 (on which the feature was introduced), Nokia 8 Sirocco, Nokia 7 Plus, or the Nokia 6.1, it should be available for you to use. Like we said, older Nokia phones, including the 2017 Nokia 6, don’t have the feature.
Find the Dual Sight mode
Open the camera app on your Nokia phone and look along the top menu in portrait orientation for an icon resembles a person in a white square. Tap this and you’re presented with three options — pick the one marked Dual. This automatically switches the phone to Dual Sight, with views from both cameras showing on the screen at once.
To exit Dual Sight, tap the same menu button again and select Single. The third option, named P-I-P for picture-in-picture, is better-suited to video, as the view from the front camera is much smaller than in Dual Sight.
Stills
Now you’re ready to take a Bothie. Doing so is as simple as hitting the shutter button. However, the skill resides in framing the images correctly. You can grab great reaction shots, selfies with your surroundings, and ensure you’re properly in the photo each and every time. Alternatively, have fun with the creative opportunities.
Why not go Live?
Most Bothies will be stills, but the Dual Sight camera mode can operate in video too. Plus, if you link up your Facebook or YouTube account, you can livestream using the Dual Sight camera. First, activate the Dual Sight mode as described above, and then to switch to video by tapping the video camera icon alongside the shutter button.
At the top of the screen. look for the button marked Live. It may be crossed out at this time, but tap it anyway, and you’ll be presented with the choice of YouTube or Facebook livestreams. Tap your preference and follow the instructions for entering your account details. If you’ve already got Facebook and YouTube set up on your phone, this should be straightforward, with all details filled in.
Select your livestream platform and return to the camera view. Make sure you’re in video mode and tap the record button. Here, you’ll be asked to give your livestream a name — just tap OK, and you’ll be live. This is a fun feature that’s more interactive and personal than a normal livestream video.
If you want video, but don’t want to livestream, simply make sure the Live button in the top menu is crossed out. When you tap record, your Bothie video will record as usual and be saved to your camera roll. It works in both portrait and landscape.
Swap sides
There will be times when you may want the left image to be on the right of the screen, and vice versa. Nokia has thought of this, so look at the top menu and tap the top right button when in Dual Sight mode. This switches the two onscreen views around, letting you get the desired view.
Sharing
Sharing photos online is half the fun, and Bothies lend themselves very well to sharing with friends on social networks. Aside from livestreaming videos directly to Facebook and YouTube, the stills can be shared without issue to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. For the latter, just make sure you tap the button to expand the picture to its native aspect ratio before posting, otherwise, it will be cropped down into a square format.
That’s about all you need to know about Bothies, so go out and try taking some. They’re way better than the slightly silly name suggests, and a distinct and unique feature of the new Nokia phones.
Editors’ Recommendations
- How to use Instagram
- How to download Instagram photos from any device
- These are the seven best RAW camera apps for Android and iOS
- Meet Explorest, the photo-scouting app curated by real photographers
- Photo FOMO: Faster A.I. photo edits, smooth rolling bags, and ‘Kodachrome’