UpTakes is a sports video camera app with instant editing that runs entirely on gestures, so your eyes never leave the action. A patented raise-to-record gesture starts filming, lower to stop, and a quick gesture keeps or deletes each clip on the spot — your highlight reel builds itself in real time. Clips save to the top of your camera roll, ready to share the moment they happen, with no editing afterward, no sorting through hours of footage, and no waiting for someone else to send you the highlights.

With your phone's camera you record everything, then go home and comb through hours of footage to find the good plays. UpTakes fixes that — you keep or delete each clip right after you shoot it, so the only clips left are the highlights and there's no more sorting through hours of footage. It also starts recording from a gesture, not a button — you raise your phone toward the action and your eyes never leave it, thanks to a patented raise-to-record gesture.

Lift your phone toward the action and it starts recording automatically; lower it and it stops. You feel a quick buzz when it starts and again when it stops — no buttons, no looking at the screen, so your eyes stay on the action the whole time. The gesture is covered by US Patent 11,082,609 B2.

That's the #1 way parents miss the play, and it's exactly what raise-to-record solves. There's no record button to forget — you just lift your phone toward the action and it starts recording automatically, then stops when you lower it. You'll never get home thinking you filmed the goal only to find you weren't recording. You actually get two cues the moment recording starts: you feel a quick buzz, and the standby curtain over the screen lifts to the full live picture — so you know you're rolling without even looking down. No more wondering whether you actually hit record, and your eyes stay on the action, not the screen.

The picture itself is the proof. In most camera apps the screen shows a live preview whether or not it's recording, so you can never really be sure. UpTakes only shows you the full live picture while it's actually recording — the rest of the time the screen sits behind a standby curtain. So if you can see the action on your screen, you know you're capturing it. You also feel a buzz the moment recording starts and again when it stops.

Yes. Because there's no record button to press — you start recording just by raising your phone — you never have to stare at your screen or watch the game through it; your eyes stay on the game. Raise your phone toward the action and it records while you cheer and follow the play; lower it to stop. You capture the highlights without missing the moment live, and there's no more sorting through hours of footage.

Auto-delete is the mode that builds your reel as you film — use it when you'll delete more than you keep, like sideline filming or a long session waiting for the play. After each take a quick review screen appears with a countdown — swipe right (or shake the phone) to keep a take, swipe left or let the timer run to delete it. Un-kept takes sit in a temporary buffer and never reach your photo library, so you can record freely without storage anxiety. When the game ends the keepers ARE your highlight reel — no more sorting through hours of footage. Auto-save is the default mode when you install UpTakes; switch to auto-delete in Settings once you're comfortable with the keep-or-delete flow.

Yes — that's the heart of auto-delete mode. Raise your phone to record, lower it to review; if you didn't catch it, just raise again and UpTakes deletes that take and starts a fresh recording instantly — as fast and as many times as you want. The takes you don't keep are never saved: they sit in a temporary buffer and clear the moment you record again, so they never touch your photo library. The only one that survives is the take you swipe right (or shake) to keep — so you can take run after run at the same play, and only the keeper lands in your photos.

Auto-save keeps every take automatically — it's the default mode when you install UpTakes, the safer starting point while you learn the keep-or-delete mechanic. Use it when you'll keep more than you delete, like a full performance, a recital, or an entire game. After each take a quick review screen appears with a countdown: do nothing and the timer saves the take, OR raise your phone to start the next recording (the current take saves and the new one begins). To drop an outtake, swipe left during the review. You still start recording with the same raise-to-record gesture — no button, eyes on the action. Once you're comfortable, switch to auto-delete in Settings — it's the more powerful mode for capturing highlights without storage anxiety.

You don't have to predict it. Just raise your phone whenever play is live — a rally, a possession, an at-bat — and lower it when it stops. In auto-delete mode you can record freely and keep only the takes that caught a highlight, so the dead time clears itself. You're never trying to hit record at the exact right second.

No. You build the reel as you film — right after each clip you keep it or delete it, so there's no post-game editing and no more sorting through hours of footage — your highlights are ready to share before the game's even over.

Sports parents and grandparents on the sideline are the core users — anyone who wants to record their kid's games and come away with just the best plays, without missing the game or spending the evening sorting through hours of footage. It works across sports (baseball, basketball, football, soccer, softball, track, volleyball and more) and at any other live moment worth keeping — concerts and recitals, parades and festivals, weddings and ceremonies, hunting and birdwatching, kids and pets, everyday action.

Yes — UpTakes works across sports: baseball, basketball, football, soccer, softball, track, volleyball and more. It films any live action, with nothing sport-specific to set up. Raise to record the play, keep the best takes.

It's built for sports parents on the sideline, but it works for any live moment you don't want to miss — concerts and recitals, parades and festivals, weddings and ceremonies, hunting and birdwatching, kids and pets, everyday action. Anywhere you'd film and then dread sorting the footage, UpTakes helps you keep just the keepers.

Absolutely — UpTakes is just as good for fans in the stands as for parents on the sideline. At a pro or live sporting event you want the big play, but you don't want to watch the whole game through your phone or leave with hours of footage to sort. Raise your phone toward the action to catch the goal, the dunk, the home run, then lower it and get back to cheering. In auto-delete mode the dead time clears itself, so you walk out with just the highlights — and you stayed in the moment instead of behind a screen.

Open UpTakes, allow camera and photo access, and raise your phone to record — that's the core of it. You can fine-tune how high you lift to start and stop, and choose your mode: auto-save keeps everything, auto-delete builds just the highlights. Your clips save straight to your phone's photo library.

Yes. UpTakes is free to download and free to keep as UpTakes Lite — you get the patented raise-to-record gesture, keep-or-delete review, and recording in portrait HD at no cost, forever. Every download also starts with a 30-day All-Access free trial plus 3 game days. All-Access — which adds 4K, 60fps, landscape, Timed Take, and the Reel Builder — is optional, at $9.99/year or $1.99/month.

UpTakes is free to keep as UpTakes Lite, so the subscription is optional. All-Access is for people who want the premium tier: it unlocks 4K and 60fps recording, landscape, Timed Take, and the highlight Reel Builder. It's not cloud storage — your videos always stay on your phone — and your payment keeps the app supported and improving. All-Access is $9.99/year (about $0.83 a month) or $1.99/month, with no watermarks or ads on either tier.

Your videos save straight to your phone's photo library — there's no cloud, and UpTakes never holds your footage on a server. That keeps your family's videos private and in your control, and because auto-delete mode clears the outtakes, you're not filling your phone with clips you'll never watch.

UpTakes records in 4K or HD (1080p) at up to 60fps, with built-in video stabilization for steadier handheld footage. On iPhone 12 and newer you also get 4K HDR Dolby Vision (Apple's premium HDR format); on Android it's up to 4K on supported devices. Same quality as your stock camera — no downscaling, no compression. (4K, 60fps, and landscape are part of All-Access; free UpTakes Lite records in portrait HD.)

Yes — UpTakes records in both. Choose portrait (vertical, for TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram Reels) or landscape (horizontal, the traditional video shape). Toggle in Settings; your choice persists across launches so you don't have to re-set it each game. The raise-to-record gesture works the same in either orientation — just lift your phone the way you want to film.

No — UpTakes is a video camera app, built for capturing motion. It records video (4K HDR Dolby Vision on supported iPhones) and helps you keep just the best clips; it doesn't take still images. Use your phone's built-in camera for photos.

Yes — that's one of the best parts. The moment you keep a take it saves to the top of your camera roll, already trimmed, so during a timeout or between innings you can text it to family, drop it in the group chat, or post it — while the game's still going. No waiting for stale footage after the final whistle. And if you're at a big game, being first to post the highlight is how you rack up the likes and views.

No — and overcoming that worry is the whole point of auto-delete mode. The takes you don't keep clear themselves, so only the clips you choose to save ever reach your photo library. That means you can record freely — as many takes as you want — without the storage guilt or camera-roll dread of ending up with hours of footage you'll never watch. Nothing bloats your phone or iCloud unless you decide to keep it.

Yes. Raise-to-record is a setting you can toggle off, and then UpTakes works like a regular camera — tap to start, tap to stop. You still get the best part: after each recording the same keep-or-delete review appears, so you keep just the highlights as you go — no more sorting through hours of footage later. It's handy when raise-and-lower doesn't fit the moment: phone on a tripod, propped on a rail, or pointed down at the action.

Yes — pinch to zoom in and out, or tap a zoom preset and UpTakes glides there with smooth speed control, for a cinematic push-in on the action instead of a jarring jump. Your eyes can stay on the play while the zoom does the work.

Timed Take records fixed-length clips — you pick a length of about 1.5 to 3 seconds — that automatically stop and then re-arm for the next one. It's built for fast montages, where every shot is a short, punchy cut: raise your phone, grab a perfect-length clip, and it's ready for the next without any trimming. Turn it off for normal recording when you want longer clips. Timed Take is part of All-Access.

Yes — that's the Reel Builder. Pick your keeper clips and UpTakes stitches them into one shareable highlight reel, saved straight to your camera roll. There's no editor to learn — you just choose the clips and get one video back. The Reel Builder is part of All-Access.

Just tap Undo and the clip comes right back. The undo even survives closing the app, so a mistaken delete is never final — you won't lose a highlight to a fat-finger.

Yes — that's "raise to launch." Set it up once on iPhone and a single motion takes you from phone-down to filming: UpTakes opens straight into the camera and, with raise-to-record on, starts recording as you lift — no hunting for the app, no missing the play. Available on iOS now, with Android coming.

UpTakes is made by Uptakes Video LLC, founded by Joseph Garff — a sports dad who built it to solve his own sideline filming problem. The raise-to-record gesture is protected by US Patent 11,082,609 B2.