This Auto-Tracking iPhone Dock Will Keep You In Frame!

[@MatthewCassinelli]

1:18 Dude the nod is an amazing detail

[@beardfm]

It's got that Apple "whimsy"!

[@myHomeKithome]

OK so this is a very specific and potentially odd question. I am a completely blind content creator. I use the built-in camera app with voiceover to help put me into frame for recording videos, but the feedback I get is very general telling me one face near top left edge, one face near bottom right edge, etc. I then move my head left, right, up, and down using the audible feedback to try to estimate the center of the frame. My question is where in the frame does it track your face. is it centered using a rule of thirds-style approach? This can potentially completely remove the need for a sided person to reframe my footage after recording, so potentially a game changer for me. Thanks for the video Steven!

[@TomWilton]

From the footage in Stephen’s video, it broadly seems to center the person - particularly when using the iPhone’s main rear camera or the selfie camera. However, on the zoom lens, it seems the software tends to use a person’s nose and mouth as the center point of the framing. I hope that helps answer your question.

[@myHomeKithome]

It does and thank you! I'll have to do some more research and potentially get one in for testing.

[@beardfm]

Appreciate the question! I would say 90% of the time it will keep a face centered in the frame. There are moments when a subject might move to one side or the other, especially when 5 feet away from the camera or more, and the stand won't adjust. So the subject will be towards the edge. If they begin to move out of frame, the stand refocuses and centers them. But again, *most* of the time the subject stays completely centered. Like Tom said, if you use a zoom lens, it seems to focus on the nose and mouth, so I would air on the side of a slightly wider shot just in case. Hope that helps!

[@myHomeKithome]

@@beardfm it definitely does and I think it will definitely be a useful tool for me. Thanks again!

[@eltechnica]

super cool actually

[@belkin]

We love to see it, thanks for highlighting the latest features! 📷

[@beardfm]

Appreciate it!

[@KS-wr8ub]

To be honest, this thing is CHEAP for the extra value it could bring to someone who needs it. I’m impressed! Let’s say you’re doing presentations or teaching online, this would allow you to widen your available workspace significantly. Pair it with an AW for control and you can stream very high quality stuff if you use the rear camera. If apps (or Apple?) can add the possibility to lock the tracking to a specific object as well, then that would open up even more possibility’s for the presenter moving between different layouts in a room without having the camera following a person. Say that it would track my MacBook in the shot. If I present one product on a table, then bring the MB to another table to present a second product, it would stay locked to the table during the presentation and I could have it focus on the product rather than me. This is very cool!

[@beardfm]

Great use cases! And for sure, it's very flexible

[@mjanke]

Would be interested in seeing an updated review with iOS 18. The WWDC session for DockKit says it now supports photo mode and improved tracking.

[@ChrisPearce-t7d]

Hey Stephen, thanks for the review. I also own the Belking Auto-Tracking Dock and I love it as well. The one problem I've run into, and I would to know if there is a way to address this, is when you select your main camera on the rear of your phone. The dock pivots and turns completely around to use that camera. The problem is that there is now way to switch back to the front facing camera unless you can figure out how to tap the icon to switch from from rear camera to front camera or take the phone completely off the dock. Is there something for this I"m just missing. Would be great if you could double click power button and it would rotate around. Thanks.

[@beardfm]

Hey there! If I intend to do that, I'll just press the button once, which disables tracking temporarily, pick it up, switch cameras, and then press again to resume tracking. But I agree a double tap to switch cameras again would be nice. You can also switch on your Apple Watch if you have that.

[@jeffhale1189]

Thanks for sharing. Nice accessory. Blessings on your day.

[@beardfm]

Thanks for watching!

[@alfredoistic]

Hey nice video! Received it today and I’m already loving it. It’s disappointing though that it doesn’t support cinematic video mode on iPhone, only regular video mode. ☹️

[@MattBrownieCake]

Nice video (it rotated 180 degrees when you flipped the screen not 360😊) I have been using obsbot which works with any smart phone and a great bit of kit

[@beardfm]

haha ok true, it's *capable of spinning 360* is what I meant 😉

[@CJPorras]

Ugh I was really hoping for spatial video support. I hope in future iOS updates spatial video and panoramic photo support is added. It would have better stability than trying to record by hand.

[@beardfm]

that's a great point, hopefully in an iOS update since DockKit is tied to Apple's software 🤔

[@MichaelRelevant]

Why doesn’t it work when I’m using the DJI mic 2? How do I get both to work at the same time? Either one or the other works at one time.

[@MyFaith-777]

What's distance can be between the device and subject

[@mrbert]

Can you use it with black magic cam Apps?

[@FlyExpats]

Great question!!

[@AnthonyLeDonne]

Hey Stephen, Loved the review. Thanks for making it. Any idea whether this works with Blackmagic Camera app?

[@beardfm]

Your'e welcome! And just tested, and it does work with the BMC app!

[@AnthonyLeDonne]

@@beardfm Awesome. Thanks!

[@MrMar57]

It would be nice for it to track your face while on safari. Like when reading recipes. Our have the espn app track you while you watch a game.

[@beardfm]

Oh that would be great

[@sigjudge]

Hi Stephen. Does this work for FaceTime on Apple TV? Of course you knew I’d ask that specific question haha

[@beardfm]

I just tested and it does! Tracks while in Continuity Camera mode whether it's Mac or Apple TV. And tested with the FaceTime app specifically.

[@sigjudge]

@@beardfm many thanks Stephen!

[@olicodes]

Steven, I am wondering if I could use this rock climbing (within 40-50 feet as you mentioned) Obviously I'll have my back to the camera when climbing, but it should still be really obvious it's me, and Apple's ML is pretty good! What's your impression of face tracking vs body tracking when using the stand?

[@beardfm]

Hm I’m not sure it’ll stay with you without seeing a face for prolonged periods. When my kids rode 40+ feet away, even with no other people around, it stopped tracking. If it was zoomed in a little, maybe, but you would need to test for sure.

[@samckatz]

Super cool

[@GaryV-p3h]

I love the idea but not for video messaging or filming but would want it to track me when watching KZbin videos or for viewing anything, so it's facing me at all times, would like to see a version for an iPad too.

[@beardfm]

That's interesting, could make sense in the kitchen, work shop, etc...

[@Mytcannon]

How come the MagSafe thingy not charging my phone?

[@JMMinistries]

Wow doesn’t work with Cinematic Mode??? That’s Disappointing smh 🤦🏾‍♂️

[@beardfm]

Yeah, that seems strange. But since it's Apple's Framework I imagine they can enable it, like with Spatial Video too

[@eltechnica]

what tripod are you using for the device?

[@beardfm]

It's a simple manfrotto tripod, something like this: amzn.to/3Pubtrl

[@supereldian]

Wow! This is nice. Belkin accessories are essentially first-party accessories because Apple gives Belkin advance access to products

[@beardfm]

They’re a close partner for sure.

[@shileitian2083]

Does it work if iPhone is used as continuity camera for a Mac or Apple TV?

[@beardfm]

Yes! Tried with Apple TV

[@pascaltiemann]

Does it work with FaceTime

[@beardfm]

It does!

[@HubertKirchgaessner]

Does it work with Microsoft Teams?

[@christineperona3692]

Yes!

[@FrankPark-mo4mq]

yes works with team, and zoom for teleconfrence.

[@Not2Be0utDone]

Does anyone know a tripod that would be compatible with this? I'm not the most tech savvy

[@beardfm]

The thread on the bottom is a universal tripod screw. A simple tripod like this would work: amzn.to/3v57smb

[@chrisbe]

Does it auto track with FaceTime or whatsapp video calls?

[@beardfm]

Facetime, yes. WhatApp I'm not sure, but likely yes as it works with Instagram (also a meta app)

[@muhannadnimer3361]

What about Facebook messenger video can ?!

[@choqao]

first as always stephen!

[@NegyedMisi]

Names are written with capital letters and "firsting" is cringe.

[@scb9]

I don’t create content but $180 seems reasonable. Stephen your son is a pretty good skateboarder!

[@beardfm]

haha thanks! He's working hard at it

[@christineperona3692]

You can use it for more than content creation! It works with Facetime, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, etc.

[@furiousp83]

Does it works with whatsapp video call?

[@beardfm]

It works with other Meta apps like Instagram, but I wasn't able to test with WhatsApp so can't guarantee.

[@cosmicchris8243]

Question for example if you’re doing something like dancing and you turn your face away from the camera, will it just follow you as an object in general or does it have to see your face to follow you?

[@S-r9y]

This only seems to work in regular video mode, not in cinematic mode, and the tracking is reportedly slow. Realistically, it can’t handle high-speed activities like skateboarding, so claiming it can is misleading. The video appears heavily biased towards promoting Belkin’s product rather than offering a genuine review. Since it only works in standard video mode, what’s the point? It’s far too expensive for basic use with the native camera app. In reality, this is just a glorified face tracker for slow-moving content, and its lack of compatibility with cinematic or photo modes is a major drawback. Belkin is overcharging for something that doesn’t come close to justifying the price.

[@KaioshinAemi]

It’s $180, no way., maybe $100

[@christineperona3692]

It's definitely not cheap but not far off from competition like Pivo, which goes up to $299 and that one requires a 3rd party app. Belkin's doesn't require any 3rd party apps.