Wireless multicam for iPhone, iPad and Mac
ActionCheese turns your iPhones into synced wireless cameras. Watch, control and switch every angle from a Mac, an iPad or another iPhone, then cut and export the episode right on the deck phone, or drop the footage into your editor already lined up. It all works phone to phone, with no Wi-Fi, no signal and no crew.
Free to start. Pro is $39.99 a year for up to four cameras.
MAC REMOTE · 4 CAMERAS · PODCAST DECK
Screens
Every device picks a role. Here's what each one shows while you shoot, and what lands in your editor afterwards.
Real ActionCheese screens. The camera pictures are AI-generated sample scenes standing in for live video.
Why ActionCheese
Most iPhone multicam setups need an iPad to run them, a subscription to watch, and one particular editor. ActionCheese needs the phones you already have.
Run the shoot from a spare iPhone, a Mac, or the camera you’re filming with: tap Lead and it drives the others.
Everything works phone to phone, offline. The Mac is a bonus for the 4K files, not a requirement.
Remotes, the podcast deck, its editor and Mac imports are free on every device. Pro is only for the cameras that film.
Every take arrives synced for Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve, markers and program cut included.
The deck collects a copy of every take, lets you fix the cut and exports a finished 1080p video before you pack up.
| ActionCheese | Final Cut Camera + Final Cut Pro for iPad (Live Multicam) | |
|---|---|---|
| Runs the shoot from | An iPhone, iPad, Mac, or one of the cameras | An iPad with Final Cut Pro |
| Cost to watch and control | Free | Final Cut Pro for iPad, which new customers get through Apple Creator Studio: $12.99 a month |
| Cost for the cameras | Free with 3-minute takes; Pro $39.99 a year for 4 cameras | Final Cut Camera is free |
| Cameras | Up to 4 | Up to 4 |
| Editors | Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, or on the deck phone | Final Cut Pro |
| Hands-free | Voice: “action”, “cut”, “cheese”, “mark” | — |
| Other cameras and recorders | Synced by sound with the free ActionCheese Sync | — |
Prices in US dollars as of October 2026, from Apple’s published pricing. Final Cut Camera is an excellent free camera app with deeper single-camera tools, and you can even bring it into an ActionCheese shoot: start a screen broadcast and film in Final Cut Camera.
What it does
Every iPhone films at full quality on its own. ActionCheese links them into one shoot you can see, control and cut, then hands your editor the footage already in sync.
Tap a camera's bar, or press 1–4 on a Mac, to put it on air. A spare iPhone can switch with big buttons and no live pictures, and start every camera with one Record button. On the Mac, each take arrives with a Program timeline, one track per camera.
A camera whose picture drops out restarts its stream within seconds and reconnects if it has to, while it keeps recording at full quality. Cameras restart their own capture if iOS pauses it.
Every camera stamps the same timecode. Clips land on your Mac or external drive named by take, with Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve timelines for the whole day and for each take, markers included.
Pick resolution and frame rate per iPhone. Shoot SDR, HDR (HLG), 10-bit Apple Log (iPhone 15 Pro and later) or Apple Log 2 (iPhone 17 Pro and later), in HEVC or any ProRes from 422 Proxy to 4444 XQ. Log monitors through a built-in Rec.709 look matched to Apple's, or your own .cube LUT. Photos in HEIF, JPEG or ProRAW, 12 or 48 MP, 4:3, 3:2, 16:9 or 1:1.
Tap to focus, switch lenses from 0.5× to 3×, and set ISO, shutter, white balance and focus with the picture in view. On iPhones with a variable-aperture lens, set the f-stop too. Link them so every camera matches.
Phones pair with a code you confirm on both screens. No sign-ups, no tracking, nothing uploaded. An optional Face ID vault keeps captures out of iCloud Photos until you move them to Photos or a folder.
Screen streaming sends a phone's display to your remote while you shoot in Apple's Camera app, Final Cut Camera or any other app.
Dim a camera's screen from anywhere while it keeps recording and streaming. Fold the controls away for a clean frame, turn the remote sideways, and review or delete captures from any device.
The free Apple Watch app starts and stops every camera, drops markers and shows how many cameras are rolling and for how long. Stopping needs a deliberate hold, so a stray tap never ends a take.
Choose each camera's microphone from the Mac or the lead camera: bottom, front or back, stereo, or an external USB-C, Lightning or Bluetooth mic. A live meter shows every camera's level.
Plug an SSD into an iPhone 15 Pro or later and record to it: ProRes takes fill a drive, not your phone. Plug the drive into your Mac later to import. No drive plugged in? The take records to the phone and tells you.
Captures wait on the phones while you shoot, so the link stays free for the picture. Tap Send when you're ready, pause any time, or plug in a cable for USB speeds.
Made for
Anything where two to four angles beat one, and nobody wants to haul a switcher, an iPad or a laptop. See every use case and setup.
A wide and a camera per host, switched live on a spare iPhone, cut and exported before the guests leave. How to set it up
Two or three phones on one subject, one shared timecode, the cut ready in Premiere or Resolve.
Cover the stage from four sides and start every phone with one tap or one word.
Speaker, slides and audience at once, with each phone filming at full quality on its own.
Make the phone you film with the lead, say “action” and every angle rolls without anyone behind the cameras.
How a shoot goes
Confirm a six-digit code once. Next time they reconnect on their own.
Set ISO, shutter and white balance once for all cameras, with zebras and focus peaking on.
Every camera records. Say “mark” for moments you'll want, switch the deck live, say “cut”.
Fix the cut and export on the deck phone straight away, or import the XML on your Mac: angles in sync, markers placed, program already cut.
HANDS-FREE
No reaching for a phone when you're in the shot. Speech is recognised on each device, offline, and you can choose your own words.
Pricing
Remotes, the podcast deck with its editor, and every import on your Mac are always free, and one camera can try everything. Pro unlocks full-length takes on up to four cameras.
$0 forever
$39.99 per year
Billed through the App Store to one Apple ID, for up to four cameras; lend seats to family or crew. Have a creator's code? Redeem it in the app for a discount. Prices shown in US dollars; the App Store sets the price in your currency.
What's coming
Sony cameras on the Deck, live streaming to YouTube and Twitch, tracking gimbals, Tentacle Sync timecode, Canon and GoPro, Apple TV as a big-screen monitor and more are planned. Vote for the ones you'd use and we'll build those first. See what's coming and vote.
Questions
No. Any iPhone, iPad or Mac can be the remote or the podcast deck, or one of the cameras can lead the others, and all of that is free. You only pay for cameras that record full-length takes, and one camera can always film 3-minute takes for free.
Yes. On the start screen tap ⓘ, then Start Screen Broadcast, and open Final Cut Camera, Apple’s Camera app or Blackmagic Camera: that phone’s screen joins your shoot as a live angle. Remote controls and shared timecode work in ActionCheese’s own camera mode.
Yes. Phones, iPads and Macs connect directly over peer-to-peer Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, the way AirDrop does. Airplane Mode works too, as long as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are back on. Voice commands run offline once Dictation is switched on.
Any iPhone you film with, including a lead camera that also drives the others. The free version lets one camera record takes of up to 3 minutes; Pro covers up to four cameras. Macs, iPads and iPhones used to watch, switch or import never need one. Changed phones? Remove the old one in Settings › ActionCheese Pro › Cameras on this plan and its seat is ready for the new phone straight away.
Yes. Every camera brings its own seat, so cameras on different Pro plans work together in one shoot, and anyone's Mac, iPad or deck can run them all. A friend or family member without Pro can borrow one of your four seats: lend it from your lead camera or any iPhone or iPad with Pro for up to 14 days at a time, renewed whenever your devices meet with ActionCheese open. When the loan ends, the seat comes back to you by itself.
Once, to check your plan. After that the camera works off-grid, and checks in again at least every 30 days when it has a connection.
Final Cut Pro and DaVinci Resolve read the .fcpxml file; Premiere Pro reads the Premiere XML. Each shows every take as synced angles with your markers, plus a Program timeline for takes you switched on the deck.
No. Make one camera the lead and it drives the rest, and a spare iPhone as the podcast deck collects a copy of every take, lets you fix the cut and exports a finished 1080p video. The 4K originals stay on the cameras for your Mac later, where they arrive already lined up by their timecode.
Two to four iPhones as cameras on tripods, plus one more iPhone, an iPad or a Mac to switch angles, or none at all if one camera leads the others. ActionCheese syncs them, lets you switch live, and either exports the finished episode from the phone or hands Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve a synced multicam timeline. Step-by-step setup.
No. ActionCheese records every angle at full quality and cuts the program as you go; it doesn't stream to YouTube, Twitch or other platforms.
No. ActionCheese runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch only. For Android phones or other cameras in the same shoot, record them as usual and line them up by sound with the free ActionCheese Sync on the Mac.
Yes, free and installed with the iPhone app. It's a shutter for whichever ActionCheese screen is open on the paired iPhone: start, stop and mark, with the number of cameras rolling and the record time.
iPhone and iPad with iOS 17 or later, Mac with macOS 14 or later, and Apple Watch paired with the iPhone. The Mac app is a free download from this site, not from the Mac App Store, so it can reach iPhones plugged in by cable for the fastest transfers. It updates itself from Settings › Updates. Apple Log needs an iPhone 15 Pro or later; frame rates and lenses depend on each iPhone.
Usually 10 to 30 metres with a clear line of sight. Picture quality adjusts automatically when the link gets weaker, a picture that drops out reconnects by itself within seconds, and every camera keeps recording at full quality on its own.
To Photos on each camera phone, or to its private vault if you turn that on, and on to the folder you pick on your Mac, external drives included. Nothing is ever uploaded anywhere.
ActionCheese