Slate

A film clapperboard for iPhone Duo, where snapping the phone shut is the clap.

What it is

Slate turns the iPhone Duo into a clapperboard. Hold the open phone up to the lens: colour-bar clapper sticks run across the top, SCENE and TAKE sit in large type on one half, and a red LED timecode with roll, camera, production, date, sound and director fills the other. Nothing on the board crosses the fold. Snap the phone shut and that is the clap: Slate plays a wooden clack with a 1 kHz sync tone, flashes the screen, gives a firm haptic tap and logs the take with its timecode and wall-clock time. The cover screen, now facing the camera, shows the take MARKED in green with the timecode frozen at the clap and an UNDO key. Open the phone again and the take number moves to the next take.

On any other iPhone with iOS 26 or later, tap CLAP, or turn the phone sideways and strike the drawn clapper stick down hard. A tapped take moves to the next take six seconds after the clap.

How to use it

• Edit the slate: tap any field on the board or the cover, or choose More > Edit slate.
• NEXT menu: next setup (12A to 12B, skipping I and O), next scene, next roll, a pickup or a series take, each with undo. It also marks the next clap as a wild track or a tail slate, and starts a new shooting day.
• Clap: snap the Duo shut fast, tap CLAP, strike the drawn stick in landscape, or run the Clap the slate shortcut from the Action button while Slate is open. A close that is too slow does not clap and says TOO SLOW - NOT CLAPPED.
• Marked takes: after a clap the take shows MARKED with UNDO for up to 10 seconds. A clap within six seconds is logged as second sticks for the same take. More > Undo last clap stays available, with a confirmation, until the next clap or NEXT choice.
• Clap sound: More > Clap > Clap sound chooses Clack + tone, Tone only or Off. MOS takes skip the tone. The sound plays through the current audio output, so with Bluetooth or AirPlay it can arrive late; use the iPhone speaker or wired headphones when the sound is your sync mark.
• Take log: More > Take log groups takes by shooting day and scene. Circle good takes, mark NG, add notes, edit or delete a take.
• Export: the log's share button exports a CSV file through the iOS share sheet. The file is created only when you tap it, and goes only where you send it.
• Timecode: time of day by default, or free run, which keeps counting across launches until you reset it. Both are non-drop-frame at 24, 25, 30 or 60 fps.
• Portrait and the closed Duo: the cover screen shows scene, take, timecode and CLAP. Turn the phone sideways for the full board. With Portrait Orientation Lock on, the phone stays on the cover and CLAP still works there; More > Board sideways shows the full board turned in the portrait window.
• Screen: while Slate is open the screen stays on at full brightness and dims after three idle minutes. More > Display turns either off and switches to a day board for sunlight.
• Help in the app: More > How to slate shows the first-launch guide again.

Support

Something not working, or a question? Email StephenLThorn@gmail.com and say which iPhone and iOS version you are using.

Privacy

Slate collects nothing. Read the privacy policy.