Storage, recovered takes and messages
Where your tape goes, how to get a take back, and what each message on the display is telling you.
STORAGE
Open STORAGE from MENU › SYSTEM › STORAGE, or from ABOUT › STORAGE. The header shows how much space is free on your iPhone ("<size> FREE", or "MEASURING…"), and the page shows "TAPE USED m:ss", the total length of your clips.
| Entry | What it holds | Button |
|---|---|---|
| CLIPS | Your clips and photos ("size · count") | DELETE ALL |
| RECOVERED TAKES | Takes waiting to be rejoined | DELETE ALL |
| MUSIC | Audio files added in the EDITOR | DELETE ALL |
| TEMP | Temporary files | CLEAN TEMP |
Each entry has a 20-cell bar showing its share. DELETE ALL moves everything in that entry to the trash in one tap, with one UNDO for 5 seconds. Anything in use at that moment is kept. CLEAN TEMP removes only leftover temporary files, with no confirmation, and reports "Freed X" or "Nothing to clean". While anything is working it reads "BUSY" and is disabled.
Recovered takes
If the app closes in the middle of DONE, or parts of a take couldn't be joined, the parts aren't lost. They wait at the top of the LIBRARY under RECOVERED TAKES, and the LIBRARY button on HOME shows an orange dot.
- Each cell shows the first frame, the decade ("----" if unknown), the duration, the day, and "N PARTS" when there is more than one.
- REJOIN develops the take into a clip, with a progress bar and CANCEL.
- DELETE removes it, with "DELETED" and UNDO n for 5 seconds.
Takes saved after an interruption while recording are different: they are already clips in the LIBRARY with a RAW badge, and they develop on their own when you come back to the camera.
Messages and what to do
| Message | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| TAPE FULL | The take has reached 3:00. | Press DONE to develop it, or DISCARD. |
| TAPE FULL: the phone is out of space | Less than 300 MB free, or not enough for the take to grow. | Press DONE, then free space: delete clips you have saved, or use STORAGE. |
| N MIN LEFT · <1 MIN LEFT | How much recording your free space still holds. | Free space before a long take. |
| Recording saved: the call came in | A call interrupted the take; it was kept. | Come back to the camera; the clip develops on its own (RAW badge until then). |
| Recording saved: the app went to the background | You left the app mid-take; it was kept. | As above. |
| Recording saved: the tape ran out of space | The phone filled up mid-take; it was kept. | Free space, then come back. |
| Recording saved: the camera stopped | iOS stopped the camera mid-take; it was kept. | Come back to the camera. |
| Recording lost: the tape ran out of space | The phone filled up and the take couldn't be saved. | Free space before shooting again. |
| Recording lost: the camera stopped | The camera stopped and the take couldn't be saved. | Shoot again; if it keeps happening, restart the app. |
| DEVELOPING n CLIP(S)… | RAW clips are developing. | Wait, or tap CANCEL. |
| Couldn't develop: tap to retry | Developing a RAW clip failed. | Tap the row to try again. |
| Takes could not be joined: the last take was kept | The parts couldn't be joined into one clip. | Look for the parts under RECOVERED TAKES and try REJOIN. |
| Takes could not be joined: try DONE again | Joining failed, but the take is still open. | Press DONE again. |
| Developing cancelled: the takes are still here | You cancelled developing. | Nothing is lost; press DONE when ready. |
| Couldn't save the clip / Couldn't save the photo | The app couldn't write the file. | Check free space and try again. |
| Couldn't add the end card: saved without it | The video was saved without the 2-second card. | Nothing to do. |
| Photo library access denied | The app may not add to Photos. | iOS Settings › Privacy & Security › Photos › Time Travel Camera: allow adding. |
| CAMERA ACCESS | The camera permission is off. | Tap OPEN SETTINGS and turn the camera on. |
| NO CAMERA | The device has no camera the app can use. | Use an iPhone with a working camera. |
| Finish this take first | A link or Siri request came in while a take was open. | Press DONE or DISCARD, then try again. |
| Link not opened: finish editing first | A link came in while the EDITOR was open. | Save or cancel the edit. |
| Couldn't read this video / Couldn't develop this video / Couldn't start the developer | IMPORT failed. "Nothing was added to the library." | Tap CHOOSE ANOTHER and try a different video. |
| Developing stopped in the background. Tap DEVELOP to try again. | You left the app during an IMPORT. | Tap DEVELOP. |
| This file can't be read. / This track is protected and can't be used. / This track is shorter than one second. | The EDITOR can't use that music file. | Pick another audio file. |
| n clips in use kept / Music in use was kept / Everything here is in use right now | STORAGE kept items that are open somewhere. | Close them and try again. |
| Couldn't delete: try again | DELETE ALL failed. | Try again. |
| Performance is not guaranteed on this iPhone. | Shown in ABOUT on iPhones older than iPhone 12. | Nothing to do; the app still runs. |
If you said no to a permission
| Permission | What you notice | How to turn it on |
|---|---|---|
| Camera | The CAMERA ACCESS screen. | Tap OPEN SETTINGS, or iOS Settings › Privacy & Security › Camera. |
| Microphone | No VU meter while recording, and Siri and Shortcuts open the camera without shooting. | iOS Settings › Privacy & Security › Microphone. |
| Photos | SAVE reports "Photo library access denied". | iOS Settings › Privacy & Security › Photos. |