Skip to contentSecond Earth

How to do the galaxy cube hands effect

To do the galaxy cube hands effect on your phone, open Mote, pick Galaxy Cube and hold both palms apart in front of the camera: a glowing cube with a galaxy inside floats between your hands and turns as they move, with no editing.

Get Mote on the App StoreGet it on Google Play
AI-generated actor · real Mote effect, recorded in the app

The gesture, step by step

  1. Open Mote and pick Galaxy Cube.
  2. Hold both palms apart, facing the camera: the cube floats between them.
  3. One palm works too: the cube floats above it and follows your hand.

Pinch, or press your palms together, to switch the look without stopping the shot.

  • Galaxy
  • Wire
  • Neon
  • Monolith

What makes it work

Live hand tracking
Mote tracks your palms in every camera frame and keeps the cube between them as you move. With one palm in view, the cube floats above that hand instead.
No editing
The effect is drawn on the live camera, so the clip you record already has it.
Phones
iPhone (iOS 16.0 or later) and Android (Android 7.0 or later).
Price
Mote Pro (free download; Bubble, Light Trails and Web are free).
Recording
Up to 15 seconds free, 60 seconds with Pro. Save to Photos, or from Mote 1.3.0 share straight to Instagram Stories.

Questions

Is the Galaxy Cube effect free?

Galaxy Cube is part of Mote Pro. Mote itself is free to download, and Bubble (iPhone), Light Trails and Web are free to use. Mote Pro is a weekly subscription with a 3-day free trial for eligible new subscribers, an annual plan or a one-time lifetime purchase; prices are shown in the app before you buy.

Do I need to edit the video to get the galaxy cube effect?

No. Mote draws Galaxy Cube on the live camera while you film, using real-time hand tracking. What you see on screen is what gets recorded, so there is no timeline, keyframing or green screen.

Which phones can do the galaxy cube effect?

Galaxy Cube works in Mote on iPhone (iOS 16 or later) and Android (Android 7.0 or later). On a phone where live hand tracking cannot start, Mote falls back to the Web effect.

Can I share it to Instagram or TikTok?

Yes. Record the clip in Mote, save it to Photos, and post it anywhere. From Mote 1.3.0 there is also a Share to Story button that sends the clip straight to Instagram Stories.

Do I need an account?

No. Mote works without an account, and hand tracking runs on your phone; camera frames are not uploaded.

More hand effects

All Mote effects