Apple phone camera tips

There are some big changes coming to iOS 14, including widgets on the home screen and the ability to change the default browser and mail app. Apple also improved the excellent Camera app. We're looking into what's changed and how to use the new features.

Newer iPhones Get Biggest Upgrades

One of the biggest improvements you'll find in the Camera app is its raw performance. Apple claims it can capture four photos per second, which is 90% faster. iPhone 11 takes 25% less time to take a first cold shot, and portrait shots are 15% faster.

However, Apple has limited many of these improvements to newer devices, such as the iPhone 11 (and 11 Pro), XR, and XS. After testing the Camera app and browsing the settings on both the iPhone X and iPhone 11, the former saw virtually no improvements on iOS 13.

Many of these changes may depend on newer processors in recent devices. Regardless of the age of your iPhone, though, you can improve the quality of your photography with a few tricks.

Proper Exposure Compensation Slider

Locking focus and exposure on the iPhone is a strange experience. First, you have to tap and hold on the area you want to focus on. Then, move the exposure slider up or down to increase or decrease the amount of light in the scene. It's an exercise in patience that often results in mistakes.

IOS 14 improvements to the Camera app make it easier to adjust exposure and adjust the amount of light in a scene. To do this, open the Camera app and tap the up arrow at the top of the screen. In the menu that appears, tap the plus/minus (+/-) icon to reveal the Exposure Compensation dial.

Swipe left or right on the dial to increase or decrease the amount of light in the scene. You can also tap anywhere on the screen to control focus without losing exposure settings. Once you set an exposure value, your iPhone remembers it until the next time you open the Camera app.

When using Exposure Compensation, you'll see a light meter in the upper left that indicates whether the scene is underlit (if the aperture is tilted to the left) or overexposed (if the aperture is tilted to the right). Keep in mind that Exposure Compensation can only fine-tune the current scene - it's not a fully manual control.

The Camera app will continue to adapt to lighting conditions unless you lock the exposure by holding down the viewfinder. By doing this and then sliding your finger up or down on the small box that appears, you can gain more control over the scene.

Faster shooting

The fastest way to take a series of photos is to use burst mode. To do this, just tap and hold the Shutter button. Once done, you can review all your photos and keep the good ones. In iOS 14, you can also take a quick photo by tapping the Shutter button repeatedly.

In iOS 13, this causes lag because the iPhone processes each photo after taking it. Go to Settings > Camera and enable Prioritize Quick Shots. Your iPhone will then prioritize speed over image quality by doing less processing with each shot.

By prioritizing the shutter, iOS 14 delivers a more natural shooting experience, no different than a mirrorless or digital SLR camera. You're also not stuck in bursts for long periods of time, but can instead organize individual photos.

This feature is available on iPhone XS, XR, 11 and 11 Pro.

Mirrored selfies

Android permanently mirrors selfies. Now (finally), the same goes for the iPhone. In iOS 13 and earlier, iOS automatically mirrors photos so text doesn't appear backwards.

If you want to save the same "mirror" version of your selfie that you see in the viewfinder, enable "Mirror Front Camera" under Settings > Camera.

This feature is available on iPhone XS, XR and later.

Night Mode Improvements

Night Mode now features guides to help you keep your device steady while shooting. Night mode captures clearer images by keeping the camera as still as possible. To help you, two crosshairs appear on the screen (similar to the crosshairs that appear when you take a photo straight up).

Keep the crosshairs aligned to take the best photo. If it wobbles and they don't line up, they can be realigned for better results. For best results, place your iPhone on a tripod when shooting in Night Mode.

Night mode is only available on iPhone 11 and later.

QuickTake now on iPhone XR and XS

QuickTake is Apple's always-introducing video feature. It allows you to quickly start shooting video even if your camera is in default photo mode. This reduces delays caused by having to switch from Photos to Videos.

Previously, this feature was limited to iPhone 11 or later, but iOS 14 retroactively added this feature to iPhone XR and XS. Just launch the Camera app and hold down the Volume Up rocker or Shutter button. To lock recording, hold down the Shutter button and slide to the right.

Launch QuickTake using Volume Up

By default, pressing the Volume Up button in the Camera app will launch QuickTake Video. On older devices, the Volume Up button takes normal photos.

Now, if you have a newer iPhone, you can choose whether you want QuickTake or Burst to be activated when you hold down the Volume Up button. To enable burst shooting, simply enable the Use Volume Up option under Settings > Camera.

To start a QuickTake video, press and hold the Volume Down button. This setting affects iPhone XR, XS, and later devices.

New camera settings menu

Changing camera settings previously required tapping the small icon at the top of the screen. iOS 14 has put all these preferences in one menu, along with new Exposure Compensation controls.

If you have an iPhone XR and XS or later, you can access these settings by tapping the down arrow at the top of the screen.

It's unclear why Apple limited this change to the last two generations of iPhones, when older devices have the same interface. Maybe next year, iPhone X owners!

Will there be more photography improvements?

The successor to the iPhone 11 has been delayed this year. Typically, Apple releases new phones around the same time as the iOS 14 update, which happens about a week after the event.

This year's iPhone event is expected to take place in October, so we could hear news about improvements to this year's models soon. It would be great if Apple introduced night mode to all lenses this time around.