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How to Stop Your iPhone From Auto-Enhancing Photos: 7 Methods That Work
While the iPhone's Deep Fusion feature is designed to enhance image quality, it can sometimes overprocess photos, resulting in unnatural colors and excessive detail. Stop letting your iPhone ruin your photos and take control of how it processes your cherished memories.
Can You Disable the Auto-Enhancement Camera Feature on an iPhone?
Unfortunately, the Deep Fusion feature is built into the iPhone's Camera app and cannot be turned off. As a result, once you take a photo, your iPhone automatically applies edits such as brightness adjustments, color correction, and noise reduction to enhance its quality.
However, this processing can sometimes worsen the image through oversaturation and overexposure. Once the automatic enhancements are applied, no amount of editing can undo the changes, meaning there's no way to revert to the original image.
That said, all hope is not lost. There are ways to work around this feature and prevent your photos from being auto-enhanced. Here's what you can do to break free from the impact of Deep Fusion on your iPhone.
Disable Smart HDR
Smart HDR is a feature available on modern iPhones (iPhone XS and later) that aims to improve the quality of images taken in varying light conditions. It works by capturing multiple shots at different exposures and combining them into a single image with more detailed highlights and nuanced shadows.
Turning off Smart HDR can help your camera capture a more authentic representation of what you see, which may resolve the issue. Here's what you'll need to do.
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Scroll down to tap on Camera.
- Find the Smart HDR toggle and disable it.
Shoot in RAW
If disabling Smart HDR does nothing for you, consider shooting images in RAW format. The Apple ProRAW format allows you to utilize the full capabilities of your iPhone's camera and capture images with minimal image processing.
Shooting in RAW also gives you greater control and flexibility while editing your images. You can adjust exposure, color balance, and other elements without losing quality or detail.
To shoot images in ProRAW mode, use these steps:
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone and head to Camera > Formats.
- Enable the toggle next to Apple ProRAW.
- Open the Camera app and tap the RAW button in the top-right corner to activate it.
While the ProRAW mode seems the best way to capture images, the downside is that each file is approximately 25 MB. So, you may run out of storage soon if you only keep shooting in RAW.
The Apple ProRAW feature is only available on the iPhone 12 Pro and later Pro models. So, if you own a standard iPhone, you won't be able to shoot in RAW. In that case, try out the below hacks.
Turn Off Night Mode
When your iPhone's camera detects low light conditions, it automatically activates Night Mode. If you're taking pictures in a dark area, chances are that the oversharpened and overexposed images are the work of Night Mode and not Deep Fusion.
You can try taking pictures with Night Mode off to see if that makes a difference in the picture quality. To turn off Night Mode, open Camera and tap the Night Mode button next to the flash button in the top-left corner of the Camera app.
Take Photos in Burst Mode
Another way you can bypass auto-enhancement is by taking photos in burst mode. When you use burst mode, your iPhone takes several shots of the subject and goes easy with all its harsh editing. You can then select and keep the most natural image out of all the shots you've taken in burst mode.
To activate burst mode, open the Camera app and drag the shutter button to the left. The longer you hold the shutter, the more pictures your camera takes. For this purpose, taking 5-10 shots in burst mode will suffice.
Once you've taken the picture, open it in the Photos app. Tap the Burst option in the top-left corner, swipe through the shots to choose your favorites, and tap Done. You can then select the preferred photo and delete the rest.
Prioritize Faster Shooting
Don't want to go through the hassle of taking pictures in burst mode and selecting one? You can configure your iPhone Camera app to prioritize faster shooting. Similar to burst mode, this results in less processing and more natural photos.
Head to Settings > Camera and enable the toggle next to Prioritize Faster Shooting.
Take Advantage of Live Photos
An even better option to escape auto-enhancement is by using the Live Photos feature in the Camera app. The auto-enhance feature does not affect a Live Photo, and you can access an original, unedited version of the image via the Photos app.
You can turn on the Live Photo feature from the top-right corner of the Camera app before clicking a picture. Once you've shot a Live Photo, open it in the Photos app and tap Edit at the bottom of the screen. From there, tap the Live tool bottom menu, select the frame you want to keep, and tap Make Key Photo.
Use Third-Party Camera Apps
If you still feel your photos are overly processed, consider using a third-party camera app, as the auto-enhancement feature only affects photos taken with the iPhone's native Camera app.
The best camera apps for iPhone will let you take high-quality photos that can match the built-in Camera app. Some, like the Halide Mark II Pro app, even allow you to take macro photos on an iPhone without macro support and shoot images in RAW. You can also use the camera on Snapchat or Instagram to take pictures without auto-enhancement.
As impressive as Apple's Deep Fusion technology is, it's not always the ideal choice. If you prefer a more natural look for your photos, these methods will help yo
