iOS 11 has introduced some under-the-hood changes to the way iPhone snaps photos. The biggest of which is the novel HEIF file format that substitutes JPEG. Let us take a look at the best way to set up your iPhone's Camera with these innovative features.
1. Embrace HEIF
The HEIF format for photos gives better compression compared to JPEG to save you space on your iPhone's storage. The negative aspect? It is not as compatible with hardware & software that has for years been geared toward the ever-present JPEG. Luckily, there is a way to set up your iPhone so that you get the space-saving gains of HEIF & the compatibility of JPEG.
To set your iPhone to take photos in the new HEIF format, go to Settings > Camera > Formats & choose High Efficiency.
2. Automatically export HEIF photos as JPEGs
Even if you shoot in HEIF, you can set it to automatically convert HEIF files to JPEGs when you export them. It is a win-win. To set your iPhone to export images as JPEGs, go to Settings > Photos & set Transfer to Mac or PC to Automatic.
3. Do not preserve settings
If you go to Settings > Camera > Preserve Settings, you can place which settings the camera carries over from one photo session to the next. There're toggles for Camera Mode, Filter & Live Photo. I keep the first 2 toggled off so that the last Camera Mode & Filter I used aren’t preserved. I keep the Live Photo setting toggled on so that it is not automatically reset to be on all the time because I hate trying to snap a pic & capture a Live Photo by mistake. I prefer having a plain ol' still photo as my default & then click to manually switch to Live Photo mode as the need arises.
