Viewpoint Amy Davies

Does anybody actually use their smartphone’s pro modes? Or are they a marketing gimmick?

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I ’ve been reviewing smartphones in relation to their photographic capabilities for well over a decade now. In all that time, Apple has resolutely refused to add a professional or manual mode to its iPhones when using the default camera app. Every time a new one comes out, all the reviewers – myself included – moan about how there’s no such mode and how it’s a travesty. Google’s Pixel phones came out a bit later, but their native apps are very similar to the iPhone’s – and guess what, there’s no Pro mode there either.

For ages, we’d gripe about the lack of a raw-format shooting mode too, but Apple finally relented and allowed that in 2020 with the launch of the iPhone 12 Pro.