It’s rare to see almost all Apple fans agree on something simultaneously, but when the Camera Control feature launched alongside the iPhone 16 line in September, hate for the additional button was swift and fierce (just take a look at some of the Reddit threads on the subject).
At the risk of angering the mob, I do not count myself among these Camera Control naysayers. In fact, Camera Control is one of my favorite features of my current iPhone, the iPhone 16 Plus.
Before I explain why I fall on that side of the debate, I will admit that Camera Control is far from perfect. I do agree that its positioning is a tad nonsensical, and it would work a great deal better if it were placed in a more natural spot, similar to a typical shutter button.
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Still, I know that I’m not completely alone in my overall love for the photography-first button, with others on TechRadar having noted that it can be helpful at times, or even incredibly useful for a very specific purpose.
So, now that we’re well over half a year into Camera Control’s existence, and it looks set to remain part of the iPhone’s toolkit for generations to come, I think it’s worth taking another, closer look at the feature see what it does right, and how Apple might look to improve things on the iPhone 17.
Taking iPhone’s cameras to the next level
(Image credit: Apple)
I know I’ll never be able to take a picture on my iPhone 16 Plus that could hold a candle to something taken on one of the best cameras, but the simplicity of smartphone photography is what wins over, time and time again.
Being able to quickly whip out your phone and take a snapshot never gets old, especially when those images are saved in the cloud for future reference or instantly available for sharing with friends on social media. Still, I’d be lying if I said that the physical experience of taking those shots feels superior on a phone.
In my efforts to try and bridge that gap, I’ve amassed a small collection of smartphone accessories over the years that try to recreate the traditional shutter button experience. I’ve got the portable ShiftCam SnapGrip, as well as the company’s more robust SnapGrip Pro attachment. But as with any accessory, these tools do diminish the compact nature of a smartphone, which is why the introduction of Camera Control felt like the answer to a problem I’d been trying to fix.
No longer would I need to carry these add-ons about my person; now I could just use the wonderfully clicky button that Apple had built into the body of its latest handsets.
The introduction of Camera Control felt like the answer to a problem I’d been trying to fix.
Not only that, but part of the reason why I enjoy using a physical shutter button, as opposed to just poking the touchscreen, is that the delayed resistance between the movement of my finger and the picture being taken forces me to be a bit more considerate in the shots I take.
Holding the phone a bit more tightly in order to frame the shot and account for any movement when pressing Camera Control gives you a moment of pause to assess whether or not you’re actually taking a picture of something that interests you, or you’re simply doing so for the sake of it. With this in mind, Camera Control has helped me not only to take fewer pictures (and save my iPhone’s storage in the process), but also feel happier with the shots that I do take.
Because of the way in which Camera Control lets you jump between the photographic styles on the iPhone 16, it’s also allowed me to experiment a bit more with the types of pictures I take.
For example, an indoor shot that might look a tad mundane in color can actually look a great deal better when taken in black and white. Particularly, the Stark B&W mode is now my go-to option because of how it really saturates the monochrome palette to capture your attention.
How can Apple improve Camera Control?
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
I firmly believe that Camera Control has had a solid first outing, but looking towards how it could be used in the iPhone 17 range, I think that there are some easy wins that Apple could claim to turn around the general consensus.
As I mentioned before, the positioning of Camera Control has to change. If Apple could just move the button closer to the bottom right-hand corner of the iPhone, it would make using the feature so much easier, although I concede that it might require tweaking the resistance to avoid accidental presses.
What would really take Camera Control to the next level, however, is an app, or a set of built-in guides, that can teach folks who don’t know that much about manual photography how to properly adjust aspects like depth and exposure.
As much as I loved having quick access to those components via Camera Control, I haven’t felt confident enough to make use of them, which is why some help for beginners like myself would go a long way towards showing people how they can really maximize Camera Control to their own benefit.
Until such software comes to pass, you can always check out our list of the top five Camera Control tips you need to know, as well as our guide on how to customize Camera Control to better suit your needs.
