Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPhone XS Users Complain About Skin-Smoothing Selfie Camera

Apple first added aggressive water-color algorithm sometime when the iPhone 6 or 6s was released, I made a comparison with the iPhone SE which has the same camera as the 6s. At the time, many of us complained but to this day it's impossible to turn off this algorithm.

Now Apple is doing the same thing, adding more BS algorithms and no way to turn it off. It's time to speak up guys.

9m2HJQL.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: KazKam and TVreporter
I went from 5S to the 8 plus and the photo difference was surprising and disappointing - I thought first there was a problem with my camera. But others had the same results.

The software is at fault. I use third party apps as much as possible.
 
  • Like
Reactions: trifid
coolbreeze2 said:
And why is smoothing a problem?
Click to expand...
Because it is expected to capture realistic photos, nottonbe an of the box selfie Snapchat camera!. At least not without asking or having a setting to control it!.
[doublepost=1538376132][/doublepost]Article Link: iPhone XS Users Complain About Skin-Smoothing Selfie Camera[/QUOTE]
Now we have no choice of a realistic selfie camera as Samsung and Huawei set the trend for Apple. In Asia is popular, but I want my cameras to capture me as ugly and real as possible. I am proud of me!. This is the only camera app I have, now I have to buy an app that takes "in-beautified" photos???. We are taking steps back, several iterations since an IPhone he The best indiscutible cameras in a phone, now Apple is trying to copy the other big brands, good bye creativity at Apple...
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: H3LL5P4WN
I am not a teenager, I don't like "beauty mode" always on. I want my photos as close to reality as tecnically possible. Am I crazy?.
 
  • Like
Reactions: f00fighters
I think this is not about skin smoothing, but in general all Xs to X comparisons seems to have some kind of softening of the image overall, while X photos (and competitive last gen phones) show crisp details, Xs photos always seem softer, like a general filter is applied to the whole image, whether its a face or landscape in general. I've seen one comparison where the same scene taken with Xs vs Pixel 2, the Xs appears like there was smoke or fog in the scene while the Pixel 2 camera was crystal clear.

I think that the Xs camera software is applying too much post processing and I think this will be fixed in an OS update, but right now it is very hard to claim that the Xs camera is better then all previous generation phones because I just haven't seen a compelling comparison that shows otherwise.

And sure, if you want skin smoothing then that should be an option, but if it is applied automatically or without any customization options, then who is Apple to decide what is beautiful or not.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TVreporter
I want an accurate picture, not a doctored picture. I'm not opposed to an optional beauty mode (that way all the teens and their chatsnapping are kept happy), but it's not for me. I know I'm no cover model and I couldn't care less.
 
Tech198 said:
I would of thought this would be a good 'feature' to have. not an issue. Your getting better selfies... and isn't that a better result ?

No different than saying half of the submitted photos online are re-touched
Click to expand...
It is something that should have the option of turning it off and remembering your preference as default. Every mobile face smoothing feature is pure garbage. It's a great example of how not to do it.
 
Looks like noise reduction to me. And I can see some material loss of detail, at least with the front facing camera, when I take a rather extreme close-up photo (e.g. of a part of my face as opposed to my head). Took some sample shots with my whole head in frame with front and back camera and no such skin detail is lost. And these photos were taken in rather poor light where noise reduction may be more aggressive.

Seems like much ado about nothing.

Edit: Also, why is the clickbaity content from Unbox Therapy getting so much attention?
 
Having noticed that my Xs was taking significantly worse images than my partner’s X, I bought the Halide cam app and can say that it takes pics that are vastly superior to the default Apple cam app on my Xs. Apple needs to fix their cam software!
 
  • Like
Reactions: H3LL5P4WN
kbk75 said:
Having noticed that my Xs was taking significantly worse images than my partner’s X, I bought the Halide cam app and can say that it takes pics that are vastly superior to the default Apple cam app on my Xs. Apple needs to fix their cam software!
Click to expand...

I'm glad I picked it up previously. I look forward to their 1.10 update.
 
  • Like
Reactions: boodle
I’ve noticed unnatural skin smoothing in lowlight images as well, perhaps it’s compensating at the cost of image noise. Does anyone know if Apple has officially acknowledged this as an issue and whether a fix is in the works?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back