Your iPhone is meant to make photography effortless. You open the app, tap the screen, and you usually get a good photo. However, not all the default camera settings work well in every situation. For instance, the “Prioritize Faster Shooting” option, which is turned on by default, is not so great if you’re looking for photos with maximum detail and balanced lighting.
Most people never touch this setting because they don’t know it exists. Others leave it on because it sounds useful. In reality, turning it off can make your iPhone photos better than before.
What “Prioritize Faster Shooting” actually does
Less waiting, less processing
At first, the iPhone’s Prioritize Faster Shooting sounds like a no-brainer. After all, who wouldn’t want their iPhone camera to take photos faster? It can be great for those blink-and-you-miss-it moments. The catch is what your iPhone has to sacrifice to make that speed happen.
When you leave this setting on, your iPhone prioritizes speed above everything else, and in the process, it skips some of the behind-the-scenes image processing that usually happens when you tap the shutter. And that processing matters more than you think.
This setting does not affect Burst mode or Live Photos. Those features use their own separate capture processes, so they behave the same whether this setting is turned on or off.
Why disabling it can improve image quality
Good things take time
Your iPhone is doing a lot of work every time you take a photo. It captures multiple frames before and after you press the button. Then it blends them together using HDR and computational photography to get better detail, cleaner shadows, and more balanced shots. All of this happens in a matter of seconds, but it plays a huge role in why iPhone photos often look so polished straight out of the camera.
When Prioritize Faster Shooting is enabled, your iPhone cuts back on some of that work simply because there’s not enough time. Instead, it focuses on grabbing a single moment as quickly as possible.
Disabling the setting gives your iPhone the breathing room it needs to do what it does best. You can especially notice the difference in low light. With it turned off, your iPhone has more time to reduce noise and balance highlights and shadows properly.
Turning off Prioritize Faster Shooting only takes a few taps, though you won’t find this option in the Camera app itself. Instead, you’ll have to dive into your iPhone’s Settings menu instead, which can be annoying for those times when you actually need it. To do this, head to Settings > Camera and then turn off the Prioritize Faster Shooting toggle.
It’s not a bad feature if you use it sparingly
A useful tool in the right moments
Prioritize Faster Shooting is not a bad setting, but it only makes sense in some situations. There are times when speed matters more than perfect image quality. For instance, when you’re trying to capture kids or pets that never stop moving, this setting can be genuinely useful. It reduces shutter lag and lets you fire off multiple shots without waiting for the camera to finish heavy processing in between.
It is also handy if you want more natural, less processed photos and prefer to do all the editing yourself later. Some people actually prefer this because it gives them more control over the final result.
However, for most people, that’s not the case. If you’re the type who just points and shoots and wants your photos to look great right out of the camera roll, it usually makes more sense to leave this feature turned off.
Other things you can do for faster shooting
Speed without sacrificing quality
If speed is what you are after, there are better ways than enabling the faster shooting option. For instance, you can use the Preserve Settings option so that your iPhone remembers how you last used the Camera app. This way, if you always shoot in Photo mode with Live Photo turned off, this will keep the Camera app ready the moment you open it.
You can also enable Grid and Level. While these do not exactly make your camera fire faster, they make you faster. The grid helps you frame your subject using the rule of thirds, while the level helps you keep your shots straight without guessing. When your camera is set up to match your habits, you’ll naturally end up shooting faster with fewer mistakes.
When it comes to smartphone photos, image processing plays a more crucial role than anything else. Turning off Prioritize Faster Shooting is just the start. There are several camera settings that you can change to make photos look even better.