A secret to why Apple’s Camera app on iOS produces great photos is that whenever the app is active, it keeps the camera active, not just when you press the button to capture an image. This helps it create fantastic high-dynamic range (HDR) images and produce a better photo when you tap that button by gathering information beyond that precise second.
It’s also how Live Photos works, when you have that feature enabled. The Camera app retains a few seconds of lower-resolution video at all times, and when you tap to take a picture, the resulting Live Photo has a few seconds before and trailing, as well as audio. It’s a little bit of a gimmick, but it also lets you get the sense of a moment in time better than a static shot.
