Cameras that can take amazing selfies and make people look “better” are usually features proudly touted by companies. However it seemed to have the opposite reaction amongst iPhone Xs users, some of whom started believing a conspiracy theory that Apple had secretly applied a filter to the front-facing camera that smoothed the user’s skin and brightened it.
Dubbed “Beautygate”, there have been many instances where side-by-side comparisons have shown that the iPhone Xs’ front-facing camera is certainly miles ahead in quality compared to previous iPhones. However it seems that there is no such filter, according to developer developer (via VentureBeat) Sebastiaan de With who is behind the popular Halide camera app.
Accordin to de With, he is claiming that the filter that some believe to exist actually doesn’t exist. Instead he says that the reason behind the softer and smoother looking selfies is due to two main reasons: better/more aggressive noise reduction technology and the ability to merge exposures that ultimately eliminates light/dark contrasts which will result in a smoother image.
One of the reasons why Apple received so much flack for this is because the company typically does not rely on gimmicks or filters to achieve its photos, so the softening and smoothening of selfies led some to think Apple might be changing their ways. Whether or not you buy de With’s explanation is up to you, but it could be worth reading if you’re interested in learning about some of the changes Apple made to its camera tech.
