How to Take, View, & Save Burst Photos (UPDATED for the iPhone 11 & 11 Pro)

By Rheanne Taylor Updated 05/25/2022

Making the switch to an iPhone seriously increased the amount of photos I take. With the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro, taking burst images is done differently than on older models. Let's go over how to take Burst Photos on all compatible models of the iPhone, how to look at burst images, and how to choose and save the individual iPhone burst images you want to keep. Whether you're looking to take flattering candid pictures, better your sports photography, or improve your action shots of fast-moving pets, I see some great pictures in your future; let's get started!  

Related: What Is HDR & How to Use It on the iPhone

What is Burst Mode? Burst Mode on the iPhone is a sequence of photos taken at a rate of ten frames per second. There's no need to turn on Burst mode; the feature is always ready to go. Burst Mode allows you to capture action shots at a moment's notice. Taking a burst photo on the iPhone is a great way to guarantee you get the motion photograph you want. If you stumble across a great candid photo opportunity or other once-in-a-lifetime shot and want to be certain you have plenty of images to choose from, Burst Mode is the way to do it. Once you take a photo in Burst Mode on the iPhone, all the pictures are shown together as one photo in the Photos app.

What's in this article:

How to Take Burst Photos

With the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro, taking burst photos has changed. For earlier models, you'll still follow the earlier method of long pressing the shutter button.

To take a Burst photo on the iPhone 11 or 11 Pro:

  1. Open your Camera app.
  2. First, frame your shot.
  3. Next, slide the shutter button to the left towards towards the thumbnail of the last shot you took.
  4. You'll see the a counter appear in place of the shutter button, indicating how many shots you've taken in your current burst image.

To Use Burst Mode on an iPhone XS and earlier:

  1. Open your Camera app.
  2. First, frame your shot.
  3. Next, tap and hold on the shutter button at the bottom of the screen.
  4. You’ll notice a counter pop up as you hold down the shutter. This indicates how many images you’ve taken so far.

  5. In the Photos app, your burst of images will be clustered together and can be identified by an icon at the top of the lead image, which reads, “Burst.”

How to Look at Burst Images

  1. Open the Photos app and locate the cluster of burst photos.
  2. Tap Select at the bottom of the screen. 
  3. Here you can swipe through and view all the burst photos you just took.


     
  4. The gray dot underneath certain photos indicates those with the best composition and focus.

How to Save Individual Burst Photos

  1. In the Photos app, locate the cluster of burst photos you want to open.
  2. Tap Select.
  3. Here you can swipe through all the burst photos you just took.


     
  4. Tap each picture that you want to save from the sequence.
  5. Once you’ve selected your favorites, tap Done in the upper right corner.
  6. Select either Keep Everything (in order to keep the burst cluster) or select Keep Only [#] Favorites (in order to save only the favorites you selected).

Top Image Credit: Denys Prykhodov / Shutterstock.com

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How-To
Photo & Video

Author Details

Rheanne Taylor's picture

Author Details

Rheanne Taylor

Rheanne Taylor is the Video Production Manager of iPhone Life. Before discovering her love for video production, Rheanne was the Managing Editor. In her 6+ years at the company, Rheanne has helped produce 19 issues of iPhone Life magazine, edited countless podcasts, and produced over 1,000 educational videos showing people how to get the most out of their Apple devices. She continues to be a regular contributor to iPhone Life magazine, using her 10+ years of photography experience to create content primarily covering photography tips and photography gear. Rheanne is a passionate photographer both in and outside of work and loves to remind people that they don't need a fancy camera in order to capture beautiful shots—her most recent photography show featured work mainly shot on an iPhone!

Rheanne holds a bachelor's degree in Literature & Writing from Maharishi International University. When she isn't overseeing video content, she loves drinking tea, holding up traffic by taking entirely too many photos of bugs, and hanging out with her Instagram famous cat Wesley (IG: wesley_the_pirate_cat).