Influencers Say TikTok’s Camera is ‘Best’ and iPhone Camera ‘Sucks’
Influencers are using TikTok’s in-app camera to take “better” selfies and claim that it is seriously better than the iPhone’s “harsh” camera which “sucks.”
In a series of viral videos in recent months, influencers have complained about the quality of their photos on their iPhone camera and declared that TikTok’s camera is the “best” device for shooting selfies.
@jaclyn_baltazar How to use the Tik Tok camera for better selfies
“I was today years old when I learned that the TikTok camera and taking pictures on TikTok is better than taking pictures on your iPhone,” influencer Jaclyn Baltazar says in a video which has amassed over 5.8 million views in the last month.
‘Game Changer: Go Take Your Photos on TikTok’
Baltazar describes how she frequently likes the image of herself on the smartphone screen before she snaps a selfie on her iPhone. However, as soon as she takes the photo with her smartphone camera, she says her iPhone changes her selfie for the worse.
“So I take this picture on my iPhone but what bugs me is that when I take the picture, it becomes harsher,” Baltzar explains.
The influencer then tells viewers how she discovered that she can take the best selfies with her TikTok camera instead.
@kimebrahimi I swear this is such a game changer
“Game changer: Go take your pictures on TikTok,” Baltazar tells viewers.
“You open TikTok and you see that photo option, you take a photo, then you hit that arrow on the right, and you hit save. The photo comes out soft, so much better than the freaking iPhone camera.
“And I just found out today that that’s how the girlies are taking their selfies. It’s directly on TikTok.”
She goes on to say that the camera on her iPhone 14 “just doesn’t beat” TikTok’s camera and that “it just softens up your skin.”
‘I Will No Longer Be Taking Pictures on My iPhone’
Several other popular influencers have also similarly expounded their belief that the TikTok camera is superior to that of the iPhone.
In another video, with 9.5 million views, influencer Kelsey Soles also recommends TikTok’s camera as her “favorite way to take selfies” and says that “unlike the iPhone camera, it doesn’t do that wonky, messing with the color” feature.
@nikikoburnett #greenscreen It actually looks real and not all gray #tiktokcamera #bestcamera ♬ original sound – NikikoBurnett
In a further video, which has racked up 3.1 million views, content creator Nikiko Burnett also hails TikTok as being the “best camera” and states that the app “just knows what they’re doing” with photos.
In another video, posted this weekend, TikToker Ella Darcy described how “the quality of the pictures are incredible” when shot on TikTok’s camera.
@elladarcy28 Thank you Tik Tok 👏🏼😍 #tiktokphotos ♬ original sound – Ella Darcy
“I will no longer be taking my pictures on my iPhone,” Darcy declares in the clip, which has amassed 2.6 million views in three days.
“They will all be taken on TikTok. They are incredible, like the best pictures I have ever seen.”
Gen Z Prefer Taking Selfies on Instagram and Snapchat Too
These influencers are not alone in their belief that the iPhone camera was inferior to TikTok’s camera — with viewers agreeing wholeheartedly with the sentiment.
It is likely that there is an automatic beauty filter on TikTok’s standard in-camera app — but it’s not confirmed.
Many Generation Z viewers claim they also use Instagram’s or Snapchat’s in-app cameras in an attempt to bypass the iPhone’s “ugly” camera.
“Facts. This is why I only take selfies on the Instagram Stories camera,” a TikTok user comments.
Another viewer writes: “I only take selfies on Snapchat for this reason.”
This is not the first time Generation Z have lamented that the iPhone camera is ruining their selfies.
Last year, PetaPixel reported on how influencers were not happy about the “unflattering” selfie camera on their new iPhone 15 — with TikTokers complaining that it is making them look worse than in real life.
Influencer Liliana Madrigal also went viral when she claimed “screenshotting” is the secret to taking the best selfies and beats any photo shot with an iPhone camera lens.
On TikTok, Generation Z users seemed to be almost united in criticizing the artificially intelligent (AI) computational features of the iPhone camera. They appear to dislike the way the iPhone camera “corrects” and uplifts the original photo.
In their opinion, Apple’s processing can apparently make some facial features come out overly pronounced in selfies by sharpening and micro-contrast enhancement.
Image credits: Header photo sourced via TikTok/@nikikoburnett ; TikTok/@jaclyn_baltazar ; TikTok/@kimebrahimi.
