- iOS 19 leak suggests iPhone Camera app will get a big overhaul
- Mockups based on the leak point to a simplified look inspired by Vision Pro
- iOS 19 expected to launch fully in September
The iPhone’s Camera app has received a generous dose of new features over the past few years, from Photographic Styles to Apple ProRaw. But one thing Apple forgot to do is organize them in an intuitive way. Luckily, a new iOS 19 leak suggests this will finally be fixed later this year.
iOS leaks are quite rare, so I’m treating this news with caution. But the source, YouTube channel Front Page Tech, isn’t known for wild, unsourced rumors. And speaking of its models (based on internal contacts at Apple), the channel declares: “I can say with 100% certainty that what I showed you is real.”
So what exactly is new? Well, if the iOS 19 leak is true, Apple will soon replace the confusing mess that is iOS 18’s cluttered camera UI with a cleaner, streamlined look inspired by Apple Vision Pro.
To me, Vision Pro’s influence is less interesting than the simple fact that Apple seems to have finally brought some order to the cluttered interface. Gone is the tiring row of eight modes for photos and videos, with those lists instead hidden within a simple photo and video toggle.
This means that some camera features will be a little more invisible. For example, did you know that the QuickTake function is inside the shutter button for burst shots and videos? But this is definitely the direction the Camera app needs to move in. Hopefully iOS 19 also fixes the arrow at the top of the app, which confusingly opens a drawing of icons at the bottom of the screen. I would bet that many people don’t even know these settings exist.
The Camera app’s cluttered top bar also appears to have gotten a makeover, according to this iOS 19 leak. It looks like we’ll have a more obvious way to choose video specs like resolution and frame rate. Presumably, Apple will still find shortcuts to Action mode and focal lengths somewhere, which seem to be missing in this mockup. But overall, I’m fully on board with the refresh – except for one thing…
The missing link
I’ve been hoping that iPhones might get a Pro photo mode for a few years now, but there’s unfortunately still no sign of it in these iOS 19 leaks. Apple has shown signs of moving in that direction with video , but only with separate apps like Final Cut Pro for iPad.
To be fair, Apple has added a lot of pro photo features to iOS, many of which are hidden in its Settings menu. I’ve collected many of these tweaks into my guide on how to set up your iPhone 16 (or iOS 18 phone) to take great photos in 2025.
But a simple solution to hide the clutter of the Camera app would be to have a toggle that switches it between “point and shoot” and “Pro” mode. The iOS 19 overhaul looks like a solid point-and-shoot experience, but a Pro mode (perhaps mapped to the Action button) could quickly turn it into something like a Fujifilm X100VI by showing off additional controls like such as manual focus or peak focus.
This would be my ideal setup for the Camera app, making the iPhone two cameras in one. But it’s possible that Apple is worried about the “Sherlocking” of some of the best camera apps like ProCamera, Halide or Camera Obscura, which could be seen as a misstep given that many have played in its App Stores Annual awards.
Still, even though Apple is resisting adding a full Pro mode to its Camera app, the refresh shown in this iOS 19 leak appears to be a step in the right direction. And who knows, maybe this hints at a broader iOS refresh that would give it its biggest visual overhaul since iOS 7 in 2013…
