Burst photos
Also known as: burst mode, photo burst, continuous shooting
A burst is a rapid series of photos captured in one press, designed to catch fast action so you can pick the sharpest frame. Each burst can hold dozens of nearly identical images, so leaving every frame stored is a common source of wasted space.
- One press captures many frames per second
- The full stack is stored unless you trim it
- iPhone: “Keep Only Favorites” drops the extras
How bursts are made
Burst mode fires the shutter many times per second while you hold the button (on iPhone, by sliding the shutter left or holding the volume-up button). The idea is to capture a moving subject and keep only the best frame afterward.
The catch is that the whole stack is saved by default. A single burst can contain dozens of frames, and most people never go back to trim them down to the keeper.
Keeping only the best frame
On iPhone, open a burst, tap Select, choose the frames you want, then Keep Only Favorites to discard the rest in one step. Doing this across old bursts reclaims space without losing any moment you actually care about.