The iPhone camera does not actually invert the image it captures. However, there may be some confusion due to the way the camera preview works on the iPhone.
When you open the camera app on your iPhone and look at the preview, you see a mirrored image of what the camera is capturing. This means that any text or objects with directional features, like buttons or logos, will appear reversed in the preview.
This mirroring effect can be a bit disorienting at first, especially if you’re used to seeing yourself in a mirror where everything appears reversed. However, it’s important to note that the actual image captured by the iPhone’s camera is not inverted or flipped.
Upon capturing a photo, the iPhone does not save the mirrored image, but instead saves the actual captured image. So, when you view the photo in your Photos app or any other image viewer, it will appear as it truly is, without any mirroring or inversion.
To further clarify, let’s consider an example. Imagine you’re taking a selfie with your iPhone’s front camera. In the camera preview, you will see your face as if you were looking in a mirror, with your left side appearing on the right side of the preview. However, when you capture the photo, it will be saved as it truly is, with your left side on the left side of the image.
This behavior is due to the default setting of the iPhone’s camera app, which automatically flips the preview horizontally to simulate looking in a mirror. This setting is called “Mirror Front Camera.” If you disable this setting, the camera preview will no longer be mirrored, and you will see yourself as others see you.
It’s worth noting that the mirroring effect only applies to the front-facing camera. When using the rear-facing camera on your iPhone, the preview is not mirrored because it’s not simulating a reflection.
While the camera preview on the iPhone may appear to be inverted or mirrored, the actual captured image is not. The iPhone camera saves the photo as it truly is, without any mirroring or inversion.