How to Select and Favorite Burst Photos in iOS 12

Burst mode in iOS 12 allows users to capture rapid sequences of photos by holding down the shutter button, ensuring you never miss a fast-moving moment. This guide explains how iOS 12 groups these high-speed shots into a single thumbnail, how to review the stack to select the best individual frames, and how to mark your preferred images as favorites to easily locate them in your Photos library.

How iOS 12 Organizes Burst Photos

When you capture photos in Burst mode, iOS 12 does not flood your camera roll with dozens of identical thumbnails. Instead, it consolidates the entire sequence into a single thumbnail marked with a "Burst" icon and the total frame count in the upper-left corner. iOS 12 also automatically groups these sequences into a dedicated "Bursts" album located under the Media Types section in the Photos app.

Selecting Individual Photos from a Burst

To review the individual frames within a burst and save the best shots:

  1. Open the Photos app and locate the burst sequence in your library or in the Bursts album.
  2. Tap the burst thumbnail to open it, then tap Select... at the bottom of the screen.
  3. Swipe left and right across the thumbnail strip to view each individual frame.
  4. Look for small gray indicator dots below certain thumbnails; iOS 12’s algorithms automatically suggest the sharpest, best-composed shots (often detecting smiles or open eyes).
  5. Tap the circular checkbox in the lower-right corner of each frame you want to keep. A blue checkmark will appear on selected photos.
  6. Tap Done in the upper-right corner.
  7. A prompt will ask whether you want to Keep Everything or Keep Only [X] Favorites.
    • Selecting Keep Everything saves your chosen frames as standalone images while preserving the original burst stack.
    • Selecting Keep Only [X] Favorites extracts your chosen frames as individual photos and permanently deletes the remaining discarded frames, freeing up device storage.

Tagging Photos as Favorites

iOS 12 handles favorite tagging differently depending on whether you want to favorite the entire sequence or only specific extracted shots:

  • Favoriting an Entire Burst Stack: Navigate to the burst sequence in your Photos library and tap the Heart icon at the bottom of the screen. This marks the entire stack as a favorite and adds it to your Favorites album.
  • Favoriting Individual Shots: You cannot favorite a single frame while it remains inside the unextracted burst viewer. You must first complete the selection process above to isolate the frame as a standalone photo. Once extracted, open the individual image in your Photos library and tap the Heart icon. The photo will instantly appear in your dedicated Favorites album.