Want to take better photos on your iPhone? Microsoft is here to help

THEY have long been Apple’s fiercest rival, but Microsoft has just released an app that will make your iPhone better in one key way.

A side-by-side comparison of Microsoft's Pix app versus the native Apple iPhone camera.

DON’T worry Apple fans, Microsoft is here to make your iPhone even better.

Microsoft has released the Pix app for the iPhone which claims to put the skills of a professional photographer in your pocket.

Side-by-side comparisons of photos shot on an iPhone with the native Apple iPhone camera versus photos shot with the Microsoft Pix app show the ones shot with Pix have better contrast, better skin tones, and less noise.

And, in news that will bring a smile to every failed family photographer, the app automatically looks for the moment when everyone’s eyes are open.

The free app from Microsoft Research works by capturing 10 images with every shot, firing off seven shots before you hit the shutter and three shots after.

Microsoft research Josh Weisberg explains why the app starts taking pictures before you hit the button: “If you see it happen and you aren’t already taking pictures, it’s too late, you missed the shot.”

Microsoft plans to release a version of the app for Android phones and future updates include adding a “beauty mode” to smooth out those wrinkles in your selfies.

The app has its own version of those Harry Potter-style still images that contain movement. With Pix, these are called Live Image and they are similar to the Live Photos feature in the most recent Apple iPhones.

Unlike Live Photos, the Pix app lets you capture Live Image photos on phones as old as the iPhone 5S. The app will automatically generate if it detects movement, like a wave crashing on a beach, and stores the photos as short silent video clips in your camera roll.

The app is produced by the same research group which last year released the How Old Do I Look? tool last year that was designed to guess a person’s age by a photo.