Phone RAW explained: Apple ProRAW, Samsung Expert RAW and Android DNG

Phone RAW files are not the same kind of RAW your camera writes. Here is what is inside them, when they are worth the storage, and how to turn them into good JPGs.

Flip on the RAW switch in a modern phone camera and you get a DNG file that is many times larger than the normal photo. It feels like you are now shooting "real" RAW, just like a mirrorless camera. That is only partly true. Phone RAW formats are a clever hybrid: they keep far more editing headroom than a HEIC or JPEG, but much of the phone's computational processing has already happened before the file is written.

Understanding that difference tells you when phone RAW is worth using, which app should open it, and why a desktop or browser converter sometimes shows you something different from what you expected.

Three kinds of phone RAW

All the mainstream options save Adobe's open DNG format, but what goes into that DNG varies a lot.

Apple ProRAW

Apple ProRAW arrived with the iPhone 12 Pro generation and is available on the Pro models since then. You enable it in Settings, then Camera, then Formats, and toggle it per shot with the RAW button in the Camera app. A ProRAW file is built from the same multi-frame capture that produces a normal iPhone photo: several exposures are merged for noise reduction and dynamic range, and features like Smart HDR and Deep Fusion contribute to the result. What you get is not the raw mosaic from the sensor but already-demosaiced, linear image data stored in a DNG, together with instructions (tone mapping and other metadata) that tell an editor how Apple would render it.

The practical effect: ProRAW has very low noise and wide dynamic range compared with a single-frame phone raw, and you keep control over white balance, exposure and tone. But you cannot "undo" the merge itself.

Samsung Expert RAW

Expert RAW is Samsung's dedicated RAW camera app, available from the Galaxy Store for supported Galaxy models, mainly recent flagships. It also captures multiple frames and merges them into a DNG, again giving a cleaner file than a single raw frame would. It saves a JPEG alongside the DNG, and Samsung has positioned Lightroom Mobile as a natural companion editor.

Google Pixel and other Android DNGs

The Pixel camera app has a RAW + JPEG option. Its DNG comes from the same burst-merging pipeline used for regular Pixel photos, so like the others it is cleaner than a single exposure. Other Android phones vary: some stock camera apps offer a "Pro" or manual mode with DNG output, and third-party apps that use Android's Camera2 interface can save a classic single-frame Bayer raw. Those single-frame files behave more like a tiny-sensor camera raw: lots of flexibility, but also lots of noise in low light.

How big are phone RAW files?

Expect several times, often close to ten times, the storage of a HEIC. As rough ranges: a 12-megapixel phone DNG usually lands somewhere around 20 to 30 MB, while a full-resolution 48- or 50-megapixel RAW can reach 60 to 100 MB or more. Apple itself notes that 48MP ProRAW files are around 75 MB each, which is why newer iPhones let you choose a 12MP ProRAW option. Shoot a few hundred frames on a trip and you can fill tens of gigabytes, so it pays to decide in advance which situations deserve RAW.

When phone RAW actually helps

Because phone processing is already so good, RAW is not an automatic upgrade. It earns its storage in a few specific situations:

• Mixed or tricky white balance. Indoor tungsten plus window light, stage lighting, sunsets the phone "corrects" too much. In RAW, white balance is a setting you choose later instead of a decision baked in. See our white balance guide for how to use the Temp and Tint controls.
• High-contrast scenes you want to grade yourself. Phones tend to flatten bright skies and lift shadows aggressively. A RAW lets you decide how much highlight and shadow recovery looks natural, as covered in recovering highlights and shadows.
• Avoiding over-sharpening and heavy smoothing. Standard phone JPEGs and HEICs often have crunchy sharpening and smeared fine texture. RAW gives you a more neutral starting point.
• Photos you plan to print or edit heavily. More tonal data means you can push exposure or color further before banding and artifacts appear.

Phone RAW helps less in these cases:

• Quick snapshots you will share as-is. The standard photo is already finished; RAW just adds a step.
• Night mode and portrait mode. Depending on the phone, some of these modes either disable RAW or produce a RAW that lacks the effect you saw on screen (for example, the background blur of portrait mode is typically not applied to a RAW).
• Fast action and burst shooting. RAW captures are slower to save, and burst modes may not support them at all.

Why your phone RAW looks different in other apps

Open a ProRAW in Apple's Photos app and it looks almost identical to the normal iPhone photo. Open the same file in another editor and it may look flatter, darker or differently colored. That is not a defect. Each app interprets the RAW data with its own default rendering. Apple's tone-mapping instructions are understood well by Apple's own software and by apps that specifically support them; other software may ignore them and start from a neutral, flat rendering. Our guide on why RAW files look flat explains this effect in detail.

Phone RAW in RAWSnap: an honest note

RAWSnap develops camera RAW files with LibRaw, an open-source decoder that is excellent with Sony, Canon, Nikon, Fujifilm and other dedicated cameras. Phone DNGs are a harder case. Many of them store linear or partly processed data and rely on DNG features that the decoder does not fully develop. Results vary by phone: some DNGs develop normally, others do not. When RAWSnap cannot develop the sensor data of a file, it falls back to the embedded JPEG preview that phones store inside the DNG.

That fallback is useful, because it means the file still opens and you can still apply a preset or adjust the sliders and export a JPG. But you should know what it means:

• The embedded preview is already a processed image, so you get JPEG-like editing headroom rather than RAW headroom.
• The preview may be smaller than the full sensor resolution, depending on the phone and the setting used when shooting.
• White balance and highlight changes act on finished pixels, so big corrections are less clean than they would be on true RAW data.

For phone RAW where you want the full benefit, use an app that understands these files natively:

• Apple Photos (iPhone, iPad, Mac) opens and edits ProRAW fully and keeps the edits non-destructive.
• Lightroom Mobile and Lightroom handle ProRAW, Expert RAW and Pixel DNGs well, and are the natural pairing for Expert RAW.
• Snapseed is a free mobile editor that can open DNG files and is a quick option on Android.
• The Pixel's built-in Google Photos editor can work with its own RAW files.

Where RAWSnap fits is the opposite situation: you have DNGs or RAW files on a computer, you want a quick, private JPG without installing anything, and the embedded rendering is good enough, or you are working with dedicated-camera files where full decoding works. Our comparison of RAW editors lays out which tool suits which job.

A simple phone RAW workflow

1. Shoot RAW only when it matters. Tricky light, a scene you might print, or anything you plan to grade.
2. Edit on the phone first if you can. The phone's own editor or Lightroom Mobile will read the file most faithfully.
3. Export a JPG for sharing. Messaging apps and social networks do not accept DNG. For phones and the web, a long edge around 2048 px is plenty; see JPEG export settings.
4. Move the DNGs off the phone regularly. They fill storage quickly. Copy them to a computer or drive with a sensible folder structure, as described in archiving RAW files.
5. Keep the original DNG. Even if today's edit is done, the RAW is your master copy for future re-edits.

Common mistakes with phone RAW

• Leaving RAW on permanently. Storage disappears, cloud backups slow down, and most of those frames never needed it.
• Expecting the RAW to include portrait blur or filters. Effects applied in the camera app are often missing from the DNG.
• Judging the file in the wrong app. A flat or odd-looking first view usually reflects the app's default rendering, not a bad capture.
• Sending DNGs to people who just want photos. Most recipients cannot open them. Share a JPG and keep the DNG for yourself.
• Over-correcting. Phone RAW is already merged and denoised. Heavy Clarity or Dehaze can quickly bring out artifacts, so use small amounts.

FAQ

Is Apple ProRAW a "true" RAW file?

Not in the traditional sense. It is a DNG with linear, already-demosaiced image data built from several merged frames. It keeps much more editing latitude than HEIC or JPEG, especially for white balance and exposure, but it already includes Apple's multi-frame processing.

Can RAWSnap open iPhone ProRAW and Samsung Expert RAW files?

Yes, the files open, but usually through the embedded JPEG preview stored inside the DNG rather than full RAW development. You can still apply presets and adjustments and export a JPG. For full RAW editing of these files, the Photos app, Lightroom Mobile or Snapseed are better choices.

Why is my phone RAW file so large?

RAW stores far more data per pixel than a compressed HEIC or JPEG and uses little or no lossy compression. At 48 or 50 megapixels a single file can be several dozen to around a hundred megabytes, depending on the phone.

Should I shoot phone RAW all the time?

Usually not. Use it for tricky lighting, high-contrast scenes, and photos you want to print or edit heavily. For everyday snapshots the standard photo is already well processed and much smaller.

Do I need to keep the DNG after exporting a JPG?

Keep it if the photo matters to you. The DNG lets you re-edit later with better software or a different look, while the JPG is a finished copy that cannot be developed again.