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I would say that a DSLR is useful for taking nice-looking photos in more challenging situations than a phone can (places with poor lighting, fast movement, or where depth-of-field or magnification are important). It's depressing that a lot of amateurs use a $700 DSLR on AUTO to take pictures of their lunch though.

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A DSLR on auto is a sad thing to behold.

I'm an amateur photographer. My DSLR is almost 7 years old now and my iPhone can keep up with it as a point-and-shoot, but nothing on the iPhone can compare to setting up the shot properly. Switching lenses for the situation is also really handy.

The dynamic range in the photos is much better from the DSLR as well.

Yeah. Software can fake a lot of things, like DOF or vintage film effects - but you can't fake good glass or a wide-aperture lens.

I use aperture or shutter priority a LOT, and don't feel bad about it, particularly in environments with rapidly changing lighting.

Until fairly recently, you couldn't get an APS-C or FF sensor with fast glass without D-SLR (or M4/3, which is essentially the same concept), so I have no problem with using it on auto mode for snapshots, too.

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