Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Popular iPhone Camera App 'Halide' Gaining Three New Features in 2025

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
67,493
37,779


Lux, the developers behind Halide and Kino, have announced their plans for Halide 3.0, a major update slated for release in 2025 with a series of new features.

halide-camera-app.jpg

Halide "Mark III" is set to gain one-tap color grading. Color grading has been a highly requested addition since the launch of Process Zero, Halide's proprietary image processing system, which debuted in 2024. The feature is expected to allow users to apply professional-grade film looks instantly, similar to the capabilities offered in Lux's Kino app. Lux envisions this feature going beyond presets, potentially enabling users to import custom looks created by others.

While iPhones have long supported HDR through Apple's native algorithms, Halide has refrained from adopting the technology due to concerns over aesthetic preferences and technical compatibility. Lux aims to address these concerns by introducing a nuanced, tasteful HDR implementation that avoids the garish appearance often associated with poorly executed HDR. The timing coincides with advancements in iOS 18, particularly the introduction of Adaptive HDR, which extends HDR compatibility to legacy file formats like JPEG. Lux believes this development marks a tipping point for HDR’s broader adoption and plans to integrate the feature alongside its color grading tools.

Lux is also planning to debut a complete redesign of Halide's user interface. With Halide Mark II turning five years old in 2025, Lux has decided it is time for a visual and functional overhaul. The company has hinted that the changes will integrate tightly with the new features, such as making the color grading interface central to the app’s operation.

Lux has launched an official Discord server, allowing Halide subscribers to access early builds, share ideas, and participate in discussions to help shape the new version of the app. The server will also host a year-long photography challenge, offering weekly prompts and resources to inspire photographers and encourage engagement within the community.

Article Link: Popular iPhone Camera App 'Halide' Gaining Three New Features in 2025
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2024/12/24/halide-three-new-features-in-2025/
Halide seems like a nice app and I understand that devs have to eat, too ... but there's just no way in hell I'm paying €23/a for this or €70 one time payment and it's not even really one time because you will have to buy the next version _again_.
 
  • Like
  • Love
  • Sad
Reactions: kiensoy, dimittar, addamas and 5 others
valynor said:
Halide seems like a nice app and I understand that devs have to eat, too ... but there's just no way in hell I'm paying €23/a for this or €70 one time payment and it's not even really one time because you will have to buy the next version _again_.
Click to expand...

So you don’t want to pay for a subscription but also don’t want to pay for major versions. So what exactly are you asking for? To pay once for unlimited access to all future versions of the app for the rest of your life? Do you genuinely believe this is a reasonable ask?
 
  • Like
  • Disagree
Reactions: You’re not me, aknabi, Old Smuggler and 6 others
jake.au said:
I've gone from having a mirrorless, to just and iPhone plus some photography apps, back to having a mirrorless.. The cost of app subscriptions are getting insane and iPhone 16 PM camera has been very disappointing
Click to expand...
Totally agree - over the years I've tried again and again to use the iPhones and each time it still disappoints when comparing to any dedicated camera system with a bigger sensor - as good as computational photography is, the bigger sensor is still king.
Although iPhones genuinely have gotten very good with the addition of LOG and RAW and they make wonderfully easy tools for content - and it the right hands can in fact produce insane results, I always think about how absolutely crazy good Sean Baker is for making Tangerine on what was it? An iPhone 6s? How wild. And even Steven Soderbergh made 2 or 3 features on iPhone too! This was before LOG and RAW was available.

I only wonder if camera makers will one day add more of these computational software features to their dedicated platforms, but it might be a bit too CPU intensive for the chips they use.
 
  • Like
Reactions: turbineseaplane and addamas
Good to know some of the upcoming features. Halide is a great app to gain more access to the iPhone camera and its settings. Glad that there is a one time purchase option.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mganu
Cocoi said:
and pay once, if you prefer. We have actually been around for 8 years now, and that’s how :) we do have to charge to make software.
Click to expand...

Why should i pay to use a different UI for my camera?

Go get a real job, in hardware

Oh yeah, those “one pay” models are scams too. You’ll always release a new overhauled version that requires a new purchase, and the old one stops getting updates.
 
  • Like
  • Disagree
Reactions: neilw, kiensoy, dimittar and 7 others
poematik13 said:
Why should i pay to use a different UI for my camera?

Go get a real job, in hardware

Oh yeah, those “one pay” models are scams too. You’ll always release a new overhauled version that requires a new purchase, and the old one stops getting updates.
Click to expand...
The company isn't a scam. If you knew anything about the company you are insulting, you would realize you just stuck your foot in your mouth.
 
  • Like
  • Love
  • Disagree
Reactions: SFjohn, Cocoi, entropi and 2 others
jasonsmith_88 said:
So you don’t want to pay for a subscription but also don’t want to pay for major versions. So what exactly are you asking for? To pay once for unlimited access to all future versions of the app for the rest of your life? Do you genuinely believe this is a reasonable ask?
Click to expand...
Yes, and I also ask that my $1 value burger be made from Wagyu A5 beef and prepared by a Michelin star chef ;)

I recall an auto mechanic friend who had the same PoV... I asked him "so if someone gets an engine repair from you that means you'll be providing followup repairs and performance mods yearly for free for the life of the car?"... shut down that discussion.
 
jasonsmith_88 said:
So you don’t want to pay for a subscription but also don’t want to pay for major versions. So what exactly are you asking for? To pay once for unlimited access to all future versions of the app for the rest of your life? Do you genuinely believe this is a reasonable ask?
Click to expand...

I think for a lot of people the feeling is that the Camera app should get a lot of this sort of functionality out of the box

I’m personally in that camp

To each everyone’s own ✌️👌
 
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: shadowboi and iGüey
poematik13 said:
Why should i pay to use a different UI for my camera?

Go get a real job, in hardware

Oh yeah, those “one pay” models are scams too. You’ll always release a new overhauled version that requires a new purchase, and the old one stops getting updates.
Click to expand...
If you have used Halide before, you would know it offers more options than the camera app and in a better layout.
 
Last edited:
valynor said:
Halide seems like a nice app and I understand that devs have to eat, too ... but there's just no way in hell I'm paying €23/a for this or €70 one time payment and it's not even really one time because you will have to buy the next version _again_.
Click to expand...
No, Mark 3 is obviously included. We even say so in the post!

poematik13 said:
Why should i pay to use a different UI for my camera?

Go get a real job, in hardware

Oh yeah, those “one pay” models are scams too. You’ll always release a new overhauled version that requires a new purchase, and the old one stops getting updates.
Click to expand...
It costs nothing to be nice, by the way. Please elaborate on how we are a ‘scam’. If you bought Halide EIGHT YEARS AGO for $2/$3, not only does it still work, you got almost every major feature we added in the subsequent eight years for free. We even promise it will keep working, with all of those features, for the life of the app.

It’s bizarre to me that two guys making a camera app that work super hard on it - we barely have vacations - get called a ‘scam’ when the App Store is full of apps that require you to pay $8 for a week of features that barely work. Again, it costs nothing to be nice. If you have serious concerns or feedback, I answer our email personally. If you are a user from back then and you are unhappy with the product now, I’ll refund you out of pocket. Just DM me. But don’t say things that just aren’t true.
 
  • Like
  • Love
  • Sad
Reactions: neilw, fembrey, shadowboi and 3 others
I bought this when it first came out and all the upgrades have been free. 👍🏻
 
  • Like
Reactions: Cocoi
turbineseaplane said:
I think for a lot of people the feeling is that the Camera app should get a lot of this sort of functionality out of the box
Click to expand...
Exactly! Why don’t we demand of Apple to incorporate a really advanced Camera app with our iPhones? At the end we are not paying 50 cents for them, in the contrary Apple charge us as if them were made of gold.
 
  • Love
Reactions: turbineseaplane
newyorkguy said:
Is there any other app supporting "unprocessed" RAWs?
Click to expand...
Yes plenty of them. Most iPhone camera apps allow you to take RAW photos, the only difference with Halide is they are offering a jpg conversion with minimal processing. Plenty of apps have low or 'unprocessed' output too
 
  • Like
Reactions: SFjohn
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back