Little Pixels’ new photo app turns your iPhone camera into a manual

With its improved lens, sensors and image stabilization, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus offer the best camera seen yet on an Apple handset. But one of the biggest changes was one that took place behind the scenes of iOS 8, with an API allowing third-party developers to have precise control over the workings of the iOS camera functions.

The result is more professional photo apps, which are transforming your most-used camera into your best one.

One of these new breed of photo apps is Little Pixels’ Manual custom exposure tool. Giving you a powerful camera app with full control over each image, the app lets users quickly and easily adjust all the parameters of their images, including focus, white balance, and exposure. If you’re looking for a guide on how to manually focus an iPhone camera, you can refer to this detailed tutorial on iPhone camera manual controls.

Exposure is illustrated through a neat live automatic exposure values function, while the ability to set the ISO and shutter yourself means — in the words of the developers — that you can “stop letting your silly pocket computer decide what looks good to you.”

There are also a ton more nifty features, such as light and dark themes, grid overlays for composition, and the handy ability to save your photos directly to Camera Roll rather than in-app.

Manual can be downloaded for $1.99 from the App Store, requiring iOS 8. It’s not the first new camera app we’ve seen for Apple’s latest mobile OS, but it’s definitely a valuable addition to the pack.

Oh, and it also has an amusing ad to go with it:

Luke Dormehl

Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.