camera apps

Read Cult of Mac’s latest posts on camera apps:

A great new game, camera controls and a better budget app [Awesome Apps of the Week]

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Awesome Apps of the Week with iPhone in middle of desk
Whether you're interested in a fun iPhone game, a better way to budget, or want to master your camera controls, this week's Awesome Apps has something for you.
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

The last time we published an Awesome Apps of the Week roundup, I asked for you (or your friends) to email me or tweet at me with new apps (or app updates) worth checking out. And, as evidenced here, some of you came through. Also, it seems like there have actually been some cool/interesting new apps coming out lately. Thanks to the combination of those two things, we’re back with a great camera app, a super-fun new game, and an app that’s helping me budget better!

Halide camera app improves iPhone 13 Pro macro shots

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Halide 2.5 update improves images from iPhone 13 Pro macro camera
Take better macro images with the iPhone 13 Pro and a new Halide 2.5 update.
Photo: Lux Optics/Cult of Mac

A just-released update to Halide helps iPhone and iPad owners take better close-up images. The iOS application works with the macro camera in the iPhone 13 Pro series, but also offers tools that can help any phone or tablet user with close-in pictures.

This is in addition to Halide Mark II 2.5’s many other features that give more control over the cameras built into iPhone and iPad than are available in Apple’s own application.

Powerful iOS camera app Halide makes the jump to iPad

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Halide Mark II is available for iPad users too.
Halide for iPad is ready to break the bias against tablet photography.
Photo: Lux

Halide isn’t just for iPhone any more — the alternative camera application gained iPad support on Tuesday. Lux promises its latest release is, “packed with all the powerful features of Halide for iPhone and a few special ones for better photography on big screens.”

Halide Mark II brings pro camera features to the average Joe

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Halide Mark II is for professional photographers and beginners.
Halide Mark II sports a new UI intended to make the camera software easier to use and more powerful.
Photo: Lux Optics

Halide Mark II brings a significant revamp to a popular alternative camera application for the iPhone. The developer redesigned the software to make it even easier to use for beginners. But it also comes with professional-grade features built in, like new tools for working with RAW images.

Adobe’s AI-powered iPhone camera app debuts June 9

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new camera app from Adobe
Raise the cool factor on your iPhone photos with the Adobe Photoshop Camera app.
Photo: Adobe

The wait for Adobe Photoshop Camera is almost over. When it hits the App Store on June 9, the free iPhone application will let users add filters and effects before they even take a picture. And it will employ artificial intelligence to clean up images.

YouTube star’s love of disposable cameras turns into a popular iOS app

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camera app by David Dobrik
Another disposable camera app, but this one has a big name behind it.
ScreenShot: David's Disposable/App Store

More than a dozen apps in the photo category of Apple’s App Store appropriate the shoddy, snapshot esthetics of single-use, or disposable, cameras.

The newest joining this niche category two weeks ago features nothing unique. Yet it quickly surpassed 1 million downloads because the popular internet celebrity behind the app told followers to “check out my new app.”

Firstlight app gives you real-time control over iPhone camera

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screenshots of Filmic Firstlight
Filmic brings live analytics to its new camera app for iPhone.
Screenshot: Filmic/App Store

An app developer putting out a camera and photo editing app today is in for a steep, uphill climb. Dozens of apps populate the category and those at the top are holding that place for a reason.

But the name Filmic should grab the iPhone photographer’s attention. The maker of Filmic Pro, the go-to app for mobile filmmakers, now offers a unique camera experience for stills called Firstlight.

Hyperspektiv 2.0 is the bestest, glitchiest photo filter app ever

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Every single filter on Hyperspektiv is killer.
Every single filter on Hyperspektiv is killer.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Hyperspektiv is one of my favorite photo apps from the past few years. Instead of screwing with your digital photos to make them look like olde timey film photos, it screws with your digital photos to make them look crazy and awesome. It’s a glitch-style filter app, and it pretty much decimates your images, turning them into incredible video clips, and — now — still photos.

Hyperspektiv 2.0 is out, and it cranks up the heat on the image-mangling burner to H-O-T.

5 great apps that bust out the bokeh on iPhone XS and XR

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The iPhone XS' new bokeh tool is just the beginning.
The iPhone XS' new bokeh tool is just the beginning.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

The iPhone XS camera is pretty incredible. The device uses its two rear cameras, plus the A12 chip’s Neural Engine, to record such an accurate 3D map of the scene that you can adjust the background blur with a slider. But that depth map is useful for more than just blurring backgrounds. It can be used by other apps to:

  • Add realistic lights to a scene.
  • Choose any subject to be in focus, not just the one you picked when shooting.
  • Add custom background blurs.
  • Remove and replace backgrounds, like movie green-screen effects.

The iPhone XS is the gold standard for iOS cameras, but the XR manages some excellent tricks of its own. Despite having only one rear camera, the XR can still recognise people, and then use AI and the super-powerful A12 Neural Engine to separate out the person form the background. While this portrait matte isn’t as detailed as an iPhone XS depth map, it can in theory still be used to do many of the same tricks.

Today we’ll look at the best depth apps for the new iPhone XS, XR, and XS Max.

How to get extreme background blur in iPhone photos

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What's the fastest cake in the world?
What's the fastest cake in the world?
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

The Portrait Mode in iPhone XS is the best thing to happen to iPhone photography in quite a while. It uses the XS’ dual cameras, plus the A12 chip’s Neural Engine, to work out how far away everything is in your photos. Then, it blurs everything in the background, just as if you used a fancy big camera.

But what if you want even more blur? The iPhone XS’ Depth Control feature looks very realistic, but maybe it’s a bit too realistic? Maybe you want to really wipe out that background with some extra blur. The good news is, there are some great apps that do that.

How to use the iPhone camera’s built-in manual controls

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Manual control can be dangerous in the wrong hands.
Manual control can be dangerous in the wrong hands.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

For most photos, the iPhone camera proves perfectly adequate. You just hold up your phone, point it, and shoot. The exposure and focus are almost always correct, or at least correct enough. But on occasion, you need to take control.

For instance, maybe that beautiful dark blue sky keeps getting washed out because the iPhone insists on correctly exposing the face of the human in the foreground, when you’d prefer to see the person in silhouette. (Or vice versa.) Or perhaps the iPhone insists on focusing on that tree in the foreground, instead of the person half-hidden behind it?

Both of these can be fixed using the manual controls built right into the iPhone’s own Camera app. They’re pretty well-hidden, so you might never have even noticed them. But rest assured, they are there — and they are very easy to use!

Obscura 2 is a manual camera app you can understand [50 Essential iOS Apps #18]

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Obscura 2 camera app taking a photo of a dog
Obscura 2 gives you powerful camera controls in an easy-to-use package.
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

50 Essential iOS Apps: Obscura Camera For several years in a row, the iPhone has been one of the most popular cameras in the world. Apple’s image sensors, paired with top-notch image processing, results in exceptional photos time and time again.

One thing absent from the default camera app, though, are manual settings. With Obscura 2, you get all the manual controls you want, plus a wide range of image-processing features, perfectly implemented haptics, and a slew of vintage filters to make your photos pop.

Best manual camera apps for iPhone

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iphone-sunset-unsplash-photo-750x500
For when the stock Camera app just doesn't cut it.
Photo: Unsplash.com

app-factor-logo-thumbnail Manual camera apps for iPhone offer better control over settings like exposure, focus, ISO and shutter speed. If you’ve ever shot photos in an environment where the light wasn’t ideal or had a rough time balancing shadows and light, you would benefit from a manual camera app.

While these kinds of apps aren’t always necessary, a great one is a good tool to have in your app arsenal. These are currently the best manual camera apps for iPhone.

This Camera App Is Like Loading Black-and-White Film Into Your iPhone [Review]

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If you want to shoot b&w, get this app
If you want to shoot b&w, get this app now

Every now and again you find something on the App Store that brings a smile to your face because you know it’s new, it’s different, and it does something that no other app has done before. Hueless is a one dollar black-and-white camera app that meets all those criteria and more, and after just a day of shooting with it, I think I’m in love.