The Best Camera Apps for iPhone
My friends often ask me: "What camera apps should I try on my iPhone?"
So I made a website to keep an up-to-date list of my recommendations.
What the apps featured here have in common is that they are made by developers who value photography as an art and technical form; they are well designed and well engineered; and they respect the user's privacy and time.
Tap/click any app title to go to its website, or tap/click the icon next to it to jump straight to the App Store page.
So I made a website to keep an up-to-date list of my recommendations.
What the apps featured here have in common is that they are made by developers who value photography as an art and technical form; they are well designed and well engineered; and they respect the user's privacy and time.
Tap/click any app title to go to its website, or tap/click the icon next to it to jump straight to the App Store page.
SNAPSHOT CAMERAS
These apps trade advanced controls and complex interfaces for ease of use, and give you a great shot in one tap.
mood.camera
by Alex Fox
Monthly ($1.99) / One Time ($14.99)
"mood.camera is a point-and-shoot camera that captures natural photos with authentic film character, straight out of your iPhone. Using a custom image processing pipeline, the app recreates the look and feel of film, with high quality colour emulation, realistic film grain and subtle analog characteristics."
Weekly ($0.99) / Monthly ($1.99) / One Time ($19.99)
"No Settings, Just Shooting: Forget about mode selection, exposure correction, focus peaking, or image review. You take the photo, and we handle the rest. There are no distractions, just pure photography."
Also available as Zerocam | Mono, a black and white version.
Also available as Zerocam | Mono, a black and white version.
65×24
by Héliographe
Free, One Time Unlock ($4.99)
"65×24 is a meticulously designed camera app for your iPhone, conceived to compose & capture photographs in the iconic 65:24 aspect ratio, first used by the legendary Hasselblad XPan/Fujifilm TX-1 film cameras.
It is free to download on the App Store, with advanced processing and customization features unlockable through a one time in app purchase."
It is free to download on the App Store, with advanced processing and customization features unlockable through a one time in app purchase."
Manual Cameras
Those apps aimed at advanced photographers give you full control over your iPhone's camera settings. Shutter speed, ISO, white balance - you name it.
Halide
by Lux Camera
Yearly ($11.99) / Monthly ($2.99) / One Time ($59.99)
"Halide packs intuitive gestures, gorgeous details, and effortless ease of use. Designed to be used with one hand on all phones without compromising on power.
New in Mark II: Edge gestures for mode switching. Tactile Touch enables and disables focus and exposure aids as you need them. And three new, custom typefaces."
New in Mark II: Edge gestures for mode switching. Tactile Touch enables and disables focus and exposure aids as you need them. And three new, custom typefaces."
Monthly ($3.99) / One Time ($64.99)
"Obscura is a camera aimed towards pros and photography enthusiasts, but designed with everyone in mind. I put a lot of thought into making controls that are intuitive, ergonomic and delightful.
I try to keep everything within reach of your thumb, so whether you’re hanging out of a tree, or carrying a bag of groceries, you can still get the most out of Obscura."
I try to keep everything within reach of your thumb, so whether you’re hanging out of a tree, or carrying a bag of groceries, you can still get the most out of Obscura."
Camera M
by Mikhail Bolshakov, Saminda Ranaweera
One Time Purchase ($7.99)
"Camera M is a professional and modern camera designed to do one thing exceptionally well — to help you capture beautiful photos in the highest possible quality with powerful and precise manual camera controls akin to a DSLR."
SPECIALTY CAMERAS
You won't use those apps for every shot, but they will give you unique results.
0.3MP
by Dmitry Shatilov
Yearly ($1.99)
"The 0.3MP Camera is a tribute to the button phone cameras from '00s.
The camera recreates all the artifacts inherent in the old CMOS sensors of mid-range phones, like bayer filter artifacts, dark and banding noises, blooming, etc."
The camera recreates all the artifacts inherent in the old CMOS sensors of mid-range phones, like bayer filter artifacts, dark and banding noises, blooming, etc."
Free, One Time Unlock ($4.99)
"Trichromy is an old, 19th century process for creating color photographs using black and white film and colored filters.
This app features a beautiful, straightforward interface that lets you experiment with trichromatic photography on your phone, no fancy equipment or complicated workflow required."
This app features a beautiful, straightforward interface that lets you experiment with trichromatic photography on your phone, no fancy equipment or complicated workflow required."
Free, One Time Unlock ($1.99)
"Gorgeous, unbelievably faithful one-bit camera app for iPhone done in the style of the original Mac."
Free, One Time Unlock ($4.99)
"Long exposures have always been limited by technical factors, from keeping the camera steady, to guessing the amount of light. We’ve taken care of all of that.
Spectre is an AI-powered shutter for your iPhone, letting you create amazing long exposures."
Spectre is an AI-powered shutter for your iPhone, letting you create amazing long exposures."