New iPhone camera app bets on pro-level controls, clever interface

According to the creators of the app, there are at least two elements that distinguish Halide from the remaining dozens of similar apps in the App Store. These are the specific gesture-based UI with tactile feedback and the design of the app itself. All the manual controls can be managed with simple gestures like swipes or taps, which makes the app easy to use on a touchscreen. At the same time, Halide offers pro-level capabilities when it comes to photography.

An important detail is that Halide can only take still images and not video. It also lacks some other features that should exist in premium-class photo apps, such as panoramic photo or time-lapse modes. But Halide compensates these deficiencies by giving most of the things that one might expect from a real pro-level camera, including extensive manual controls for all the important image parameters, RAW and JPEG format support, focus peaking, and a fast live histogram that helps with getting the right exposure. 

But you shouldn’t worry even if all these terms do not ring any bells because Halide could be a good choice for casual photographers as well. In such case, you may like Halide’s intelligent automatic mode, enabled by default, and the Instant Review function that makes use of the iPhone’s 3D touch feature to give a quick preview of the last photo taken. With these, both shooting and photo sorting could be easy and fun.

In short, Halide looks like an interesting and quite powerful alternative to the built-in iOS camera app. Indeed, the app is focused on shooting still images only, but it might be worth your attention if you have ambitions to dig a bit deeper into the art of photography with your iPhone in hand. The app should work well with any iOS 10-based handset (iPhone 5 or newer), but have in mind that the full functionality is only available with iPhone 6S, 6S Plus, 7 and 7 Plus. 

The price of Halide? It is $2,99 for now, but it will go up to $4,99 after June 6, so if you are interested just go and grab the app from the AppStore.

source: Halide via Mashable