# Blackie — Black & White Photography

> Black and white photography app with real-time effects and manual controls. (iPhone/iPad app by Brutality Arts.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/blackie/id904557761 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Brutality Arts](https://appshunter.io/developer/596941590)
- Category: Photo & Video, Entertainment
- Price: $3.99
- Rating: 3.10/5 from 44 App Store ratings · 115 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 10.0 · 26 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2016-01-25
- Data updated: 2026-08-26
- Monetization: paid
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/blackie/id904557761/reviews.md

## What is Blackie?

The perfect app for the Black & White photography.

It doesn't matter if you've just started or you are a professional. The Blackie has something for everyone.
Its minimal design and easy use with many features will make it your go-to app when you're in the mood for the Black & White. It will help you explore all the possibilities of the Black & White photography and achieve the best result.

• Fast.
Blackie opens in camera mode, so you can instantly capture moments around you and give them vintage feeling.

• What you see is what you get. 
All effects are previewed in Real-time.

• Shuffle your best.
The smart shuffle works exceptionally. You only need to shuffle a couple of times and snap the best one.

• Customize.
If you have time, you can manage every effect in your photo with Mods by yourself.

• Simple Minimal Design.
The way that Blackie works is unique. The experience is clear and fast. 
No need for unnecessary buttons.

• Just save it!
Captured photo goes instantly to your photos library. It is up to you when you are ready to share it with the world.

• No in-app purchases and no ads. Nothing to bother you while making memories. 

• Settings
Save Original Photo On / Off.
Save Photos with Compression (JPEG) On / (TIFF) Off.
Modify UI to Lighting Conditions. (Black or White design).

• Camera Manual Controls
Manual Focus with Focus Peaking.
Lenses.
Manual Exposure. Shutter Speed and ISO.
Manual White Balance.
EV.

• Grids
9x Grid Types with custom Opacity.
Center Lines On / Off.
Grid Color Black / White.

• Presets
8x Slots for custom Presets.

• Mods
Crop and Rotate.
Films. 5x Scanned Analog Films. 3x Digitally Created.
Brightness.
Contrast.
Color Filters. 6x Types Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue and Infra.
Vignette Overlay. 5x Types with rotations and inverted light.
Fade. Low, Mid, High mods.
Shadows.
Highlights.
Sharp. 2x Types Clarity and Bloom.
Grain.
Frame. Black & White frame with custom size.

• Post processing
Before / After function.

Tags:
#blackieapp #blackie

Note:
iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4/4S, iPod 4th generation, iPad2, iPad Mini 1st generation, iPad3 is Missing Sharp and Grain Mods.
All iPads preview and capture is in Square Mode only.

## Key features

- Real-time effect previews
- Manual camera controls
- Extensive editing mods
- Customizable presets
- Minimalist design
- Fast camera access

## What do users think of Blackie?

Overall sentiment: mixed

**Pros**

- ✨ Excellent B&W quality
- 🎨 Great filters and effects
- ⚙️ Powerful controls
- 📸 Good for street photography
- 💡 Customizable options
- 👍 Intuitive interface (for some)
- 🚀 Fast startup
- 💎 High-quality output
- 💯 Best B&W app (for some)
- 🌟 Undervalued tool
- 🏅 Top-tier B&W app
- 🤩 Amazing grain and film simulation
- 👌 Great value for money
- 👍 Easy to use (for some)
- 👍 Love the TRI-X simulation

**Cons**

- 🐛 Frequent crashes
- 🚫 App not usable (on some devices)
- 📉 Poor usability (for some)
- 🐞 Bugs and glitches
- 🫙 Difficult to save photos
- ❌ UI not optimized for new iPhones
- 🎛️ Small icons and text
- 🗜️ Forced square crop
- ⏳ Slow loading of gallery
- 🔋 Battery drain
- 👎 Not user-friendly (for some)
- 💸 Wasted money (for some)
- 🚫 No support website
- 🎛️ Controls not intuitive
- 📸 Cannot take pictures (sometimes)
- ❌ Issues with older iPhones
- 🎛️ Interface not user-friendly
- 🎛️ Overly hip and devoid of options interface
- 🎛️ Tiny icons
- 🎛️ Icons cut off on screen

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Severe crashes
- Photos not saving
- Editing not saving
- Upper side of pictures cut off
- Double assignments in UI (e.g., histogram)
- Filter usage broken
- Setting a frame to black does not persist
- GUI not usable on iPad Pro
- Camera shuts down with manual focus on wide angle
- App crashes when using manual focus on wide angle lens
- App did not save any images
- Latest update crashes consistently
- App crashes on opening/shutter click
- Photo not recorded in Photos app
- Cannot take pictures after setup choice
- App no longer works, shutter circle does nothing
- App freezes on opening screen
- App crashing with iPhone Pro 15
- App freezes when opening photos
- App freezes and hangs
- Some shots lost and not saved
- App drains battery even in background
- App freezes on each section
- App crashes when trying to load/edit from library
- App crashes when importing photos
- App crops images
- App not responding
- App crashes frequently
- App not working on iPhone 7
- App not working on iPhone XR
- App not working on iPhone XS Max
- App not working on iPhone X, Xs, Xs Max
- App not working after last update (iPhone XS Plus)
- Icons too small
- Buttons too small
- Icons are tiny
- UI not optimized for screen size
- Interface not user-friendly
- Cropping to square is forced
- Random/shuffle FX is perfect but cannot be saved
- Clunky unintuitive UI
- Cannot access photos, freezes phone
- Uploads sporadically, then uploads wrong photo
- No icons show up, cannot take photos
- App still doesn't work on new iPhone, unable to take photos
- Controls not quite right for iPhone 14 Pro Max
- App doesn't work with iPad Pro 11
- App doesn't work with iPad Air 4
- Buttons cut off at screen edge and don't respond
- Live camera image visible, but UI buttons cut off
- App crashes
- Bug crashing again
- App not responding

**Most requested features**

- Customizable default comment in metadata
- Home screen shortcut icon
- Masking function
- Retouch/correction function
- Support for 48MP max grid
- Features for night photography
- Optimization for new iPhones
- Ability to turn off shuffle
- RAW capture support
- Zoom while shooting
- Ability to edit preset names
- Save favorite combinations from shuffle
- Support for second lens on iPhone 7 Plus
- Ability to pinch out to zoom in
- Tiff format support
- Color photo option with same interface
- More film simulations
- Smaller font size
- Support for larger photo databases
- Guidance on app usage
- Permanent settings after restart
- Ability to reset chosen preset
- Scroll through camera roll within the app
- Clear way to upload to computer/camera roll

## Recent user reviews (10 of 115)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/blackie/id904557761/reviews.md

### 1/5 — Shutter Doesn’t Work

*2026-06-15*

I want to love and use this app SO bad, but I can’t even get the dang shutter to work! I hit it to choose between .5x and 1x and then try to hit it again to take the photo, to no avail. Please either fix it or provide a users guide somewhere for stupid people like me. Thank you!

### 4/5 — Great B&W camera app

*2026-01-25*

I wrote my first review for this in 2019 and have been happily using this app since from an iPhone 8, to 11 Pro, and now 15 Pro. Perfect like camera app. My only ask… possible to custom set or clear the default ‘comment’ that is set on every photo? The statement “Processed by Blackie” in the metadata for every photo isn’t great. Pretty awkward.

**Developer response:** Thanks for review. There is option for turn off all metadata in Settings.

### 1/5 — 完全用不了

*2025-10-23*

闪退严重，拍照无法储存，编辑后也无法储存，根本找不到储存的按钮，这玩意废了，一星都嫌多

### 1/5 — Not usable on iPhone 17 Pro (and maybe 17 ProMax as well?)

*2025-10-19*

The upper side of each picture is getting cutted of because the UI doesn‘t resemble the screen of the new  iPhone 17 Pro (and maybe 17 Pro as well?)

**Developer response:** Added support for iPhone 17 and iPhone Air

### 1/5 — Seit den letzten Update nicht mehr nutzbar

*2025-04-27*

Habe gebe mit der App gearbeitet, aber seit dem letzten Update gibt es Doppelbelegungen (das neue Histogramm zum Beispiel) so dass die Filter nicht mehr genutzt werden können. Somit nutzlos. Schade.

### 5/5 — Basically what positive reviews say

*2025-04-13*

Like most apps, you have to experiment to see the possibility. Assumes you are wanting BW photography and the more you use it the vision of your minds eye begins to open up.

### 5/5 — Undervalued

*2025-04-01*

To be sure I don’t use it enough. If you’re trying to get a punchy black and white image. This is the tool you need.

### 5/5 — Definitively the best

*2025-03-25, version 4.7*

I’ve spent the better part of 3 days and lots of money evaluating every monochrome camera app on the App Store. Blackie is easily the best.

I just wish there was a home screen shortcut icon, so I could replace my default camera app with Blackie. The default app icon with the “open app” shortcut looks horrible.

### 5/5 — 我欠你一個好評

*2025-02-20*

記不得多少年前了，當年還用著4s吧，之後每次換手機都不會忘記把你安裝好，在我心裡你一直是最好用的黑白攝影APP，感謝你這麼多年的陪伴，謝謝！

### 5/5 — Revelation

*2025-02-16*

Only B&W camera I use

## Frequently asked questions about Blackie

### What is this app for?

This app is dedicated to black and white photography, providing tools for both capturing and editing monochrome images. It aims to help users explore the possibilities of black and white photography and achieve high-quality results with a minimal and easy-to-use interface.

### What are the key features of this app?

Key features include real-time effect previews, a fast camera mode, manual camera controls (focus, exposure, white balance), various editing 'Mods' like film simulations, color filters, and grain, customizable presets, and a simple, minimal design.

### Is this app free to use?

Based on the description, this app is a paid application. It explicitly states 'No in-app purchases and no ads,' indicating a one-time purchase model rather than being free or freemium.

### What devices is this app compatible with?

The app is generally compatible with iPhones and iPads. However, specific older devices like iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4/4S, iPod 4th gen, iPad2, iPad Mini 1st gen, and iPad3 are missing certain advanced mods like Sharp and Grain. All iPads capture and preview in square mode only.

### How can I use this app to improve my photos?

You can use this app to instantly capture moments in black and white with vintage effects or refine existing photos using its extensive editing tools. The manual camera controls allow for precise adjustments before shooting, and the 'Mods' offer detailed post-processing options to achieve your desired aesthetic.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 5.0 — 2025-10-23

• Add support for iPhone 17, 17 PRO, 17 PRO MAX
• Add support for iPhone Air
• Fixed bugs

### 4.9 — 2025-09-11

• Fixed bug selecting incorrect photo from photo library
• Add support for iPhone 16e
• Fixed bugs, make some bugs

### 4.8 — 2025-04-25

This major update introduces exciting new features and improvements
• Added a Timer with 5s, 10s, 30s options
• Enhanced Histogram UI, now relocated to the bottom right
• Improve Histogram performance
• Added new photo save format UI, supporting JPEG, HEIC, and TIFF formats
• Removed save Compression switch from settings UI
• Fixed bugs, make some bugs

### 4.7 — 2025-02-17

• Updated camera 1x, 2x, 3x zoom modes
• Focus peaking changed to automatic mode if wheel roller is touching
• Add haptic feedback for better UX
• Haptics feedback settings ON/OFF
• Update settings UI/UX
• Fixed bugs

### 4.6 — 2025-01-14

• Speed Up loading Photo albums
• Update import photos preview better image resolution
• Update import photos add navigation slider
• Blackie user comment metadata setting added
• Fixed iPad Air support
• Fixed small bugs

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## Related topics

[brutality arts](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/brutality-arts)

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-26.*