# ca-mera — Cellular Automaton Camera

> Cellular automaton camera app creates unique pixelated black and white images. (iPhone/iPad app by Fritz Menzer.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ca-mera/id1271078637 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Fritz Menzer](https://appshunter.io/developer/512896637)
- Category: Photo & Video
- Price: Free
- Rating: 4.70/5 from 30 App Store ratings · 121 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 11.0 · 2 MB
- Released: 2017-08-16
- Data updated: 2026-08-29
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ca-mera/id1271078637/reviews.md

## What is ca?

Probably the nerdiest camera app ever made, ca-mera uses a cellular automaton to interpret the brightness values of your camera stream. The resulting images are black/white and pixelated, and contain unique patterns created by the cellular automaton (Wolfram rule 126).

This app provides a "selfie" mode, and lets you change the appearance of the pictures by controlling the automaton application direction, the resolution, the input brightness, and the input fidelity (i.e. to which extent the cellular automaton is allowed to run freely).

Furthermore, features from the more advanced ca-mera+ app can be unlocked inside ca-mera by tapping the "+" button and watching our handcrafted ads.

## Key features

- Cellular automaton image generation
- Black and white pixelated output
- Adjustable automaton direction
- Customizable resolution
- Control input brightness
- Adjust input fidelity
- Selfie mode

## What do users think of ca?

Overall sentiment: positive

**Pros**

- 🎨 Unique and creative visual effects
- ⚡ Lightweight app with minimal storage footprint
- 💰 Free to use with no paywalls
- 🧠 Innovative Wolfram algorithm-based filters
- 📱 Simple and intuitive user interface
- 🎯 Produces authentic and artistic results
- 🔧 Tweakable parameters for customization
- ⏱️ Fast and responsive performance
- 🎭 Nostalgic retro computer aesthetic
- 🌍 Works across multiple device types

**Cons**

- 📹 No video recording capability
- 📸 Cannot import photos from camera roll
- 🚫 Limited to live camera input only
- 💧 Watermark present on images
- 🔤 Limited language support
- ⚙️ Complex settings difficult to understand
- 🎨 Niche aesthetic not for everyone
- 💾 Unclear image saving process
- 📱 Compatibility issues with some iOS versions
- 🖼️ No editing of existing photos

**Commonly reported bugs**

- App crashes on launch with iOS 14 (iPhone XS)
- Black screen on startup (some devices)
- Crashes on iPhone X
- Display issues on iPhone 6s with iOS 12.1
- Incompatibility with older iOS versions
- Inconsistent filter performance

**Most requested features**

- Video recording functionality
- Import and process photos from camera roll
- Remove watermark option (premium feature)
- Post-processing for existing images and videos
- Auto mode for quicker photo capture
- Automatic album organization for saved photos
- Old OS window border frame option
- Additional color options (RGB palette)
- API access for personal projects
- Clearer/higher quality output
- More language support
- iPhone X/XS Max interface optimization

## Recent user reviews (10 of 121)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ca-mera/id1271078637/reviews.md

### 5/5 — It’s great, but……

*2025-08-19*

Where’s ca-mera+? You can only get the basic version on the app store.

### 4/5 — Watermark

*2025-06-09, version 2.0*

Please add the option to remove the watermark (premium/ads)

### 5/5 — Interesting

*2024-12-29, version 2.0*

Really interesting and fluent in its production.

Well done.

### 5/5 — Danke für die tolle App!

*2022-09-14*

Ich finde die App wirklich fantastisch, man muss sich allerdings auf die spezielle Ästhetik einlassen. Dann bietet sich aber ein weites Feld von ganz neuen Realitäten. Christoph

**Developer response:** Danke, es freut mich, das zu hören. :-) Fritz

### 4/5 — Cool app! Just a few additions would make it top notch!

*2022-06-04*

Great app. If you could just add processing for existing camera roll images and possible video processing? Then it would be perfect. 

UPDATE 6/22: Yes! The dev is still updating! The new + version of the app has matured so much, bought it right away. Still hoping for processing of images & videos from the camera roll or iOS share or Files file system in the future for post processing.

Update: App seems to be forgotten? Hope the dev gets back into making their app better.

**Developer response:** No, it was not forgotten, but I got around to update it only now... Check out also ca-mera+ which has a video recording functionality.

### 5/5 — 10/10

*2021-06-17*

Brilliant app, has created so many pictures for use in my digital artworks and I’m forever grateful to these creators for making something so unique and cool :)

### 2/5 — Sadly not working on iOS 14 (iPhone XS)

*2021-05-12*

Cool app, but I recently updated to ios14 and the app crashes instantly on launch no matter what I’ve tried.

**Developer response:** This has just been fixed with the version 2.0. I hope you'll enjoy the new version.

### 5/5 — 好

*2021-05-04*

👍

### 5/5 — Nice

*2021-04-08*

I'd really like an update to the app which allow you to record videos, I’ve been screenrecording the app when I need a video and the quality is just not the same!

**Developer response:** Check out ca-mera+, it has a video recording feature and the quality is a lot better than screen recording.

### 5/5 — Отлично

*2020-06-29, version 1.0*

Только камера без импорта, но результат хороший.

## Frequently asked questions about ca

### What does the ca-mera app do?

The ca-mera app uses a cellular automaton to interpret the brightness values of your camera's live stream. This process generates unique, black and white, pixelated images with distinct patterns.

### How can I customize the images created by ca-mera?

You can customize the appearance of the pictures by controlling several parameters. These include the automaton application direction, the resolution of the output, the input brightness, and the input fidelity, which determines how freely the automaton runs.

### Is ca-mera a free app?

Yes, the core functionality of ca-mera is free to use. Advanced features, similar to those found in the ca-mera+ app, can be unlocked by watching handcrafted advertisements within the app.

### What kind of output can I expect from ca-mera?

You can expect to receive black and white, pixelated images. These images are characterized by unique patterns generated by the specific cellular automaton (Wolfram rule 126) used by the app.

## Version history (last 2 releases)

### 2.0 — 2022-06-02

Supports all current iPhones and iPads
Works now also with iOS 14 and higher
Unlock features from ca-mera+

### 1.0 — 2017-08-16

No release notes.

## Apps similar to ca

| App | Rating | Price | Category |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Filto: AI Photo & Video Editor](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/filto-ai-photo-and-video-editor/id1439415992) | 4.7 (167,070) | Free | Photo & Video |
| [VHS Recorder - VHS Movie Maker](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/vhs-recorder-vhs-movie-maker/id1279256700) | 4.5 (352) | Free | Photo & Video |
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| [Pixel Art Camera](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pixel-art-camera/id1107180652) | 4.6 (1,218) | Free | Photo & Video |
| [CUBE - Video Effects](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cube-video-effects/id1597612606) | 4.7 (16) | Free | Photo & Video |
| [Retrospecs](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/retrospecs/id887031094) | 4.8 (364) | Free | Photo & Video |

## More apps by Fritz Menzer

- [VirtualRoom](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/virtualroom/id512896634)
- [Incommensurate](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/incommensurate/id1258756661)
- [VirtualRoom AU](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/virtualroom-au/id1285558162)
- [ICS Flags](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ics-flags/id1604269667)
- [Russian Cyrillic Alphabet](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/russian-cyrillic-alphabet/id1613056237)

All apps by Fritz Menzer: https://appshunter.io/developer/512896637

## Related topics

[fritz menzer](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/fritz-menzer) · [glitch camera](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/glitch-camera) · [anpan transform camera](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/anpan-transform-camera) · [gameboy camera](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/gameboy-camera)

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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 2026-08-29.*