Comparison

MaxCurve vs Spectre Camera

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

MaxCurve

This professional photo editor offers advanced curve editing with 28 unique curve types, surpassing even desktop software. It includes a manual camera, HDR, layers, masks, and blend modes for detailed image reconstruction and artistic expression.

Highlights
  • 28 comprehensive curve editing tools
  • Pro manual camera controls
  • Layer management with blend modes
  • Masking and channel adjustments
  • HDR and vignette tools
  • Sync with Photoshop via Wi-Fi
Read full description

Best Apps of 2016, as Chosen by Apple. MaxCurve is a professional photo editor, which has the most comprehensive curve editing function and pro manual camera. MaxCurve achieves great innovation with 28 curves, most of which users have never seen on other apps. Even Photoshop can't achieve such an exquisite adjustment performance. Furthermore, manual camera, HDR, layer, channel, mask, preset, blend mode, opacity, crop and vignette are available. MaxCurve is able to edit every detail of your photos to its maximum design and also help to perfectly reconstruct your photography works. It's an indispensable app for photographers, and an essential tool serving as great assistant for artists. "MaxCurve should satisfy even the most perfectionist image editors." -- DPReview "Take your iPhone photography to new levels with MaxCurve." -- App Advice "MaxCurve brings professional image editing that even goes beyond some of the Photoshop curve functions. Recommended." -- Life in LoFi "Even more powerful desktop applications like Photoshop don’t offer the same level of control over some of their adjustments as MaxCurve does through its diverse range of curves tools." -- iPhone Photography School RGB KIT - RGB, Red, Green and Blue curves CMYK KIT - CMYK, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black curves LIGHTNESS KIT - Contrast/Lightness curve - Exposure/Lightness curve, like shadow/highlight in Photoshop - Gamma/Lightness curve - Temperature/Lightness curve - Lightness/Hue curve, like hue/saturation in Photoshop - Black & White/Hue curve, best BW tool ever HSL KIT - Hue curve, like hue/saturation in Photoshop - Hue/Saturation curve - Hue/Lightness curve, like color balance in Photoshop - Saturation curve - Saturation/Hue curve - Saturation/Lightness curve LAB KIT - a curve - a/Luminosity curve - Copy a to b curve - b curve - b/Luminosity curve - Copy b to a curve - Luminosity curve LAYER KIT - Manage curves using maximum 40 layers - Add color layer, texture layer or self-blending layer; then set blend modes like in Photoshop - Adjust blending opacity using curves - Add mask for every layer CHANNEL KIT - RGB, CMYK, HSL and LAB channels - Check and adjust channels separately MORE KITS - HDR brings a stunning look to your image by using one image - Crop, rotation, mirror and ratio tools - Sharpness, blur, grain, structure and vignette tools - Powerful history function with snapshot - Pixelate and border tools MANUAL CAMERA - Adjust the exposure, ISO, shutter speed, temperature and focus by manual - Use the presets to be the filters while taking photos - Use it as a standalone camera SYNC TO PHOTOSHOP - MaxCurve can be linked to your Mac or PC's Photoshop using Wi-Fi, import images from Photoshop and export them back again after processing - Output presets as the format of 3D LUT, and use them in the function named 'Color Lookup' of Photoshop - You can perform collaborative work with Photoshop like a plugin, first of its kind ever created PROFESSIONAL EDIT - Process and save images as FULL size without downscaling resolution - Support for JPEG, TIFF, PNG and RAW (CRW, CR2, DNG, ARW, RAF, ORF, NEF, MRW, PEF, and others) - Reserve EXIF and GPS information as original picture - Add copyright info into EXIF, or add watermark for protecting your copyright - Choice of export quality - Analyze pictures by professional histogram and gradient map - Open MaxCurve in system's Photos app, and have it serve as a filter extension - Support is available for split view on iPad and 3D touch SHARE CURVES - Save curves into presets for subsequent and future use - We set up an online curve sharing platform for users to share photography artworks and curves without registration - Find inspiration on a publication highlighting creativity from around the globe - Save curves of other photographers to local presets Have suggestions or problems? Contact us via email: support@ maxcurve. net

About

Spectre Camera

This app uses AI to create stunning long exposure photographs, making it easy to capture professional-quality shots. Remove crowds, create light trails, and achieve silky smooth water effects effortlessly.

Highlights
  • AI-powered long exposures
  • Crowd removal
  • Light trail creation
  • Silky water effects
  • Live Photos and video support
  • Automatic scene detection
Read full description

Apple iPhone App of the Year, 2019 Introducing Spectre, from the makers of Halide, one of the top camera apps in the App Store. Spectre uses AI to help you make amazing long exposure photographs. Spectre can remove crowds, turn city streets into rivers of light, make waterfalls look like paintings, and much more. Until now, it was difficult to take long exposures: from keeping the camera steady to guessing the amount of light you need. Spectre takes care of all of that! WHAT YOU CAN DO • MAKE CROWDS DISAPPEAR: Spectre helps take photos of crowded, touristy places. Simply set a medium or long duration and take a shot to erase the crowd from a location. Capture the those special moments like you remember them. • RIVERS OF LIGHT: At night, AI scene detection automatically switches modes to draw beautiful light trails, for stunning nighttime city photography or light painting. • GORGEOUS WATER: Capture waterfalls, ocean waves, fountains and more with beautiful ghostly water. LIVE PHOTOS AND VIDEO Spectre’s intelligent computational shutter takes hundreds of shots over the span of a few seconds, and saves them in an accompanying live photo. That means you can pick a different frame as your photo, apply live-photo effects, and even use the long exposure as a live-wallpaper! ENDLESS SMARTS Spectre is a packed with powerful technology from by the team that brought you Halide. From machine learning-based scene detection to computer vision aided image stabilization, Spectre is jammed full of impressive technologies to get the best possible image. DESIGNED FOR HUMANS Spectre is meticulously designed. Its dark UI is gentle on the eyes when you shoot at night. Gorgeous glowing highlights infuse it with a unique style. Custom typefaces and iconography combined with unique, smooth controls make it as tactile and delightful as an actual physical camera. Like its sister app Halide, the app is easily usable with one hand, even on the largest iPhones. HIGH-TECH SHOWCASE Build with the latest tech, Spectre isn't just a long exposure camera — it’s the cutting edge technology showcase of one of the App Store’s foremost camera apps, Halide. Here’s just a few of the latest technologies that we use in Spectre: - DCI-P3 Wide Color Pipeline - Live Photos - Metal Graphics Acceleration - Tripod Detection - Siri & Shortcuts - AI Stabilization - Machine Learning & CoreML - Computer Vision COMPATIBILITY: Spectre’s smart Automatic Scene Detection requires iOS 12. AI-based stabilization features are available on iPhone 6S and later.* For the best experience, we recommend iPhone 8 or later. On iPhone 6, Spectre captures in lower resolution. ABOUT US We’re Ben and Sebastiaan, two friends living in the San Francisco Bay Area that love building fantastic apps for photography. We hope you love Spectre! We’d love your feedback to make it even better or any reports of bugs you run into. You can always contact us directly via email: support@halide.cam, on our Twitter: @halidecamera or Instagram: @halideapp Don’t forget to share your amazing results by tagging them with #SpectreShot so we can share them on our growing social media accounts!

Screenshots

MaxCurve4 screens
Spectre Camera4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Spectre Camera at Free against MaxCurve's $0.99. MaxCurve's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and review sentiment (80% vs 46%). On ratings volume, ads and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Spectre Camera is free to download; MaxCurve costs $0.99 up front. Spectre Camera sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. MaxCurve asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

MaxCurve holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 921 and 2.4K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 80% of MaxCurve's written reviews are positive against 46% of Spectre Camera's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MaxCurve ships an update every 4 weeks, Spectre Camera every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
MaxCurve versus Spectre Camera: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMaxCurveSpectre Camera
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating4.7 (921 ratings) — better4.3 (2.4K ratings)
Positive reviews80.5% of reviews — better45.6% of reviews
Number of ratings9212.4K — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 weeks — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#194 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS8.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size112 MB12 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer晓东 王Lux Optics Incorporated

Customer experience

MaxCurve

All ratings921 ratings
Positive92.8%
Neutral2.8%
Negative4.3%
Written reviews256 reviews
Positive80.5%
Neutral8.2%
Negative11.3%

Spectre Camera

All ratings2,408 ratings
Positive83.5%
Neutral3.7%
Negative12.7%
Written reviews436 reviews
Positive45.6%
Neutral10.8%
Negative43.6%

User reviews

MaxCurve

From 921 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Powerful photo editing capabilities
  • 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly interface
  • 🎨 Excellent color correction and curve tools
  • 💻 Great for desktop and mobile editing
  • 🖌️ Versatile layering and blending options

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and stability issues
  • 🔁 Lack of updates and bug fixes
  • 📱 Compatibility problems with newer devices/OS
  • 💰 Concerns about in-app purchases and subscription model
  • 🤔 Steep learning curve for some advanced features

Spectre Camera

From 2.4K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 🔍 Captures great long exposure shots
  • 👍 Convenient and intuitive
  • 🎨 Allows for creative photography
  • 💡 Innovative features

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Blurry images even with stabilization
  • 🔋 Battery draining issue
  • 🤔 Limited exposure time options
  • 🤷‍♀️ Inconsistent performance
  • 💰 Paid features not worth the cost

Bugs and requests

MaxCurve

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Lower interface elements being cut off
  • Filter masks appearing misaligned
  • Photos disappearing after editing
  • Frequent, unpredictable crashes

Requested features

5 requests
  • Local masking and selective editing tools
  • Levels and histogram adjustments
  • Skin smoothing and portrait enhancement
  • Improved undo/redo functionality
  • Expanded RAW file support

Spectre Camera

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes and freezes on some devices
  • Compatibility issues with older iPhones
  • Focusing and stabilization problems

Requested features

5 requests
  • Longer exposure time options
  • More manual control over settings
  • Raw image format support
  • Apple Watch remote support
  • Improved low-light performance

In-app purchases

None

MaxCurve

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Spectre Camera

One-time1
  • Spectre Pro$4.99

Questions

Is MaxCurve free?
MaxCurve costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Spectre Camera free?
Spectre Camera is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, MaxCurve or Spectre Camera?
MaxCurve is rated higher. MaxCurve averages 4.7 out of 5 from 921 ratings, while Spectre Camera averages 4.3 from 2.4K ratings.
Do MaxCurve or Spectre Camera have ads?
Neither MaxCurve nor Spectre Camera shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MaxCurve or Spectre Camera?
MaxCurve ships an update every 4 weeks, and Spectre Camera every 3 months. Most recently, MaxCurve was updated on September 27, 2026 and Spectre Camera on September 22, 2026.

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