Comparison

Spectre Camera vs Light Stack Camera

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

Head to head
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!

About

Light Stack Camera

Capture incredibly sharp long exposure photos without a tripod. Advanced AI stabilization allows for handheld shots up to 30 seconds, providing natural-looking results. Unique features like true-to-motion preview and customizable failure responses ensure control and prevent ruined shots.

Highlights
  • AI-stabilized long exposures
  • Handheld shooting up to 30 seconds
  • True-to-motion live preview
  • Customizable failure response options
  • Full-resolution image pipeline
Features
Read full description

Capture sharp long exposures — no tripod required. With advanced AI stabilization, Light Stack lets you shoot handheld for up to 30 seconds — with consistently sharp, natural-looking results. To help you stay steady and in control, Light Stack offers some unique features: • True-to-Motion Preview: The live preview moves naturally with your hands, giving you intuitive feedback that helps you stay steady. No more fighting to keep a crosshair centered. • Failure Response: If motion tracking is lost, you choose what happens: temporarily pause the exposure, end it cleanly, or keep going without stabilization. No surprises, and no ruined shots when things don’t go as planned. • Full-Resolution Pipeline: Light Stack maintains full resolution from capture to final image. No cropping, and no upscaling to cover it up. Try it free and experience the convenience of Light Stack. --- Terms of Service: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Spectre Camera4 screens
Light Stack Camera3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Light Stack Camera at weekly against Spectre Camera's every 3 months. Light Stack Camera also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.3) and review sentiment (73% vs 46%). Spectre Camera's advantage is ratings volume (2.4K vs 28). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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

Both are free to download. Spectre Camera sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Light Stack Camera sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Light Stack Camera holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Spectre Camera has 2.4K ratings behind it against 28, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 46% of Spectre Camera's written reviews are positive against 73% of Light Stack Camera's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Spectre Camera ships an update every 3 months, Light Stack Camera weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Spectre Camera versus Light Stack Camera: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSpectre CameraLight Stack Camera
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (2.4K ratings)4.7 (28 ratings) — better
Positive reviews45.6% of reviews73.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2.4K — better28
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS16.016.0
Further details — not scored
Size12 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLux Optics IncorporatedCogitap Software

Customer experience

Spectre Camera

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

Light Stack Camera

All ratings28 ratings
Positive92.9%
Neutral3.6%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews26 reviews
Positive73.1%
Neutral3.8%
Negative23.1%

Bugs and requests

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

Light Stack Camera

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Spectre Camera

One-time1
  • Spectre Pro$4.99
3 purchases

Light Stack Camera

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Subscription$4.991 Month
  • Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Access$34.99

Questions

Is Spectre Camera free?
Spectre Camera is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Light Stack Camera free?
Light Stack Camera is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Spectre Camera or Light Stack Camera?
Light Stack Camera is rated higher. Spectre Camera averages 4.3 out of 5 from 2.4K ratings, while Light Stack Camera averages 4.7 from 28 ratings.
Do Spectre Camera or Light Stack Camera have ads?
Neither Spectre Camera nor Light Stack Camera shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Spectre Camera or Light Stack Camera?
Spectre Camera ships an update every 3 months, and Light Stack Camera weekly. Most recently, Spectre Camera was updated on October 8, 2026 and Light Stack Camera on October 6, 2026.

Other comparisons