Comparison

Spectre Camera vs Remote Lens

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

Remote Lens

Features
Read full description

Remote Lens is your ultimate companion for Canon camera enthusiasts and will never require an account. Seamlessly connect your Canon camera to your device and unlock a world of photographic possibilities. With Remote Lens, you can effortlessly capture stunning photos, add GPS tags to keep track of your shooting locations, and utilize the intervalometer feature for time-lapse photography. Key Features: Easy Connection: Quickly connect your Canon camera to your device without the hassle of account creation. GPS Tagging: Automatically add GPS tags to your photos, making it easy to remember where each shot was taken. Intervalometer: Set up time-lapse sequences with ease, perfect for capturing dynamic scenes over time. User-Friendly Interface: Enjoy a smooth and intuitive user experience designed to enhance your photography workflow. Remote Lens is designed to provide a seamless and efficient photography experience, allowing you to focus on what matters most: capturing the perfect shot. Download Remote Lens today and take your photography to the next level for free. Tested with a Canon EOS R6, most likely works with all cameras in the R series, and probably M series too.

Screenshots

Spectre Camera4 screens
Remote Lens4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Remote Lens at none against Spectre Camera's 1. Remote Lens also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 3 months). Spectre Camera's advantage is iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.6). On price, ads 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. Remote Lens asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Spectre Camera ships an update every 3 months, Remote Lens every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Spectre Camera versus Remote Lens: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSpectre CameraRemote Lens
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (2.4K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews45.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings2.4K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS16.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size12 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLux Optics IncorporatedRaphael Derensy

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

Remote Lens

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Spectre Camera

One-time1
  • Spectre Pro$4.99
None

Remote Lens

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Spectre Camera free?
Spectre Camera is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Remote Lens free?
Remote Lens is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Spectre Camera or Remote Lens have ads?
Neither Spectre Camera nor Remote Lens shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Spectre Camera or Remote Lens?
Spectre Camera ships an update every 3 months, and Remote Lens every 2 weeks. Most recently, Spectre Camera was updated on October 19, 2026 and Remote Lens on October 14, 2026.

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