Comparison

Simple HDR vs Hydra › Pro Camera (RAW + AI)

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

Head to head
About

Simple HDR

Enhance your photos with advanced editing tools. Adjust exposure, saturation, and brightness with intuitive sliders to achieve more visually appealing images.

Highlights
  • Adjust EV (Exposure Value)
  • Control Saturation
  • Modify Brightness
  • Intuitive slider controls
  • Enhance photo beauty
Features
Read full description

You can use Simple HDR to get more beautiful photos. Use slider for correction EV, Saturation and Brightness on your photos

About

Hydra › Pro Camera (RAW + AI)

This app enhances mobile photography with AI and computational imaging, offering extreme HDR, advanced denoising, and high-resolution capture. It provides manual controls, style presets, and a powerful editor for professional-level results in challenging lighting.

Highlights
  • AI-powered computational photography
  • Extreme HDR capture (> 20-stop)
  • Detail-enhancing denoising
  • Up to 110-megapixel resolution
  • Manual camera controls
  • High-fidelity photo editor
  • Multiple output file formats
Features
Read full description

Hydra is a camera app for iPhone & iPad with innovative capture technology that lets you take gorgeous and unique pictures even in challenging lighting conditions. Making use of the latest advances in artificial intelligence & image processing, Hydra’s independent computational core offers to overcome the physical limits of small sensors, with features such as over 20-stop extreme HDR, detail-enhancing denoising, macro shooting, crisp 6/8x zooming, and a whopping 110-megapixel resolution. But there's more. Hydra now features a new highly capable manual mode for photo enthusiasts, an improved faster shooting for reduced artifacts, and the addition of a new normal capture mode for everyday photos. It also comes with a number of presets to define your own style as well as a completely new high-fidelity photo editor. Last but not least, Hydra’s constantly evolving photo capabilities are your best asset to continue enjoying picture quality improvements after device purchase and to obtain state-of-the-art camera innovations all through its lifetime. “The Hydra app […] is one of the more interesting iOS camera apps we have seen in the recent past.” — Lars Rehm (DPReview) “Hydra is for people who enjoy iPhone photography at a higher and more rewarding level.” — David Robinson (iPhonographer) “The user interface is particularly well made […] If Apple were to purchase this app, they wouldn't have to change anything in its design.” — Florian Innocente (Mac Génération) “Hydra […] is a well thought out and terrific performing photo app with solid features that will improve your images in challenging lighting conditions.” — Mel Martin (Engadget) KEY FEATURES • Refined camera experience for iPhone & iPad. • Computational photography with artificial intelligence (AI). Neural processing & fusion of RAW sensor data. • Unique capabilities: extreme HDR (> 20-stop range) to accommodate lighting conditions, superior detail-enhancement and denoising for low-light & macro, up-to-6/8x zooming, and a whopping 110-megapixel resolution. New normal camera mode. • Versatile viewfinder: approachable ergonomics, tactile input & sensory feedback (1-stop vibrations). “Zebra” exposure previewing. • Manual mode for precise camera control: focus, ISO, shutter speed, white balance. • Rich capture options: Apple Watch remote, timer, flash & selfie, geotagging, grid overlay… • Photo style presets (tonal intent, color rendition…). • Powerful photo editor for 32-bit non-degrading edits, including tone mapping, detail boosting, precise colorimetry, and Apple ProRAW editing. • Side-by-side pixel-level comparison with unprocessed RAW input. • Exhaustive output options with varied file formats, including pro options (JPEG, HEIC, TIFF, TIFF-32, OpenEXR, Radiance, DNG, Apple ProRAW, and next-gen JPEG XL) & color spaces (sRGB, Display P3, ROMM ProPhoto). • Aftershot: saving to HyperRAW for deferred photo development, including Bracket and Fusion containers. • Improved saving to Files (iCloud & 3rd-party apps) including shared folders for professional use cases, and folder management. • Redesigned photo gallery. • Lock screen and home screen widgets. • Optimized for latest iOS, Metal, CoreML, and Apple Neural Engine (ANE) for high-speed AI computations on Apple Silicon. • Privacy first: full on-device processing, privacy filter for social sharing. PRICING The free app offers unrestricted shooting in normal mode (auto & manual), including RAW, HyperRAW & Apple ProRAW (compatible devices only). Other capture modes & restrictions can be unlocked either with the Pro Pack 3 one-time purchase, or with the Pro Plan subscription. Upgrade pricing is available within the app for previous version owners. MORE INFO Website: https://creaceed.com/ihydra Privacy Policy: https://creaceed.com/privacy Terms of Use: https://creaceed.com/terms Feedback: hydra@creaceed.com

Screenshots

Simple HDR2 screens
Hydra › Pro Camera (RAW + AI)4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Simple HDR at 5.0 against Hydra › Pro Camera (RAW + AI)'s 3.4. Simple HDR also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 6) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.0). Hydra › Pro Camera (RAW + AI)'s advantage is ratings volume (252 vs 1). 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. Hydra › Pro Camera (RAW + AI) sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Simple HDR asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Simple HDR holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Hydra › Pro Camera (RAW + AI) has 252 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Simple HDR versus Hydra › Pro Camera (RAW + AI): the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSimple HDRHydra › Pro Camera (RAW + AI)
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better3.4 (252 ratings)
Positive reviews—29.3% of reviews
Number of ratings1252 — better
Update frequency—Every 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS13.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB101 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMaxim PazhukovCreaceed SRL

Customer experience

Simple HDR

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Hydra › Pro Camera (RAW + AI)

All ratings251 ratings
Positive55.4%
Neutral13.5%
Negative31.1%
Written reviews280 reviews
Positive29.3%
Neutral14.6%
Negative56.1%

Bugs and requests

Simple HDR

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Hydra › Pro Camera (RAW + AI)

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App crashes when taking 110MP photos
  • Unable to save RAW/HEIC files
  • Inconsistent behavior in different lighting conditions
  • Zoom and macro features not working as expected

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ultra-wide lens support
  • Allow editing of photos after capture
  • Improve low-light and macro performance
  • Optimize for latest iPhone hardware
  • Provide better value for paid version

In-app purchases

None

Simple HDR

No in-app purchases

6 purchases

Hydra › Pro Camera (RAW + AI)

Subscriptions2
  • Pro Plan (Monthly)7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Pro Plan (Yearly)7 Days trial$9.991 Year
One-time4
  • Pro Pack 3 (Upgrade)$7.99
  • Pro Pack (Upgrade)$15.99
  • Pro Pack 3$23.99
Show 1 more
  • Pro Pack$23.99

Questions

Is Simple HDR free?
Simple HDR is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Hydra › Pro Camera (RAW + AI) free?
Hydra › Pro Camera (RAW + AI) is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Simple HDR or Hydra › Pro Camera (RAW + AI)?
Simple HDR is rated higher. Simple HDR averages 5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Hydra › Pro Camera (RAW + AI) averages 3.4 from 252 ratings.
Do Simple HDR or Hydra › Pro Camera (RAW + AI) have ads?
Neither Simple HDR nor Hydra › Pro Camera (RAW + AI) shows ads.

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