Comparison

Slow Shutter Cam 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

Slow Shutter Cam

Capture stunning long exposure photographs with real-time previews. Create effects like light trails, motion blur, and low-light scenes with intuitive controls. Ideal for transforming everyday moments into artistic visuals.

Highlights
  • Long exposure photography
  • Real-time live preview
  • Motion blur effects
  • Light trail capture
  • Low-light photography
  • Manual ISO and unlimited exposure
  • Multiple exposure support
Features
Read full description

Transform everyday scenes into stunning long exposure photographs with Slow Shutter Cam! Capture silky smooth waterfalls, beautiful light trails, motion blur effects, and breathtaking night photography - all with your iPhone. Slow Shutter Cam gives you creative control over long exposure photography, with real-time previews that let you see your results as they develop. ----------------------- Featured numerous times by Apple: - App Store Essentials: Camera & Photography - Photography for Professionals - Total Control - Extraordinary Photo Apps - Best New App ----------------------- “It’s one of those rare photography apps that creates effects that few others are capable of, and it does it easily and with better results.” — Marty Yawnick, Life In LoFi ----------------------- Slow Shutter Cam offers three powerful capture modes to help you create unique photographs: MOTION BLUR: Create smooth, flowing waterfalls, dreamy landscapes, ghostly figures, and artistic motion effects. Adjust the blur strength to achieve anything from subtle movement to dramatic long exposure effects. LIGHT TRAIL: Paint with light, capture car light trails, fireworks, and other moving light sources. Light Trail mode automatically handles the essentials, allowing you to focus on creativity rather than complicated camera settings. LOW LIGHT: Capture more detail in dark environments by accumulating light over time. The longer the exposure, the more light the camera collects. Fine-tune your results using exposure compensation to achieve the look you want. ----------------------- Highlights: • Unlimited exposure duration and manual ISO • Resume captures to create multiple exposures • Real-time live preview - see your results as they develop • Innovative Freeze and Blur Strength controls • Tap to adjust focus and exposure • Time-lapse intervalometer • Apple Watch support and convenient self-timer • Full-resolution support on all supported devices • Camera Control support (iPhone 16 and later) ----------------------- Whether you’re photographing flowing water, city lights, moving subjects, or the night sky, Slow Shutter Cam makes creative long exposure photography accessible to everyone. Discover what’s possible beyond ordinary snapshots! Search #slowshuttercam on Instagram to explore amazing photographs captured by our users.

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

Slow Shutter Cam4 screens
Spectre Camera4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Spectre Camera at Free against Slow Shutter Cam's $2.99. Slow Shutter Cam's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 3 months). On ratings volume, ads, monetization model and iOS requirement 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; Slow Shutter Cam costs $2.99 up front. Spectre Camera sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Slow Shutter Cam asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Slow Shutter Cam holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2.8K and 2.4K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 72% of Slow Shutter Cam's written reviews are positive against 46% of Spectre Camera's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Slow Shutter Cam ships an update every 2 weeks, Spectre Camera every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Slow Shutter Cam versus Spectre Camera: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSlow Shutter CamSpectre Camera
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.6 (2.8K ratings) — better4.3 (2.4K ratings)
Positive reviews71.5% of reviews — better45.6% of reviews
Number of ratings2.8K — better2.4K
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#9 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.016.0
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB12 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCogitap SoftwareLux Optics Incorporated

Customer experience

Slow Shutter Cam

All ratings2,813 ratings
Positive91.5%
Neutral3.0%
Negative5.6%
Written reviews1,250 reviews
Positive71.5%
Neutral6.9%
Negative21.6%

Spectre Camera

All ratings2,408 ratings
Positive83.5%
Neutral3.7%
Negative12.7%
Written reviews439 reviews
Positive45.6%
Neutral10.7%
Negative43.7%

User reviews

Slow Shutter Cam

From 2.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 👍 Powerful controls
  • 🎨 Great for creative photography
  • 💡 Useful for low light and long exposure shots
  • 🎨 Excellent for light trails and motion blur

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes or freezes
  • 🔋 Drains battery quickly
  • 🤔 Confusing interface for some users
  • 🤷‍♀️ Limited functionality compared to DSLR
  • 🤔 Struggles with astrophotography and night sky shots

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

Slow Shutter Cam

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Lens flare or distortion issues on some devices
  • Inconsistent performance on iPhone 11 Pro Max
  • Saved photos not showing up in camera roll

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add support for RAW image format
  • Implement a hands-free bulb mode with remote activation
  • Include a countdown timer for stabilizing the camera
  • Integrate with Apple Watch for easier shutter control
  • Provide more detailed tutorials and guidance for beginners

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

Slow Shutter Cam

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Spectre Camera

One-time1
  • Spectre Pro$4.99

Questions

Is Slow Shutter Cam free?
Slow Shutter Cam costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Spectre Camera free?
Spectre Camera is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Slow Shutter Cam or Spectre Camera?
Slow Shutter Cam is rated higher. Slow Shutter Cam averages 4.6 out of 5 from 2.8K ratings, while Spectre Camera averages 4.3 from 2.4K ratings.
Do Slow Shutter Cam or Spectre Camera have ads?
Neither Slow Shutter Cam nor Spectre Camera shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Slow Shutter Cam or Spectre Camera?
Slow Shutter Cam ships an update every 2 weeks, and Spectre Camera every 3 months. Most recently, Slow Shutter Cam was updated on November 9, 2026 and Spectre Camera on November 6, 2026.

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