Lucid vs Aperto
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side ā with what reviewers say about each.
Lucid
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Shutter, ISO, white balance and focus ā on real dials, laid out like a camera body instead of buried in a menu. The viewfinder shows exactly what saves. Pick the one thing you care about ā Aperture-free Auto, Manual, Shutter or ISO priority ā and Lucid floats the rest live as the light moves. One purchase. No subscription. UNFOLDS ON IPHONE DUO Open iPhone Duo and Lucid becomes a camera body: the viewfinder fills one half of the display, and the other half is a full control plate under your thumb ā shutter and ISO on two live dials at once, big readouts, a labeled zoom ring, flash, timer, grid and level as buttons, your Looks and Profiles one tap from the shutter. The viewfinder turns with the camera, not the screen. Close it, and Lucid is the camera you already know. OPENS FROM THE CAMERA CONTROL BUTTON On iPhone 16 and later, set Lucid as your Camera Control app. One press opens Lucid right from the Lock Screen: no unlocking, and every manual dial is there. Half-press to adjust zoom, exposure, priority and Looks without taking your eye off the frame. WHY LUCID Most camera apps hand you a filter and a shutter button. Lucid hands you the camera. Four exposure priorities (Auto, Manual, Shutter, ISO) let you decide what to control and what to let the camera solve, live. Everything you set, you see. Everything you see, you keep. And it's yours. One purchase, no subscription. The camera doesn't stop working when the month ends. WHAT YOU CAN DO - Shoot full manual: shutter, ISO, white balance, and focus, on real dials - Choose what you control: Auto, Manual, Shutter or ISO priority ā the camera solves the rest, live - Capture RAW, ProRAW, HEIF, and 48MP, keeping every bit of the file - Nail focus with peaking and a magnified loupe - Read your light with a live histogram and zebra stripes - Grade with Looks: film LUTs previewed live in the viewfinder, baked on capture - Import your own .cube LUTs - Pull long exposures, bracket, and set a self-timer - Save full setups as Profiles and recall them in a tap - Launch from the Camera Control button, even on the Lock Screen - Open iPhone Duo for a two-dial control plate beside the viewfinder - Shoot manual video too: Apple Log, ProRes, and a cinematic 180° shutter BUILT HONEST No aperture slider. Your iPhone's lenses have fixed apertures, and faking it would be a lie. No account. No analytics. No cloud. Your photos never leave your phone, and location tagging stays off until you turn it on. ONE PURCHASE. YOURS FOREVER. Try every feature free. Then unlock Lucid for a single payment: no subscription, no upsells, no expiry date. Shoot like you mean it. Support: support@lucidcamera.app Privacy: https://lucidcamera.app/privacy/
Aperto
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Aperto brings compact camera character to everyday photos. Choose a look, frame the moment and take control when you want to. No subscriptions, ads or accounts. Every camera feature is free. NATURAL PROCESSING, NO AI ⢠Natural develops the sensor's RAW with classic algorithms: honest color and real detail, without oversharpening or fake HDR ⢠Natural can combine several RAW frames, depending on the scene and settings, to reduce noise and retain detail. ⢠Prefer Apple's look? Switch to Apple processing with Smart HDR and Deep Fusion, up to 48 MP NIGHT MODE ⢠Merges a burst of frames into one clean, detailed photo, without AI ⢠Frames are aligned automatically to cancel hand shake ⢠Turns on by itself in the dark, or set it to always on or off FULL MANUAL CONTROL ⢠ISO and shutter speed in 1/3-stop steps, within your camera's real limits ⢠Set only ISO or only shutter and Aperto meters the other ⢠Manual focus with focus peaking and a loupe ⢠White balance presets or exact Kelvin, from 2000 K to 10000 K ⢠Exposure compensation and touch-and-hold AE/AF lock ⢠Swipe on the viewfinder to adjust, swipe sideways to change the look RAW WHEN YOU WANT IT ⢠Apple ProRAW or DNG, HEIC, JPEG, or RAW together with HEIC/JPEG ⢠File quality: High or Maximum ⢠Complete EXIF: ISO, shutter, lens and more, plus optional location FILM LOOKS Natural, Warm, Fade, Chrome, Cine, Gold, Mono and Noir, with real grain and halation. Previewed live and applied to your HEIC or JPEG; your RAW always stays untouched. COMPOSE WITH CONFIDENCE ⢠Live histogram, horizon level and highlight zebras ⢠Rule of thirds, golden ratio, square grid or crosshair ⢠4:3, 3:2, 16:9, 1:1 and 65:24 panoramic framing ⢠Ultra wide, wide and telephoto lenses, front camera ⢠3 s and 10 s timer, volume buttons as a shutter ⢠Icons rotate smoothly with your iPhone CAMERA CONTROL AND LOCK SCREEN On iPhone 16 and later, choose Aperto for Camera Control and open it with the button, even from the Lock Screen. Light-press to adjust exposure, ISO, shutter and looks. Aperto is also available as a Control Center and Lock Screen control. MACRO ⢠Get really close with the ultra wide lens (iPhone 13 Pro and later), framed tighter, with autofocus kept near ⢠Manual focus with peaking and a loupe for the finest detail BUILT-IN EDITOR ⢠Exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, warmth, tint, saturation, vibrance, clarity, sharpness and vignette ⢠Film looks and grain, crop, rotate and straighten ⢠RAW files are re-developed with Natural processing; your original is never changed LEARN AS YOU SHOOT ⢠Camera basics: what ISO, shutter speed, EV, white balance and focus do and when to use them, with live examples ⢠Pro School: short photo sessions with an example and a task; Aperto sets up the camera and checks your shot PRIVATE BY DESIGN Your photos stay on your device. Usage statistics and diagnostics help improve Aperto and can be disabled separately in Settings ā Analytics. No accounts, advertising or cross-app tracking. FREE, FOR REAL Every camera feature is free: no paywall, no ads, no subscriptions. If you enjoy Aperto, leave a one-time tip: it unlocks five more app icons and supports development. Available in English, Russian, Ukrainian, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean and Chinese.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Aperto at 17.0 against Lucid's 26.0. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Lucid sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Aperto sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Lucid ships an update every 10 days, Aperto weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Lucid | Aperto |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 10 days | Weekly ā better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 17.0 ā better |
| Further details ā not scored | ||
| Size | 32 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Perry Hampton | Maksim Logvinov |
In-app purchases
Lucid
- Unlock Lucid$4.99
Aperto
- Small Tip$0.99
- Generous Tip$1.99







