Comparison

Truly Simple RAW Camera vs Knurl Camera

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

Head to head
About

Truly Simple RAW Camera

Capture unedited digital negatives directly from your iPhone's sensor. This app bypasses automatic image processing to provide pure RAW DNG files for manual development. It offers DSLR-like controls and essential framing tools.

Highlights
  • Pure RAW capture (.DNG)
  • Tap to focus and exposure lock
  • Hardware back-facing lens switching
  • Optional haptic shutter feedback
  • Rule-of-thirds grid overlay
  • Quick review of recent photos
Read full description

Most modern smartphone cameras automatically process every picture you take. They apply aggressive smoothing, artificial HDR, and automatic sharpening. Sometimes, you just want the actual, unedited digital negative so you can develop it yourself. Truly Simple RAW Camera bypasses automatic processing to give you the exact, unedited light that hit your iPhone’s physical sensor. NOTE: This app only works on devices with hardware capable of capturing Bayer RAW images, which means most iPhones and iPad Pros but not other sorts of iPad, sorry! It does not work with front-facing cameras, either, for the same reason (they lack that capability). Features: • Pure RAW capture: Saves uncompressed 14-bit Bayer .DNG files directly to your camera roll with zero AI processing. • Tap to focus: Tap anywhere on the viewfinder to physically adjust the lens focal plane and lock in your exposure, just like a real DSLR. • Hardware controls: Switch between the physical back-facing lenses and toggle the hardware flash. No digital zoom allowed. • Tactile feedback: An optional haptic shutter toggle lets you physically feel exactly when a photo is captured. • Visual basics: Toggle a rule-of-thirds grid to frame your shot, and switch between light and dark color themes for comfort. • Quick review: Tap the recent photo thumbnail to instantly jump to your native iOS Photos gallery. • Free: Enjoy a completely free app with no recurring fees, intrusive advertisements, or paywalls.

About

Knurl Camera

Capture unprocessed RAW image data directly from your device's sensor. Offers granular manual controls for ISO, shutter speed, and focus, allowing for complete creative freedom in post-processing.

Highlights
  • Bayer RAW capture
  • Full manual controls (ISO, Shutter, Aperture)
  • Physical control dials
  • Relative focus ring
  • Native focal length lenses
  • Exposure compensation scale
Read full description

Knurl is a camera for people who would rather develop the photo themselves. It captures true Bayer RAW: the sensor's own mosaic, written straight to a DNG with none of the computational photography that normally happens on the way. No multi-frame fusion, no tone curve, no sharpening. What lands in your library is undeveloped data with all of its latitude intact, ready for Lightroom or Photos to interpret however you like. THE CONTROLS ARE THE POINT A mode wheel you turn, with the real designations: P for program, Tv for shutter priority, Sv for ISO priority, M for full manual. Every position clicks. ISO and shutter move in thirds of a stop along the standard photographic ladders, on a dial that detents at every rung. Whole stops click harder than thirds, so you can count them by feel without looking. The ends of each ladder are the sensor's genuine limits rather than round numbers, which means base ISO, the cleanest the sensor gets, is actually reachable. Exposure compensation on its own scale, in thirds, with a firmer detent at zero. In manual it becomes the meter, because compensation has nothing left to act on when both controls are already fixed. An AF/MF switch and a focus ring you turn like a ring: relative, so touching it never jumps focus, and marked near to far rather than in invented distances. Three lenses, each at its native focal length, read from the hardware. HONEST ABOUT ITSELF Bayer RAW is 12 MP and does not permit zoom. The 48 MP path would mean Apple ProRAW, which is demosaiced and partially processed, so Knurl does not offer it. When the exposure you have asked for is not achievable, it says so rather than pretending. Your shots go to a Knurl album you can browse in the app, pinch to zoom, and swipe through. Volume buttons fire the shutter. Add the Control to your Action Button, Lock Screen or Control Center to open it without unlocking.

Screenshots

Truly Simple RAW Camera3 screens
Knurl Camera4 screens

Verdict

The call

Truly Simple RAW Camera and Knurl Camera are too close to call on the numbers: across 8 compared parameters — price, rating, ratings volume and ads among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Truly Simple RAW Camera against 5.0 for Knurl Camera. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 1 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Truly Simple RAW Camera versus Knurl Camera: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTruly Simple RAW CameraKnurl Camera
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Number of ratings2 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 5 months—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperColin WrightDimitrios Zarkadas

In-app purchases

None

Truly Simple RAW Camera

No in-app purchases

None

Knurl Camera

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Truly Simple RAW Camera free?
Truly Simple RAW Camera is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Knurl Camera free?
Knurl Camera is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Truly Simple RAW Camera or Knurl Camera?
Truly Simple RAW Camera and Knurl Camera are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Truly Simple RAW Camera or Knurl Camera have ads?
Neither Truly Simple RAW Camera nor Knurl Camera shows ads.

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