Truly Simple RAW Camera vs LibreCam

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.

LibreCam is a manual RAW camera for iPhone that captures what the sensor sees, and nothing more. Shoot true Bayer DNGs, single-frame HEIFs, or both at once, with no fusion, no aggressive processing, no account, no tracking and no subscription. The stock camera applies Smart HDR, Deep Fusion, noise reduction, sharpening and tone mapping to every shot. LibreCam turns off everything that can be turned off, and is honest about what cannot. DNG: the true Bayer sensor readout. No fusion, no noise reduction, no tone mapping, no distortion correction. One frame, exactly as the sensor read it. HEIF: a single frame developed by the hardware ISP. No fusion, no HDR, no semantic tricks. LOOKS: nine fixed color recipes, applied to the HEIF as you shoot. Build your own with dials in the Look Editor, and import or export standard .cube files. The DNG is never touched. PRINT: share a shot as a framed print. Ink or paper matte, and a label with the exposure, camera, date, place and your name, set like a museum caption. A copy made for sharing; the photo itself stays as it is. LIBRECAM PRO: one purchase, no subscription, and only two things are paid: the Look Editor for your own recipes, and the Apple Watch remote. Everything else is free. FEATURES - Every physical lens on your iPhone. No digital zoom, ever. - The front camera too, with mirrored or true-to-sensor selfies. - An Apple Watch remote: shutter, readouts, framing assist. (LibreCam Pro) - Manual focus, shutter, ISO, exposure bias and white balance. Everything is automatic until touched. - Focus peaking: the sharpest edges glow amber while you focus. - Level: a horizon line that reports the tilt your photo will actually have. It never straightens anything. - Histogram: all three channels live on the glass, with marks for which one is clipping, and at which end. - Nine looks free; build your own with LibreCam Pro. - Print: a framed, captioned copy of any shot, ready to share. - Frame lock: 9:16, 2:3, 4:5 or 1:1 on the glass, the developed copy cropped to match. The DNG keeps the full frame. - Flash: off, auto or on. On auto, the bolt turns amber only when the scene will fire it. - Aperture on iPhone 18 Pro: f/1.48 to f/4 on the 24 mm lens in thirds of a stop, one tap each. Automatic until touched. - Shutter priority and ISO priority metering. - Camera Control on iPhone 16 and later: focus, aperture, shutter, ISO, EV, white balance and the lenses, right on the button. - Hardware shutter on the volume buttons. No shutter sound. - Add-only Photos access. No account, no tracking. - Optional location tagging, written into the photo on your device. A camera, not a computer.