Comparison

Halcyon Camera vs Photo Assistant Studio

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

Head to head
About

Halcyon Camera

Capture photos and videos with the authentic look and feel of classic film stocks. Offers professional manual controls, advanced editing tools, and various shooting modes like long exposure and slow-motion.

Highlights
  • Authentic film stock simulations
  • Full manual camera controls
  • Long exposure and slow-motion video
  • WYSIWYG editing with film simulation
  • Pro video recording options
  • Built-in pro overlays and grids
Features
Read full description

Halcyon brings the soul of film to your iPhone. Twelve hand-crafted film stocks — Kodak Portra 400, Cinestill 800T, Velvia 50, Tri-X 400 and more — each with the temperature, tone curve, grain, and halation of the real thing. Apply them live, before you take the shot, and what you see is exactly what you get. REAL PRO CONTROLS, ONE-HANDED. Full manual ISO, shutter, focus, white balance, and exposure. Tap to focus. Long-press for AE/AF lock. Pinch to zoom. Volume buttons fire the shutter. Lens switcher for ultrawide, wide, telephoto. Halide-style focus loupe magnifies the sharpness plane as you rack focus. Histogram, waveform, focus peaking, zebras, false color, horizon level — when you need them, hidden when you don't. NEW IN 3.2 — LONG EXPOSURE, SLOW-MO, LIVE PHOTO. • Multi-frame long exposure — 2, 5, 10, or 20 second stacks with automatic alignment for handheld light trails, silky water, and star fields • Slow-motion capture at 120fps and 240fps • Live Photo for every film stock — the frames before and after, with the film baked in • Thermal and storage health warnings before a long take can bite you • Alternate app icons: Amber, Midnight, Noir BUILT-IN PRO OVERLAYS. • Histogram — real-time RGB • Waveform — luminance monitor • Focus peaking — see what's sharp • Focus loupe — Halide-style magnifier • Zebras — highlight clipping alert • False color — exposure map • Horizon level — stop crooked photos • Rule-of-thirds grid • Cinematic frame modes — square, 3:2, 16:9, half-frame • Live ISO / shutter chips PRO VIDEO WITH FILM SIMULATION. Record HEVC, ProRes 422 HQ, or Apple Log with the film baked in. Cinematic 24fps, 4K, live audio, plus 120/240fps slow-motion. EVERYTHING IS YOURS. WYSIWYG: every effect — film, grain, halation — is baked into the saved photo. ProRAW is preserved as alternate. Create custom film recipes with a 14-slider editor. Save them, share them, refine them. YOUR PHOTOS STAY ON YOUR DEVICE. No analytics. No data collection. No network requests. Nothing leaves your iPhone. Made with care for everyone who misses film.

About

Photo Assistant Studio

This app provides real-time pose guidance using translucent outlines on your camera preview. It offers a clean interface and saves photos directly to your device without data collection.

Highlights
  • Live camera pose templates
  • Translucent outline overlays
  • On-device processing
  • No data collection
  • Multiple interface languages
  • One-tap photo saving
Features
Read full description

Photo Assistant helps you pose and capture great shots with ease. • Built in pose templates overlaid as translucent outlines on the live camera preview for real time guidance • 11 interface languages (Simplified/Traditional Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, French, German, Thai, Portuguese, Spanish, Turkish) • One tap save to your photo library; everything runs on device — no uploads, no data collection • Clean, friendly pink themed UI Whether you want more natural selfies or simply better everyday photos, Photo Assistant makes posing effortless.

Screenshots

Halcyon Camera4 screens
Photo Assistant Studio4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Halcyon Camera at free against Photo Assistant Studio's free with in-app purchases. Halcyon Camera also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 4 days) and ratings volume (3 vs 1). Photo Assistant Studio's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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. Halcyon Camera sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Photo Assistant Studio sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 1.0 for Halcyon Camera against 1.0 for Photo Assistant Studio. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Halcyon Camera ships an update every 2 days, Photo Assistant Studio every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Halcyon Camera versus Photo Assistant Studio: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHalcyon CameraPhoto Assistant Studio
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.0 (3 ratings)1.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 days — betterEvery 4 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB42 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBirkan Aksoy春艳 杨

Customer experience

Halcyon Camera

All ratings3 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral40.0%
Negative60.0%

Photo Assistant Studio

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Halcyon Camera

One-time1
  • Halcyon Pro$9.99
1 purchases

Photo Assistant Studio

One-time1
  • 解锁全部姿势 / Unlock All Poses$1.99

Questions

Is Halcyon Camera free?
Halcyon Camera is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Photo Assistant Studio free?
Photo Assistant Studio is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Halcyon Camera or Photo Assistant Studio?
Halcyon Camera and Photo Assistant Studio are both rated 1.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 3 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Halcyon Camera or Photo Assistant Studio have ads?
Neither Halcyon Camera nor Photo Assistant Studio shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Halcyon Camera or Photo Assistant Studio?
Halcyon Camera ships an update every 2 days, and Photo Assistant Studio every 4 days. Most recently, Halcyon Camera was updated on October 25, 2026 and Photo Assistant Studio on October 11, 2026.

Other comparisons