Comparison

Halide Mark III vs YI Mirrorless

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

Head to head
About

Halide Mark III

This app offers advanced manual camera controls and unique image processing for natural, film-like photos. It provides tools for precise focus, composition, and editing, allowing users to capture and refine professional-quality images directly on their iPhone.

Highlights
  • Manual exposure controls
  • Focus Peaking and Loupe
  • Customizable framing guides
  • Dedicated Macro Mode
  • Photographic Looks
  • RAW file support
  • Photo Lab editing
Features
Read full description

Halide unleashes your iPhone’s camera. Disable iPhone processing for natural photos, apply powerful film situations, access manual controls, and more. Halide has over 24,000 5-star ratings and is an App Store Editors’ Choice and Apple Design Award winner. Halide’s Looks are built into the camera itself, changing how your photo is captured and processed - not just a color filter applied after the fact. These are the best photos you can get out of an iPhone. Start with Process Zero for natural, film-like results, without any AI or computational photography. Explore our rich set of creative Looks developed with Hollywood colorist Cullen Kelly, and powered by sophisticated film simulation. For nine years, Halide has set the standard for professional iPhone camera control. Nail your manual focus with Focus Peaking and the Focus Loupe. Compose your shots with intention using sophisticated framing guides, from a basic grid and rule of thirds, to the golden ratio and rabatment of the rectangle. Get perfect macro shots with Halide's dedicated Macro Mode. Hate editing? Halide gives you amazing results straight out of the camera. But when you need to fine-tune, Photo Lab makes it fast and intuitive. Try dramatically different Looks, adjust framing and exposure, experiment with film simulation, or rescue details in highlights and shadows with Tone Fusion. You can even import and load RAWs from other apps, such as Apple’s own camera app, or standalone cameras by Canon, Nikon, Sony, Leica, Fujifilm, and Hasselblad. Specific formats are listed below. *Halide is a paid app. Try it free for 7 days with an annual membership, or buy it outright with a one-time purchase — no subscription required.* Features: - Shoot without Apple’s computational photography for stronger contrast and more natural results. - Photographic Looks developed in collaboration with esteemed Hollywood colorist Cullen Kelly. - Rescue details in shadows and highlights with a Tone Fusion slider inspired by darkroom dodging and burning. - Try any Look on existing ProRAW files - including photos shot in Apple’s camera app. - Become a better photographer by signing up for our 10-day tutorial directly from the app. - Full manual exposure controls including shutter speed, ISO and white balance. - Technical Readout to view all details of your iPhone camera hardware. - Also runs on iPad, for an amazing Photo Lab experience. RAW File Support: - DNG (iPhone, Leica) - CR2 (Canon) - CR3 (Canon) - NEF (Nikon) - RAF (Fujifilm) - ARW (Sony) - FFF (Hasselblad) Terms of Use can be found here: https://halide.cam/terms Privacy: https://www.lux.camera/privacy/

About

YI Mirrorless

Control your mirrorless camera remotely, transfer photos instantly via Bluetooth, and enhance your portrait photography with guided templates. The app also facilitates smart firmware updates for your camera and lens.

Highlights
  • Remote camera control
  • Instant image sharing via Bluetooth
  • Guided portrait shooting templates
  • Smart firmware updates
  • High-resolution image and 4K video support
Features
Read full description

YI mirrorless camera, the camera for new generation. 1.Redefining the MILC with 20 million pixels + 4k video. Standing on the shoulder of giants, YI MILC is equipped with the newest Sony M4/3 system IMX269 AQR sensor giving it an expressive 20-million-pixel resolution. Color and tone transition will be vividly depicted, bringing you an ultimate high quality visual experience. 2.BLE Bluetooth real time connection. Share your images in an instant. YI camera can maintain a connection to your phone through low-power BLE Bluetooth. Share your life’s moments with our friendly APP that enables you to download images and share to social platforms easily. 3.Master Guide, a revolutionizer in portrait shooting. YI MILC captures the pain points of photographer beginners and introduces a revolutionizing portrait shooting feature‘Master Guide’. Templates in Master Guide are based on experiences of world-class portrait photographers. The camera will automatically adjust settings in accordance with the templates. All you need to do is to guide your model with help from the templates and press the shutter button. Become a master in an instant! 4.Smart firmware update designed with internet thinking. The YI Mirrorless App will automatically notify you when there is a firmware upgrade available. You can quickly download new firmware and upgrade your camera and lens to experience the newest features.

Screenshots

Halide Mark III4 screens
YI Mirrorless4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Halide Mark III at 4.4 against YI Mirrorless's 1.7. Halide Mark III also leads on review sentiment (41% vs 3%) and ratings volume (14K vs 44). YI Mirrorless's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 18.0). On price, ads and device support 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. Halide Mark III sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. YI Mirrorless asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Halide Mark III holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 1.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Halide Mark III has 14K ratings behind it against 44, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 41% of Halide Mark III's written reviews are positive against 3% of YI Mirrorless's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Halide Mark III ships an update weekly, YI Mirrorless every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Halide Mark III versus YI Mirrorless: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHalide Mark IIIYI Mirrorless
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (14K ratings) — better1.7 (44 ratings)
Positive reviews41.1% of reviews — better3.3% of reviews
Number of ratings14K — better44
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#167 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS18.09.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size87 MB81 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLux Optics IncorporatedShanghai Xiaoyi Technology Co., Ltd.

Customer experience

Halide Mark III

All ratings13,678 ratings
Positive86.4%
Neutral2.5%
Negative11.1%
Written reviews915 reviews
Positive41.1%
Neutral8.2%
Negative50.7%

YI Mirrorless

All ratings44 ratings
Positive15.9%
Neutral2.3%
Negative81.8%
Written reviews152 reviews
Positive3.3%
Neutral5.3%
Negative91.4%

User reviews

Halide Mark III

From 14K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Powerful manual controls
  • 👍 Intuitive and clean interface
  • 🔍 Excellent RAW capture and editing
  • 📷 Macro and depth features
  • 🎨 Great image quality and color

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs
  • 🔍 Depth/portrait mode limitations
  • 🕰️ Slow performance on older devices
  • 💰 Expensive subscription model
  • 🔒 Lack of free trial or demo

YI Mirrorless

From 44 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great camera quality
  • 👍 Excellent camera features

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Connectivity issues
  • 🤔 Outdated app
  • 😕 Language support problems
  • 🤯 Lack of updates

Bugs and requests

Halide Mark III

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Photos not saving properly
  • Zoom functionality issues
  • Landscape mode UI problems

Requested features

5 requests
  • Shutter speed adjustment
  • Live depth/bokeh preview
  • Custom white balance
  • Time-lapse and video recording
  • Ability to save settings/presets

YI Mirrorless

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Unable to connect camera to phone
  • App crashes or freezes
  • Incompatible with iOS 11 and above

Requested features

3 requests
  • Update app to support latest iOS versions
  • Add English language support
  • Improve app stability and connectivity

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Halide Mark III

Subscriptions2
  • Pro Camera, Editor, and Lessons$9.991 Month
  • Pro Camera, Editor, and Lessons7 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • One Time Purchase$69.99
None

YI Mirrorless

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Halide Mark III free?
Halide Mark III is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is YI Mirrorless free?
YI Mirrorless is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Halide Mark III or YI Mirrorless?
Halide Mark III is rated higher. Halide Mark III averages 4.4 out of 5 from 14K ratings, while YI Mirrorless averages 1.7 from 44 ratings.
Do Halide Mark III or YI Mirrorless have ads?
Neither Halide Mark III nor YI Mirrorless shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Halide Mark III or YI Mirrorless?
Halide Mark III ships an update weekly, and YI Mirrorless every 3 weeks. Most recently, Halide Mark III was updated on November 10, 2026 and YI Mirrorless on November 2, 2026.

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