Comparison

Halide Mark III vs Unsplash

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 professional camera app offers advanced manual controls and powerful tools for deliberate photography. Capture stunning RAW images, utilize Neural Macro for close-ups on any iPhone, and access features like focus peaking and histograms. Learn photography with included lessons and customize your shooting experience.

Highlights
  • Manual exposure and focus controls
  • Neural Macro for close-up shots
  • 14-bit RAW and ProRAW capture
  • Exposure tools: histograms, waveform, zebras
  • Focus peaking and loupe
  • Gesture-based interface
  • Included photography lessons
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

Unsplash

Access over 7 million free, high-resolution images contributed by a global community of photographers. Discover new photos daily for any project and easily save and access your favorites across devices. Anyone can contribute, regardless of equipment.

Highlights
  • Millions of free high-resolution images
  • Daily curated new photos
  • Collect and access photos across devices
  • Drag & drop functionality on iPad
  • Contribute your own photos
  • Used for presentations, artwork, mockups
Features
Read full description

The Unsplash app is home to over 7 million free high-resolution images brought to you by the world’s most generous community of photographers. Want in? Beautiful, free images With Unsplash, you’ve got access to over seven million high-resolution photos that are free to do-whatever-you-want with. And with new images hand-selected every day, you’ll find the perfect photo for your next project — guaranteed. Unlimited Unsplash Access When you create a free account, you’ll be able to collect photos to keep coming back to and access them anywhere: iPhone, iPad, your computer — you name it. Drag & Drop Plus, our app plays well with others on iPad. Simply drag your favourite Unsplash photos into any app that supports drag & drop, like Keynote, Pages and Notes. Anyone can join the Unsplash community No pro camera? No problem! You don’t need fancy equipment to start contributing to Unsplash - submitting a photo can be as simple as picking up your phone and taking a few photos. So whether you’re new to photography or consider yourself a pro—your images are welcome here. Make something awesome Millions of creators from around the world have downloaded over 5 billion Unsplash images to create presentations, artwork, mockups, and more. About Unsplash We built Unsplash as a way to empower creativity by sharing copyright-free photography. Today, Unsplash hosts some of the world’s most widely-seen photos, contributed by a community of some of the most talented (and most generous) creators in the world. Curiosity piqued? Come contribute a shot, or spend some time browsing. Make something awesome at https://unsplash.com.

Screenshots

Halide Mark III4 screens
Unsplash4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Unsplash at 4.9 against Halide Mark III's 4.4. Unsplash also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 3) and review sentiment (75% vs 41%). Halide Mark III's advantage is chart position (#142 vs unranked) and update cadence (every 11 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, ratings volume, ads and monetization model 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. Unsplash asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Unsplash holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 13K and 13K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 41% of Halide Mark III's written reviews are positive against 75% of Unsplash's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Halide Mark III ships an update every 11 days, Unsplash every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on September 30, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Halide Mark III versus Unsplash: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHalide Mark IIIUnsplash
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (13K ratings)4.9 (13K ratings) — better
Positive reviews41.1% of reviews74.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings13K — better13K
Update frequencyEvery 11 days — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#142 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size84 MB23 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperLux Optics IncorporatedUnsplash Inc

Customer experience

Halide Mark III

All ratings13,365 ratings
Positive86.4%
Neutral2.5%
Negative11.1%
Written reviews864 reviews
Positive41.1%
Neutral8.0%
Negative50.9%

Unsplash

All ratings12,934 ratings
Positive96.8%
Neutral1.0%
Negative2.2%
Written reviews565 reviews
Positive74.5%
Neutral8.5%
Negative17.0%

User reviews

Halide Mark III

From 13K 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

Unsplash

From 13K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🌟 Excellent quality photos
  • 🎨 Inspiring and creative content
  • 🔍 Intuitive and easy to use
  • 💰 Completely free to use
  • 🌐 Wide variety of images from around the world

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs
  • 🔍 Limited search and filtering options
  • 🔒 Lack of account integration and personalization
  • ⏱️ Slow loading times and performance issues
  • 🔀 Difficulty navigating back to previous screens

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

Unsplash

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Clear all history feature not working
  • Downloading images causes app to crash
  • Widget not functioning as expected
  • Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
  • Inability to login or create an account

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to follow photographers and see their full portfolios
  • Implement a dark mode option
  • Improve search functionality with more filters and tags
  • Allow users to upload and share their own photos
  • Provide detailed photo metadata and exif data

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

Unsplash

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Halide Mark III free?
Halide Mark III is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Unsplash free?
Unsplash is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Halide Mark III or Unsplash?
Unsplash is rated higher. Halide Mark III averages 4.4 out of 5 from 13K ratings, while Unsplash averages 4.9 from 13K ratings.
Do Halide Mark III or Unsplash have ads?
Neither Halide Mark III nor Unsplash shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Halide Mark III or Unsplash?
Halide Mark III ships an update every 11 days, and Unsplash every 3 weeks. Most recently, Halide Mark III was updated on September 30, 2026 and Unsplash on September 30, 2026.

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