Comparison

Halide Mark III vs Hipstamatic® Analog Camera

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

Hipstamatic® Analog Camera

This app simulates shooting with a vintage analog film camera, applying effects like lenses and films before you take the photo. Explore over a thousand unique analog combinations and connect with a community of photographers without algorithms or ads.

Highlights
  • Analog film camera simulation
  • Pre-shoot effect application
  • 1000+ lens and film combinations
  • Chronological community feed
  • No ads or algorithms
  • Photo challenges and stamps
Features
Read full description

Your iPhone takes perfect photos. Hipstamatic® doesn't. That's the point. Hipstamatic is not a photo editor. It's a camera... the original analog film camera for iPhone, made since 2009. —— SHOOT FIRST. EDIT NEVER. Pick a lens. Pick a film. Shoot. Hipstamatic® applies the analog look before you press the shutter — exactly the way a real film camera works. No editing. No tweaking. No second-guessing. The photo is finished the moment you take it. —— 200+ LENSES. 200+ FILMS. EVERY ONE A REAL CAMERA. Over 1,000 analog combinations across TinType, Instant, Classic Toy and more. Each one gives you grain, color shifts, light leaks and vignettes you can't fake and can't replicate anywhere else. None of them perfect. All of them honest. Don't want to choose? Shuffle, and let the camera surprise you. —— NO ADS. NO TRACKING. NO ALGORITHM. EVER. Hipstamatic® runs on members, not advertisers. No VC funding. No data harvesting. No feed deciding what you should look at. When you join, you're keeping an independent camera alive… One that's been here since before Instagram existed. —— A SMALL, QUIET ROOM. If you want it, there's a community of people who shoot the way you do. Chronological. No algorithm. No brand accounts. No promoted posts. No follower math. Just photographs people actually meant to make. And it's opt-in — if you only ever want a private camera, that's the whole app too. —— FREE TO START. MORE LOOKS WITH MEMBERSHIP. The camera is free. Join the Hipstamatic® Camera Club to open the whole shelf. Every lens, every film, every camera we've made in 15+ years and go as deep as you want to go. Your first month is on us. —— P.S. Hipstamatic was Apple's very first App of the Year (2010). We just never stopped pointing the camera at something.

Screenshots

Halide Mark III4 screens
Hipstamatic® Analog Camera4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Halide Mark III at every 11 days against Hipstamatic® Analog Camera's monthly. Halide Mark III also leads on chart position (#171 vs unranked) and ratings volume (14K vs 2.8K). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads 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 and Hipstamatic® Analog Camera sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Hipstamatic® Analog Camera holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 14K and 2.8K respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 41% of Halide Mark III's written reviews are positive against 39% of Hipstamatic® Analog Camera's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Halide Mark III ships an update every 11 days, Hipstamatic® Analog Camera monthly. Both last shipped on October 20, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
Halide Mark III versus Hipstamatic® Analog Camera: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHalide Mark IIIHipstamatic® Analog Camera
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (14K ratings)4.6 (2.8K ratings) — better
Positive reviews41.3% of reviews — better39.5% of reviews
Number of ratings14K — better2.8K
Update frequencyEvery 11 days — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#171 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size87 MB184 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperLux Optics IncorporatedHipstamatic, LLC

Customer experience

Halide Mark III

All ratings13,589 ratings
Positive86.4%
Neutral2.5%
Negative11.1%
Written reviews881 reviews
Positive41.3%
Neutral8.1%
Negative50.6%

Hipstamatic® Analog Camera

All ratings2,798 ratings
Positive90.1%
Neutral3.1%
Negative6.8%
Written reviews380 reviews
Positive39.5%
Neutral12.1%
Negative48.4%

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

Hipstamatic® Analog Camera

From 2.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Simple and intuitive interface
  • 👍 Variety of creative filters and effects
  • 💡 Ability to create custom camera presets
  • 🤩 Fun and engaging community features

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Locked features behind paywall
  • 😞 Loss of previous purchases and customizations
  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
  • 💸 Expensive subscription model

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

Hipstamatic® Analog Camera

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Inability to save custom camera presets
  • Inconsistent behavior when editing photos
  • Syncing issues with photo library and cloud storage

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to import photos from camera roll
  • Option to change aspect ratio beyond square format
  • Restore previous purchases and customizations
  • Improved search and organization for lenses/films

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
3 purchases

Hipstamatic® Analog Camera

Subscriptions3
  • Hipstamatic Camera Club$7.991 Month
  • Hipstamatic Camera Club3 Months trial$19.996 Months
  • Hipstamatic Camera Club1 Month trial$29.991 Year

Questions

Is Halide Mark III free?
Halide Mark III is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Hipstamatic® Analog Camera free?
Hipstamatic® Analog Camera is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Halide Mark III or Hipstamatic® Analog Camera?
Hipstamatic® Analog Camera is rated higher. Halide Mark III averages 4.4 out of 5 from 14K ratings, while Hipstamatic® Analog Camera averages 4.6 from 2.8K ratings.
Do Halide Mark III or Hipstamatic® Analog Camera have ads?
Neither Halide Mark III nor Hipstamatic® Analog Camera shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Halide Mark III or Hipstamatic® Analog Camera?
Halide Mark III ships an update every 11 days, and Hipstamatic® Analog Camera monthly. Most recently, Halide Mark III was updated on October 20, 2026 and Hipstamatic® Analog Camera on October 20, 2026.

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