Halide Mark III vs Luwian
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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/
Luwian
Transform your phone into a professional camera with full manual controls for photography and videography. Edit your shots with advanced tools, including RAW file editing and creative filters, to achieve a professional masterpiece.
- Full manual camera controls (ISO, Shutter Speed, Exposure)
- Precise focus and white balance adjustment
- Analog film and cinematic filters
- Professional video recording (Slow Motion, Time-lapse)
- RAW file editing and color correction
- Perspective correction and cropping
- Long exposure and HDRi modes
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Luwian & Raw Magic Pro: Capture, Control, and Create Your Masterpiece Transform your mobile device into a professional photography. Luwian delivers complete manual control to capture your vision with DSLR-level precision, while Raw Magic Pro provides the all-in-one editing suite to turn every shot into a professional masterpiece. Designed for enthusiasts and experts alike, this is the ultimate toolkit to unleash your creative power. Take command of your camera with a sophisticated, intuitive interface that gives you precise, real-time manual control over every photographic element.Core Manual Controls Exposure Triangle: Full manual control over ISO, Shutter Speed, and Exposure. Focus Mastery: Precise Focus Control and Focus Lock White Balance: Both preset and custom adjustment options Zoom Control: Fine-tune your framing with smooth zoom Modes & Features Full Mode Suite: Includes Manual, Auto, Portrait Mode, and a Shutter Timer (3 to 15 seconds setup). Creative Optics: Analog Film Mode, Cinetone Filter Mode, and a huge selection of 40 Filters, 29 Virtual FX, 17 Analog Films, and 36 Classic Movie Tones. Professional Video: Switch between Normal, Slow Motion, and Time-lapse video recording (with speed adjustable from 2x to 10x). Advanced: Mega-lapse: Capture stunning 8K time-lapse videos. Long Exposure: Dedicated modes for Day and Night long exposure photography and videography. HDRi: Classical High Dynamic Range Imaging photography. Cinematic Capture: Cinematic video capture and editing. Specialty Modes: Traditional Panoramic Capture (three photo sequence), Green Screen Video Recorder, and Camera Trap for animal and person detection. Workflow Tools: Frame Capture (with automatic perspective adjustment), Consistent Color Photography for low-light environments. Multi-Camera Recording: Multi camera recording mode using all three cameras at the same time. Depth & Backdrop: True Depth Backdrop Camera. Raw Magic Pro: The Ultimate Editing Suite Go beyond basic filters. Raw Magic Pro provides the professional tools you need to refine, restore, and transform your images with unparalleled fidelity and artistic freedom.Core Editing & Precision RAW & Color Control: Dive deep into your RAW files for advanced color, contrast, and exposure precision. Complete control over every color channel with RGB Color Adjustment. Structural Integrity: Effortlessly perfect your composition with Photo Crop & Perspective Correction. Detailed Adjustment: Utilize Advanced Detailed Photo Adjustment to manipulate specific areas of your image. Cinematic & Artistic Flair Authentic Film Looks: Apply the nostalgic aesthetic of classic film stocks with a diverse library of Analog Films and Filters. Hollywood Mood: Instantly add the drama and style of blockbusters with Cinematic Filter Effects inspired by iconic classic movies. Restoration & Enhancement Digital Darkroom: A dedicated space for film photographers, allowing you to easily convert negative film photos to positive photos digitally. Clarity: Restore detail in high-ISO shots with the Noise Reduction Tool and recover underexposed images with Low Light Enhancement. Seamless Fixes: The Image Healer Tool lets you flawlessly remove unwanted objects, blemishes, or distractions. Image Quality: Image Super Resolution upscales your photos with incredible fidelity. Dynamic Range: Create stunning images with enhanced highlights and shadows using HDRI Imaging Algorithms. Colorize History: Breathe new life into black-and-white photos by intelligently adding realistic color with the Image Colorizer. Modern Tools & Workflow Instant Bokeh: Effortlessly apply a professional depth of field (bokeh) effect to any photo, giving your images a stunning, portrait-quality look. Background Control: Instantly and accurately isolate your subject and Remove the Background with a single tap, or use the Green Screen Editor for precision chroma keying. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ratings volume: Halide Mark III at 13K against Luwian's 354. Halide Mark III also leads on chart position (#141 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence 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
Both are free to download. Halide Mark III sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and Luwian sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for Halide Mark III against 4.5 for Luwian. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Halide Mark III has 13K ratings behind it against 354, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 41% of Halide Mark III's written reviews are positive against 46% of Luwian's.
Halide Mark III ships an update every 11 days, Luwian every 10 days. Both last shipped on September 27, 2026.
| Parameter | Halide Mark III | Luwian |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (13K ratings) | 4.5 (354 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 41.1% of reviews | 45.6% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 13K — better | 354 |
| Update frequency | Every 11 days | Every 10 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #141 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 84 MB | 211 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Lux Optics Incorporated | Erkan SIRIN |
Customer experience
Halide Mark III
Luwian
User reviews
Halide Mark III
From 13K App Store ratingsWhat 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
Luwian
From 354 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 📸 Excellent image quality and sharpness with ProRAW
- 🎯 Precise autofocus and tap-to-focus functionality
- ⚙️ Extensive manual controls and detailed adjustments
- 🎬 Professional-grade features rivaling DSLR cameras
- 🎨 Creative filters and film stock options
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and CTD (crash-to-desktop) issues
- 🐢 Very slow processing and performance
- 🎨 Cluttered menu interface and poor UI/UX
- 💳 Shift to subscription model in recent updates
- 📱 Inconsistent performance across devices
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
Luwian
Reported bugs
14 issues- App crashes immediately on startup, especially on iPad
- Memory issues preventing photo capture
- Panorama mode requests landscape when already in landscape
- Duplicate panorama files in camera roll
- Image preview turns dark brown when changing lenses
Show 9 moreShow fewer
- Film stock settings not persisting after photo capture
- Video files not saving properly
- High-resolution video cannot be saved
- App freezes and becomes unresponsive
- Orientation lock issues requiring phone restart
- Lens selection buttons not responding correctly
- HDR processing extremely slow with artificial shadows
- Portrait mode UI elements blocking display on front camera
- App doesn't open after recent updates
Requested features
7 requests- Better effects and filters library
- Improved focus peeking for manual focus
- Clearer user instructions and documentation
- Better panorama handling with single output
- Improved video editing and saving capabilities
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- Dark mode option
- Simplified UI with better organization
In-app purchases
Halide Mark III
- Pro Camera, Editor, and Lessons$9.991 Month
- Pro Camera, Editor, and Lessons7 Days trial$19.991 Year
- One Time Purchase$69.99
Luwian
- Luwian Pro Monthly Membership$2.991 Month
- Luwian Pro Annual Membership7 Days trial$14.991 Year
Questions
Is Halide Mark III free?
Is Luwian free?
Which has better reviews, Halide Mark III or Luwian?
Do Halide Mark III or Luwian have ads?
Which is updated more often, Halide Mark III or Luwian?
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