Comparison

Halide Mark III vs Immich

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

Capture stunning, natural photos with advanced manual controls and unique film-inspired "Looks." This app bypasses computational photography for authentic results, offering powerful editing tools and RAW file support for professional-grade images directly from your iPhone.

Highlights
  • Shoot without computational photography
  • Photographic Looks by Hollywood colorist
  • Tone Fusion slider for shadow/highlight rescue
  • Apply Looks to existing ProRAW files
  • Full manual exposure controls
  • Focus Peaking and Focus Loupe
  • Dedicated Macro Mode
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

Immich

This is a client application that connects to a self-hosted Immich Server. It allows users to back up their photos and videos from their mobile devices to their own server, providing a private and customizable cloud storage solution.

Highlights
  • Mobile client for Immich Server
  • Photo and video backup
  • Self-hosted solution
  • Private cloud storage
  • Customizable server management
Features
Read full description

This is a client app for Immich Server and you will need to run/manage the server on your own in order to use the app. Website: https://immich.app GitHub: https://github.com/immich-app/immich

Screenshots

Halide Mark III4 screens
Immich4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Immich at 77% against Halide Mark III's 41%. Immich also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 3) and rating (4.8 vs 4.4). Halide Mark III's advantage is ratings volume (14K vs 798) and chart position (#151 vs unranked). On price, update cadence, 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. Immich asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Immich holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Halide Mark III has 14K ratings behind it against 798, 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 77% of Immich's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Halide Mark III ships an update weekly, Immich every 5 days. Both last shipped on November 3, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Halide Mark III versus Immich: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHalide Mark IIIImmich
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (14K ratings)4.8 (798 ratings) — better
Positive reviews41.1% of reviews77.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings14K — better798
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#151 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size87 MB75 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLux Optics IncorporatedFUTO Computing

Customer experience

Halide Mark III

All ratings13,668 ratings
Positive86.4%
Neutral2.5%
Negative11.2%
Written reviews914 reviews
Positive41.1%
Neutral8.1%
Negative50.8%

Immich

All ratings798 ratings
Positive94.6%
Neutral1.5%
Negative3.9%
Written reviews519 reviews
Positive77.5%
Neutral8.1%
Negative14.5%

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

Immich

From 798 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Smooth and fast
  • 🔒 Self-hosted, no data collection
  • 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly
  • 🚀 Efficient photo/video backup
  • 💡 Great alternative to Google Photos

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and freezes
  • 🐛 Unreliable background upload
  • 🐛 Issues with video playback quality
  • 🐛 Syncing problems with large libraries
  • 🐛 Login issues after 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

Immich

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Inability to log in on latest update
  • Frequent timeline rebuilds
  • Inconsistent behavior with HDR photos
  • Scrolling issues in the app
  • Unreliable background sync

Requested features

5 requests
  • Option to remove photos from device after backup
  • Support for 360-degree photos and videos
  • Improved family/user sharing capabilities
  • Better integration with third-party tools
  • Clearer cache management

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

Immich

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Halide Mark III free?
Halide Mark III is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Immich free?
Immich is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Halide Mark III or Immich?
Immich is rated higher. Halide Mark III averages 4.4 out of 5 from 14K ratings, while Immich averages 4.8 from 798 ratings.
Do Halide Mark III or Immich have ads?
Neither Halide Mark III nor Immich shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Halide Mark III or Immich?
Halide Mark III ships an update weekly, and Immich every 5 days. Most recently, Halide Mark III was updated on November 3, 2026 and Immich on November 3, 2026.

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