Comparison

Halide Mark III vs Photon Library

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

Photon Library

Organize and enjoy your photos and videos with a sleek, intuitive media management app. It offers a streamlined approach to browsing, viewing, and organizing your collections with a clean interface and smart features.

Highlights
  • Clean, modern interface
  • Smart album organization
  • Calendar view
  • Favorites section
  • Smooth, responsive performance
Features
Read full description

Rediscover your memories with Photon Library, a sleek, intuitive photo and video manager for iPhone and iPad. Browse, search, organize, and clean up your library in a thoughtfully designed interface built around the moments that matter. BROWSE AND RELIVE - Enjoy a clean, modern layout that keeps your photos front and center - Open any photo with a smooth zoom transition from its thumbnail - Start a slideshow from an album or a custom selection of photos - Swipe up on a photo to see details, including where it was taken on a map - Browse by date with Calendar view - Revisit your favorites anytime FIND ANYTHING, FAST - Search by place. Type “Madrid” to quickly find photos taken there - Refine results by date range, media type, screenshots, or favorites - Search album names and combine filters to narrow down exactly what you want - Keep your location data private. Place searches run entirely on your device ORGANIZE WITH EASE - Pin your most important albums to keep them close at hand - Collapse and expand album groups to reduce clutter - Filter albums by name to jump straight to what you need - Select multiple photos quickly by dragging across the grid - Add photos to albums, share them, or mark favorites with a long press RECLAIM STORAGE - Find photos and videos you may no longer need using date range and media type filters - Protect what matters by excluding favorites and items already stored in albums - Preview everything before you delete it - Review your selection and deselect anything you want to keep Photon Library is a refreshing alternative to complicated photo-management apps. Declutter your library or enjoy your memories with less friction and more control. Simplify your photo library. Download Photon Library and rediscover your memories with ease. Requires iOS 26 or later.

Screenshots

Halide Mark III4 screens
Photon Library4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Halide Mark III at Free against Photon Library's $6.99. Halide Mark III also leads on chart position (#157 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.0). Photon Library's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3). On review sentiment, 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

Halide Mark III is free to download; Photon Library costs $6.99 up front. Halide Mark III sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Photon Library asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Halide Mark III ships an update every 11 days, Photon Library every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Halide Mark III versus Photon Library: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHalide Mark IIIPhoton Library
PriceFree — better$6.99
Rating4.4 (13K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews40.9% of reviews41.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings13K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 11 days — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank#157 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size84 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLux Optics IncorporatedLateNiteSoft S.L.

Customer experience

Halide Mark III

All ratings13,365 ratings
Positive86.4%
Neutral2.5%
Negative11.1%
Written reviews859 reviews
Positive40.9%
Neutral8.0%
Negative51.1%

Photon Library

Written reviews17 reviews
Positive41.2%
Neutral5.9%
Negative52.9%

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

Photon Library

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

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

Photon Library

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Halide Mark III free?
Halide Mark III is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Photon Library free?
Photon Library costs $6.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Halide Mark III or Photon Library have ads?
Neither Halide Mark III nor Photon Library shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Halide Mark III or Photon Library?
Halide Mark III ships an update every 11 days, and Photon Library every 3 weeks. Most recently, Halide Mark III was updated on September 26, 2026 and Photon Library on September 16, 2026.

Other comparisons