Comparison

Halide Mark III vs DeepFrame

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

DeepFrame

Features
Read full description

eepFrame is a deep-sky imaging planner for astrophotographers. Point it at your location and any night — tonight or a simulated one — and it shows exactly what's worth shooting and when. WHAT IT DOES • Plots every catalogue object's path across your sky from dusk to dawn, with a midnight marker. • Picks out the imageable window — where each object is high enough (alt ≥ 25°) and culminating near midnight — so you know the best hours to capture it. • Draws your rig's true field of view around any object, so you can judge framing before you set up. • Overlays a real all-sky survey photo, the Milky Way, constellations, named stars, the ecliptic, planets and the Moon — toggle each layer to taste. • Masks YOUR local horizon: capture a 360° skyline with the camera (a guided sweep, or import a panorama), edit the sky away, and objects that never clear your trees and buildings are flagged as blocked. • Keeps your imaging log: per-object sessions with date, scope, camera, filters and exposure, your own processed thumbnails, and how far each got — finished, captured-but-unprocessed, or stacked-with-no-result-yet. • Lays your own processed shots on the chart, on their own icon, at the exact field of view they were taken at — so you can see what you've already covered. • Browse your whole imaging database: a searchable, sortable, groupable list of every object with each night underneath. Tap a picture for the full frame; tap a name to jump to it on the sky. BUILT FOR THE FIELD • Works fully offline — the ~5200-object catalogue, all maths and your data live on device. • Fast, gesture-driven all-sky chart: pan, pinch to zoom, tap any object for its card, tracks and imaging log. • A time capsule to preview any past or future night. EVERYTHING IS FREE The full catalogue, every object type, magnitude and size, unlimited rigs, locations and your own shots — all free. No account, no ads, no tracking. Built with open astronomy data (OpenNGC, VizieR/CDS) and public survey imagery (Pan-STARRS via CDS; NOIRLab all-sky photo). Full credits in the About screen.

Screenshots

Halide Mark III4 screens
DeepFrame4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: DeepFrame at none against Halide Mark III's 3. Halide Mark III's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs monthly) and chart position (#153 vs unranked). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. DeepFrame asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Halide Mark III ships an update weekly, DeepFrame monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
Halide Mark III versus DeepFrame: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHalide Mark IIIDeepFrame
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (14K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews41.1% of reviews—
Number of ratings14K — better—
Update frequencyWeekly — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
Best chart rank#153 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size87 MB80 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLux Optics IncorporatedArnulf Friedemann Jurgen Keese

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

DeepFrame

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

DeepFrame

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Halide Mark III free?
Halide Mark III is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is DeepFrame free?
DeepFrame is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Halide Mark III or DeepFrame have ads?
Neither Halide Mark III nor DeepFrame shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Halide Mark III or DeepFrame?
Halide Mark III ships an update weekly, and DeepFrame monthly. Most recently, Halide Mark III was updated on November 3, 2026 and DeepFrame on October 25, 2026.

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