The update also introduces the app’s take on simulating film stock.
Halide, one of the best built-in camera apps for the iPhone, is getting another upgrade. Developer Lux Optics releases Halide Mark III, a paid update that adds an image editor and filters that simulate film stock. The features expand Halide’s approach to photography after Lux Optics added a way to bypass Apple’s image processing pipeline with the Halide Mark II release in 2024.
Apparently, the new Halide filter system, is part of the larger “film simulation engine” introduced in the Mark III. All of the app’s photo features can be customized or disabled, but Halide will now add things like grain and halation to the photos you take depending on the look you’ve chosen. The Halide Mark III includes five new looks alongside Process Zero, a zero-processing option for the app, and Apple’s automatic image processing. That includes:
Valencia: A look designed for landscapes and cityscapes, “with high contrast, deep saturation and strong color separation.”
Rembrandt: Viewing images that show “more contrast in the mid-tones” and “more color in the low end” to highlight bone structure and capture similar skin tones.
Nova: It’s another look that works really well with landscapes, and it’s “brightly colored, with strong contrast and peach highlights.”
Zephyr: The appearance is “very subtle and restrained”, “unlike the film” and “the character of the traditional print.”
Chroma Noir: A black-and-white look with “moderate contrast” and “a touch more grain.”
All of these new looks include HDR support if you want more detail in highlights and shadows. They can also be edited and edited with Halide’s new Photo Lab editor. The built-in editor is designed to be accessible. There’s a Quick Edit tab if you want to quickly change a film’s rendering or HDR conversion, as well as dedicated sections for making more in-depth changes to things like color balance and exposure. The whole thing is designed to show you as much or as little as you need, but the iPad version of the Halide Mark III seems to be the perfect place to edit thanks to its two-panel setup.
These new features are paired with updates to Halide’s design and placement of its physical buttons. The new design adopts some of the teachings of Apple’s Liquid Glass, while exposing the most important controls – things like focus, aspect ratio and lens selector – so you don’t have to dig through menus.
Like previous updates, the Halide Mark III is available for a $10 monthly subscription, a $20 annual subscription or a one-time purchase of $60. Existing subscribers and anyone who purchased Halide Mark II will receive the update for free.
This is the first major update Halide iLux Optics has released since its founder, Sebastiaan de With, left the company to join Apple in January 2026. The split is reportedly more difficult than it initially appeared. Not only did Apple initially try to acquire the company, but de With was reportedly fired from Lux Optics after the company’s co-founder Ben Sandofsky began investigating him for alleged misappropriation of funds.
