Halide embraces photo purists with new anti-AI processing mode

Halide, the popular camera app for iPhone, is running hard in the opposite direction of photography trends. While companies like Apple and Google lean into AI and computational photography, a new Halide processing mode is built for photo purists. It’s called Process Zero.

Ben Sandofsky, writing for the Lux blog:

Process Zero is a new mode in Halide that skips over the standard iPhone image processing system. It produces photos with more detail and allows the photographer greater control over lighting and exposure. This is not a photo filter— it really develops photos at the raw, sensor-data level.

Just like film, Process Zero photos come with (digital) negatives, affording incredible control to change exposure after the fact. Much like film, it has grain. It works best in daytime or mixed lighting, rather than nighttime shots. Thankfully, unlike film, you don’t need any chemicals to develop these negatives. We give you one dial.

In our modern times, the simple question of “What’s a photo?” can be hard to answer. If you remove unwanted objects from an image using Apple Intelligence, does that image cease being a photo? What about if you use the Pixel 9’s new capability to add someone to a shot who wasn’t actually in it?

For those who want a simpler approach, with the minimal processing possible for a mobile photo, Process Zero is an intriguing new option.

I encourage checking out the full blog post at Lux introducing the feature, as it provides in-depth details and example photos.

Process Zero is available now in the version 2.15 update to Halide. You can download Halide on the App Store.