The popular iPhone camera app Halide just introduced a new feature in its latest update. With Process Zero, your photos no longer use computational photography, artificial intelligence, or machine learning—you just get a beautiful, film-like, natural photo.
Interestingly, this announcement comes a day after the Made By Google event, where the company highlighted more ways to use AI in photos, allowing you to use artificial intelligence to optimize almost everything in each of your photos.
Halide’s new feature turns your iPhone into a classic camera. The developers say that this mode “produces photos with more detail and gives the photographer more control over lighting and exposure” because it develops photos at the raw level of the sensor, rather than applying a filter.
To make the process even more realistic, Process Zero photos come with digital negatives so users can control exposure after the fact. Halide says this camera mode works better during the day or in mixed lighting than at night.
Finally, this new feature is available for any iPhone running Halide on iOS 17, meaning you don’t need an iPhone 15 Pro Max to take advantage of it. The developers say Process Zero is a new option on top of the iPhone’s standard photo processing system in Halide, allowing users to choose between the best shots depending on the situation.
In a blog post, Halide’s developers explain that this feature was created because users want “control over algorithms.” Instead of taking multiple shots to create an image, Process Zero offers a single-shot process. As a result, if parts of your image are not properly exposed, the app has no algorithms to correct that.
According to the developers, Process Zero produces a single 12-megapixel shot that is less saturated, softer, grainier and quite different from what you see on most digital phones. Each shot also includes a true Bayer RAW file.
For the rest of this week, Halide is offering memberships for $11.99 per year. Next week, prices increase to $19.99. You can find the app in the App Store here.
