Smartphone photography has become an over-processed mess, prioritizing algorithms over authenticity. I recently saw an Instagram post comparing iPhone 6 Photos to iPhone 17 Pro photos, and honestly, in some shots I preferred the results from the decade-old camera. It’s one of the reasons why apps like Halide have become so popular.
People prefer authenticity now, and Halide’s Process Zero mode, which strips away all the extra processing Apple piles onto your photos, is a breath of fresh air. A few weeks back, Halide released its Mark III update that introduced features like Looks, a set of film-inspired color profiles, along with a full Photo Lab for editing RAW files, complete with a histogram, a Film tab for grain and vignetting, and support for importing RAW files from external cameras.
Now, Lux Optics, the company behind Halide, is all set to release the Halide 3.1 update, adding a couple of new features that make the app even better.
What’s new in Halide 3.1?
Inside the Photo Lab, the Frame tab now lets you rotate and flip photos, perfect for those times you capture a shot in the wrong orientation. There’s also a new perspective correction dial that works without any AI involved, similar to the keystone correction photographers have used for years with tilt-shift lenses.
Halide 3.1 also introduces Scarlet, a new color profile built around warmth and medium-high contrast, with a noticeable boost to red tones. It’s a great pick for sunsets or anything with bold reds you want to pop, like fireworks.
What else did Halide change under the hood?
Beyond that, Halide has tidied up its settings. UI themes and icon options now live under Customization, and you can fine-tune compression to balance texture against file size. Advanced shooters can also opt into a RAW-only capture mode, though Halide warns you first, since most third-party apps struggle to render RAW files properly.
Lastly, tapping the viewfinder no longer changes focus or exposure while you’re in manual mode, a small tweak based on user feedback that should make manual shooting feel more predictable.
None of these changes are flashy on their own, but they are the features that users wanted, and Halide has delivered. If Halide keeps refining things at this pace, it might just cement itself as the only camera app most of us ever need.