Apple iPhone users offered Spectre' for slow-shutter photography

The makers of Halide – a popular third-party iOS camera app – are releasing another photography app called Spectre. The new software app, which costs $1.99, comes with a big specialty: long exposures. Meaning, capturing long-exposure photos of a car's taillights streaking through the night – like the DSLRs – is a no sweat task with the new app in play.

The new photography app also uses AI and computational photography to produce enhanced long exposures without any usual distractions. For example, if you’re photographing spots filled with tourists, the app is capable of removing crowds from the scene completely. “The app can also capture light trials and water movements from the camera on your iPhone. It uses AI scene detection to automatically switch modes to draw beautiful light trails, for stunning nighttime city photography or light painting,” said the makers of Halide and Spectre.

Spectre also includes a visual indicator to help you steady your hand while capturing a long exposure shot. It tells you how stable you’re holding the iPhone and asks you to calibrate position for enhanced shots. Well, this wouldn’t be necessary if you are using an iPhone 8 or later models, because, in these phones, Spectre will make use of Apple’s Neural Engine to drive AI-based stabilization features to improve shots.

Long exposure is all about long shutter speeds. For this reason, the Spectre makers have added a slider toggle on the bottom right of the app to let you select between 3-, 5-, and 9-second capture durations. “You can also tap to change the focal point, see and adjust brightness with a vertical slider by tapping ‘settings’ on the top right corner of the app,” they added.