Halide Mark III Process Zero: The Anti-Algorithm Camera App [2025]

The iPhone Camera Problem Nobody Talks About

Every iPhone user has felt it. You point your phone at something beautiful. You tap the shutter. And what comes out is... processed. Aggressively so.

The native camera applies sharpening, raises shadows, crushes blacks, and applies computational photography in ways that often feel uninvited. If you care about how your photos actually look, this is maddening. You're not taking pictures with a camera anymore. You're taking pictures with an algorithm.

That's the problem Halide set out to solve when it introduced Process Zero last year. And now, with the second generation hitting beta, the app is doing something genuinely interesting: adding processing features to an app built on the premise of removing processing.

It sounds contradictory. But after testing the new version, it actually makes sense. Here's why.

Understanding Process Zero: Raw Simplicity

Process Zero is exactly what its name suggests: zero processing. Well, technically. There's still some processing happening—you can't turn sensor data into a photograph without it. But what Halide does is strip away the aggressive choices the iPhone's computational photography pipeline makes automatically.

Normally, when you take a photo on an iPhone, the camera processor:

• Applies noise reduction aggressively
• Sharpens edges artificially
• Raises shadow details to compensate for limited dynamic range
• Crushes blacks to prevent noise in dark areas
• Applies subtle color grading through Apple's color science

All of this happens in milliseconds, without your input. It's great for casual shots. It's terrible if you actually want to make decisions about your images.

Process Zero disables these automatic choices. What you get instead is a more neutral starting point. Shadows stay darker. Details don't get artificially sharpened. The image looks closer to what came off the sensor, with minimal interpretation.

The original version shipped with two options: shoot in Process Zero mode, or don't. You'd get an image that felt more like RAW photography, but still processed enough to be usable. Photographers loved it. People who wanted automatic image optimization hated it.

Process Zero Version 2 introduces HDR support, DNG export, and Tone Fusion, enhancing post-production control for photographers.

The HDR Paradox: Adding Processing Back

Here's where things get philosophical. Version 2 adds HDR support to Process Zero. And yes, that seems weird.

HDR (High Dynamic Range) is, by definition, processing. Your phone shoots multiple exposures and combines them to capture detail in both bright highlights and dark shadows simultaneously. It's computational photography at its finest.

So why would Halide add it to an app designed to remove processing?

Because the distinction between "shooting RAW" and "applying processing" is fuzzier than it seems. When you shoot RAW on a traditional camera, you're capturing what the sensor saw. But on modern iPhones, you can't really shoot a sensor-native RAW—the hardware doesn't work that way anymore. Even RAW files go through some Apple processing.

The key difference is control. Process Zero's new HDR implementation creates brighter highlights without flattening the image. You get greater dynamic range captured in a single image, which actually gives you more information to work with if you edit it later.

Compare this to Apple's native HDR, which tries to represent a wide dynamic range on an SDR (Standard Dynamic Range) display, resulting in flat, sometimes unnatural-looking images. Process Zero's HDR actually expands your capture latitude instead of compressing it for display.

It's a subtle distinction, but it matters. You're not adding Apple's signature look back in. You're adding capability—the ability to capture more information so you can make your own decisions about tone mapping later.

DNG offers broader compatibility and smaller file sizes, while ProRAW excels in noise reduction. Estimated data based on format features.

RAW Format Wars: DNG vs. Pro RAW

Version 2 also adds the ability to shoot in DNG (Digital Negative) format alongside your Process Zero JPEG. This is where things get genuinely useful.

Apple's proprietary Pro RAW format is powerful, but it's proprietary. It only works well in Apple's ecosystem and in some Adobe products. If you want to edit on Windows, or use other professional software, Pro RAW becomes a hassle.

DNG is an open standard created by Adobe. It's supported by Lightroom, Capture One, ON1, and dozens of other tools. It's the format professional photographers have been begging for on iPhones for years.

Halide's implementation captures DNG files that have gone through Apple's noise reduction and multi-frame processing, which means:

• You get cleaner, less noisy RAW files compared to a single sensor frame
• The files are smaller than Pro RAW
• You can edit them on any system with DNG support
• You retain all the metadata and computational info Apple added

You can turn RAW capture on or off independently of your Process Zero image. So you might take 50 shots with Process Zero only, then switch on RAW for the shots you know you'll edit carefully. It doesn't affect the Process Zero output at all.

Tone Fusion: Control Over Interpretation

The third major feature in version 2 is Tone Fusion, which is Halide's answer to shadow lift without going full smartphone look.

Let's be clear: the iPhone loves raising shadows. It does it automatically, and it does it aggressively. Photos that should have moody dark areas come out bright and flat because Apple's algorithm is trying to "help" you see details everywhere.

Tone Fusion is a single slider that lifts shadows, but in a controlled way. Crank it all the way up, and shadows get visible detail. But unlike iPhone's native shadow lifting, it won't try to turn a blown-out sky blue. It won't shift color tones. It won't add weird artifacts.

It's a failsafe. If you shoot Process Zero and the image feels too dark, bump Tone Fusion instead of switching back to Apple's full processing pipeline. You maintain the image character while getting more usability.

The slider lives right in the Halide app, so you can adjust it while reviewing your image. You can see the before and after in real time.

Halide's Tone Fusion offers superior control over shadow lifting, preserving color tones and avoiding artifacts compared to iPhone's native processing. Estimated data based on feature descriptions.

The Workflow Question: What Actually Changes?

Here's the honest part. Process Zero version 2 is interesting, but it only really matters if you shoot specifically to edit later.

If you're the type of person who:

• Takes a photo and uses it immediately (Instagram, iMessage, etc.)
• Doesn't regularly edit images
• Likes the automatic processing iPhone applies
• Never opens Lightroom

...you don't need Process Zero. Just use Apple's Photographic Styles. They give you fine-grained control without the friction of manual editing.

If you're the type who:

• Shoots RAW on your actual camera
• Uses Lightroom regularly
• Cares how your photos look after editing
• Wants iPhone photos to feel like they came from a real camera

... Process Zero version 2 might genuinely improve your workflow. Here's why:

Without Process Zero: Shoot on iPhone → Import to Lightroom → Realize the image is already heavily processed → Try to undo Apple's choices → Get frustrated → Go back to using your actual camera for important photos.

With Process Zero V2: Shoot on iPhone → Get Process Zero JPEG and optional DNG → Import to Lightroom → Start editing from a neutral place → Export a photo you're happy with.

The difference is control. You're not fighting Apple's choices. You're starting from a canvas you can actually paint on.

Comparing Process Zero to Apple's Native Tools

Apple's Photographic Styles are honestly pretty good. They give you seven preset looks (Standard, Rich Contrast, Warm, Cool, etc.) that you can apply and adjust in real time.

Rich Contrast is particularly useful for fighting the flat look Apple's default processing creates. It darkens shadows and brightens highlights, creating more visual interest.

But here's what Photographic Styles don't do:

• They don't let you export a neutral RAW for editing
• They don't prevent shadow lift when using HDR
• They apply their look to the JPEG, not the underlying data
• If you edit the photo later, the style is already baked in

Process Zero does all of these things. It's a fundamentally different approach: start neutral, decide later.

Halide offers faster editing times and better quality while maintaining high flexibility and compatibility, making it a strong starting point for professional software. Estimated data.

The Computational Photography Question

Let's address the elephant in the room. Hasn't smartphone photography improved precisely because of aggressive computational processing?

Yes. And no.

Computational photography is genuinely amazing at:

• Night mode photography (multiple frame stacking)
• Dynamic range (multi-exposure fusion)
• Zoom quality (Super Resolution)
• Portrait mode (depth estimation)
• Video stabilization (multi-frame alignment)

These features legitimately make smartphone photos better than they would be otherwise.

But computational photography also gets weird when applied to standard daylight photography. Smartphones are aggressively optimized for three things:

1. Making everything look good immediately
2. Hiding imperfections
3. Creating images for small screens

This leads to excessive sharpening, artificial color grading, and shadow lifting that looks great on an iPhone screen but terrible when you print or edit the image.

Process Zero isn't saying "computational photography is bad." It's saying "let me choose which computational processing I want, instead of having all of it applied automatically."

It's the difference between a camera manufacturer deciding how your photos should look versus you deciding.

The Editor's Perspective: Why This Matters

Here's something photographers don't often admit: editing a smartphone photo is painful.

When you shoot on a camera and RAW file, you're starting with tons of information. The RAW file contains all the data the sensor captured, and you have complete freedom to reinterpret it.

When you shoot on an iPhone with standard settings, you're starting with data that's already been heavily processed. Apple has made decisions about black levels, sharpening, and color that are now baked into the file. Editing that is like trying to restore a painting someone else already touched up.

Process Zero gives you a better starting point. The image data is closer to what the sensor actually captured, which means you have more latitude to adjust it the way you want.

This matters most when editing:

• Shadows: Process Zero doesn't artificially lift them, so you can control the mood
• Colors: Less aggressive color grading means more flexibility
• Details: Less artificial sharpening means you can sharpen exactly as much as you want
• Dynamic range: With HDR enabled, you capture more tonal information

The result is that Process Zero images take less "undoing" and more "creative direction" to edit.

Key concerns about Process Zero include the need for discipline, subscription costs, and evolving Apple camera technology. (Estimated data)

Integration with Professional Software

Halide isn't trying to replace Lightroom or Capture One. It's trying to be a better starting point for them.

When you export a DNG file from Process Zero into Lightroom, you're not getting a RAW file that requires heavy editing. You're getting a processed file that's been optimized (noise reduction, multi-frame stacking) but not aggressively interpreted.

This means:

• Faster edits (less time undoing automatic choices)
• Better quality (better noise reduction than single-frame RAW)
• More flexibility (all the data is there for creative adjustments)
• Cross-platform compatibility (DNG works everywhere)

It's a middle ground between "shoot JPEG and accept Apple's choices" and "shoot full RAW and do all the processing yourself."

The Skeptic's Case

Look, there are legitimate reasons to question Process Zero.

First, it requires discipline. You need to actually edit your photos to see the benefit. If you import Process Zero images to Lightroom and don't do anything with them, they're going to look flatter and more boring than Apple's defaults.

Second, it's a subscription. Halide is about

Third, not everyone wants this workflow. Plenty of people are perfectly happy with iPhone photos as they come out of the camera. For them, Process Zero is solving a problem they don't have.

Fourth, Apple keeps improving its camera pipeline. Every year, the default processing gets better. Maybe eventually there won't be a need for Process Zero because Apple's choices will be good enough that nobody wants to override them.

These are fair criticisms.

What Changed My Mind

I went into testing Process Zero V2 skeptical. I like iPhone photos. I also like not fiddling with processing when I don't have to. The original Process Zero felt like extra work for marginal benefit.

But version 2 actually changed how I think about it.

The HDR implementation is genuinely useful. I shot some landscape photos where I wanted bright skies and visible foreground detail. Apple's HDR would have flattened the whole image. Process Zero's HDR captured both without the weird tone mapping.

The DNG export meant I could take the image into Lightroom on my Mac and actually edit it properly. No more mysterious gain map issues. No more wondering if the colors would shift. Just a standard RAW file that I could interpret however I wanted.

And Tone Fusion saved me in a few situations where an image was underexposed and needed shadow lift. Instead of accepting Apple's interpretation, I could apply exactly as much as I wanted.

It's subtle, but it makes a real difference if you care about how your photos end up.

The Bigger Picture: AI, Processing, and Choice

There's something philosophical happening here that goes beyond just smartphone photography.

Every app, every algorithm, every piece of software now has "AI processing" applied by default. Phone cameras, but also image upscaling, video editing, search results, recommendations, everything. The trend is toward more automation, more algorithms, more assumptions baked into software about what you want.

Process Zero is a pushback against that trend. It's not saying "algorithms are bad." It's saying "let me choose when and how they apply."

That's becoming rare. Most software is moving in the opposite direction: less user control, more algorithmic decision-making, more black boxes.

Halide is doing the opposite. It's giving you information and control. Here's what the raw sensor data looks like. Here's how you can adjust tone. Here's how you can export it for professional editing.

It's not revolutionary. But in a landscape of increasingly automated and algorithmic software, it's genuinely refreshing.

Practical Recommendations

Should you subscribe to Halide and use Process Zero? Here's my honest assessment:

Do it if you:

• Regularly shoot photos you want to edit
• Use Lightroom or Capture One regularly
• Hate the overly-processed look of iPhone photos
• Want more control over your image editing pipeline
• Actually own a Mac or iPad to edit on

Don't do it if you:

• Mostly use iPhone photos immediately without editing
• Like the look of iPhone's default processing
• Don't have the time or interest to edit photos
• Only occasionally take photos
• Are happy with Apple's Photographic Styles

Maybe try it if you:

• Are unsure about your editing workflow
• Want better RAW files from your iPhone
• Are curious about how much iPhone processing affects your photos

Halide has a free version with limited features, so you can test Process Zero without paying anything. That's honestly the best way to figure out if it's for you.

Looking Forward: Where This Gets Interesting

The real question is whether Apple will ever give users this level of control natively.

Technically, they could. Apple could add a "Minimal Processing" mode to the native camera that does exactly what Process Zero does. They could export proper DNG files. They could add tone mapping controls.

But that would require admitting that their automatic processing isn't right for everyone. And Apple's business model is built on making "smart" choices for users that they don't have to think about.

So third-party apps like Halide will probably always be the place where you get this kind of control.

The interesting question is whether more people will start caring about this distinction. Right now, it's a pretty niche concern. Most people don't think about how much processing their phone is applying to photos.

But as people spend more time editing and sharing photos—especially as AI image tools become more common—there might be increasing demand for starting points that aren't already heavily processed.

Process Zero is betting on that trend. And version 2 suggests that the company is serious about making this a real alternative to Apple's default pipeline.

The Bottom Line

Process Zero version 2 is interesting because it demonstrates something counterintuitive: adding features to an app designed around subtraction can actually make sense.

HDR, RAW export, and tone mapping aren't contradictory to the idea of minimal processing. They're how you give users more control over processing instead of letting an algorithm decide automatically.

That's the core idea, and version 2 executes on it well.

If you care about how your photos look and you edit them regularly, it's worth trying. If you don't, stick with what you've got. But if you've ever felt frustrated with iPhone photos looking too processed or wondered why they never look quite right in Lightroom, Process Zero might be the missing piece in your workflow.

The real achievement isn't the features. It's the philosophy: letting you make choices about your images instead of having an algorithm make them for you.

In 2025, that's increasingly valuable.

FAQ

What is Process Zero?

Process Zero is a camera mode in the Halide app that strips away Apple's automatic image processing, delivering photographs with minimal computational manipulation. Instead of letting the iPhone's camera pipeline apply noise reduction, sharpening, shadow lifting, and color grading automatically, Process Zero captures images closer to the raw sensor data while remaining usable without additional editing.

How does Process Zero differ from Apple's Photographic Styles?

Photographic Styles are presets that apply specific looks (Rich Contrast, Warm, Cool, etc.) to the JPEG output after Apple's processing pipeline has already been applied. Process Zero, by contrast, disables most of that automatic processing before applying any style. This gives you a more neutral starting point that contains more information for editing later. Photographic Styles are instant and optimized for immediate use, while Process Zero is optimized for post-production control.

What's new in Process Zero version 2?

Version 2 adds three major features: HDR support that expands dynamic range without flattening the image, DNG file export for editing in professional software like Lightroom, and Tone Fusion, a slider that lets you lift shadows with fine-grained control. These additions give photographers more capability and flexibility while maintaining the core philosophy of letting you make processing decisions instead of having them applied automatically.

Should I use Process Zero if I don't edit photos?

Probably not. Process Zero's value comes from giving you better raw material to work with in Lightroom, Capture One, or similar software. If you never edit your photos, you'll likely find Process Zero images look flatter and less appealing than iPhone's standard processing, which is specifically optimized to look good immediately without editing.

Can I shoot both Process Zero and RAW simultaneously?

Yes. Process Zero version 2 lets you enable DNG file capture independently. You can shoot Process Zero JPEG for every photo and selectively enable DNG export for images you know you'll edit, without affecting your Process Zero output or slowing down the app.

Is Process Zero worth the subscription cost?

That depends on your workflow. At

How does Process Zero's HDR differ from iPhone's native HDR?

Apple's native HDR tries to fit a wide dynamic range into what an SDR (Standard Dynamic Range) display can show, resulting in flat, sometimes unnatural images. Process Zero's HDR captures an expanded dynamic range in the actual file, creating greater contrast between highlights and shadows, which gives you more information for editing rather than trying to compress everything into a displayable format.

Can I use Process Zero files in any editing software?

The DNG files exported by Process Zero will open in any professional editing software that supports the DNG format, including Lightroom, Capture One, ON1 Photo RAW, and dozens of others. The main limitation is that only certain software (like Lightroom) can fully utilize all the metadata and multi-frame processing information Apple included in the file.

What's the learning curve for Process Zero?

If you already edit photos in Lightroom, the learning curve is minimal. If you don't currently edit, expect to spend 2-3 weeks getting used to how the images look without Apple's automatic enhancements before you appreciate the benefits. The process looks flatter initially because you're seeing less automatic processing, but this actually gives you more control.

Does Process Zero work with older iPhone models?

Process Zero requires a relatively recent iPhone with solid computational photography capabilities. The app works best on iPhone 12 and newer for full feature support, though older models may have limited functionality. Check the Halide app page for specific device compatibility before purchasing.

Key Takeaways

• Process Zero version 2 adds HDR and DNG export to an app built on removing automatic processing—a seeming contradiction that actually makes sense
• HDR in Process Zero expands dynamic range capture rather than compressing it like Apple's native HDR, giving more information for editing
• DNG file export enables workflow where you shoot lightweight, optimized RAW files that open in any professional editing software
• Tone Fusion provides granular shadow control without the aggressive interpretation Apple's automatic processing applies
• The philosophy matters: letting photographers choose when processing applies rather than having algorithms apply it automatically

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