The best camera apps, according to hackers
8 camera apps were recommended on Hacker News between November 2025 and November 2026. We rank them by how many separate people recommend each one, and 3 earn the Hacker Approved badge.
Top picks
The three most recommended camera apps with the badge. Each figure is one person. RecommendsCriticizes One comment
Shoots RAW for unprocessed photos
Recommended for manual control and RAW shooting on iPhone, and for reliable photo saving. Most common caveat: purchase and subscription access problems on the App Store.
Works on GrapheneOS
Recommended for good photos and full hardware use, and it works on GrapheneOS with network access denied. Critics say it forces Google Photos as the gallery.
Better image processing than alternatives
Free camera app whose image processing and panorama mode people prefer, especially via third-party ports. Caveat: ported versions may differ from the stock app and lack photo preview.
All 8 camera apps, ranked
Select a column heading to sort. Approval share is recommenders out of everyone who gave an opinion; the tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs. Months counts the months, out of 13, in which someone recommended it.
| Rank | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Halide camera app | 18 | 6 | 75% | 7 | — | Approved |
| 2 | Open Camera | 16 | 14 | 53% | 3 | 1 yr3 owners | — |
| 3 | Pixel Camera | 12 | 4 | 75% | 5 | — | Approved |
| 4 | Google Camera | 10 | 2 | 83% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Tied 5 | iPhone camera | 8 | 25 | 24% | 5 | — | — |
| Tied 5 | iPhone dual-lens photo fusion app | 8 | 14 | 36% | 1 | — | — |
| Tied 7 | GCam (Google Camera port) | 5 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
| Tied 7 | GrapheneOS Camera | 5 | 1 | 83% | 3 | — | — |
How we rank
Rank is the number of separate people who recommend a product in a Hacker News comment over the past year. Someone who praises the same camera app in five threads counts once.
The badge goes to camera apps that at least 10 people recommend, with recommenders outnumbering critics at least 2 to 1, recommended in at least 4 of the 13 months.
Rankings are never for sale. We may earn a commission when you buy through our links. It never changes the order.