Quick verdict
- What it is
- Store information collected; independent summary not yet available.
- At a glance
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- Free download · core features require a paid plan
- In-app purchases
- From $3.99/mo
Categories and search queries
Official categories
- Photo & Video
AppCorpus categories
Key functions
| Function | Availability | Access | Scope | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Family Sharing | Yes | Unknown | App Store | Store published |
| Free app | Yes | Free | — | Store published |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Limited free | — | Store published |
| Subscription | Yes | Paid | — | Store published |
Screens
App Store
28 store screenshots
Pricing & paywalls
App Store
- Pro Plan ( ) — $3.99/month (derived from the IAP title)
- Pro Plan ( ) — $9.99/year ($0.83/mo) (derived from the IAP title)
- Pro Pack — $23.99
Ratings & reviews
App Store
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3/5Never going to hit 4 stars.
Theres nothing in this app that warrants a subscription. There’s more and more of a trend, because of rising costs of living that people are getting fed up with apps doing subscriptions, to steer away from them. Furthermore, there are two types of apps in my opinion. Someone that make a really good app because they want to build something they’re proud of. Those people will offer a quality app for a base price. Then there’s those that only make apps because they are greedy and are money first types of people. Those are the ones that want subscriptions. The apps are never as good as the former. This app falls in the latter category. Not offering a lot to separate it from the crowd, and certainly not offering anything to warrant a subscription. Subscriptions should give you something that you can get anywhere else. It’s the only reason Photoshop subscriptions work. And it became a trend on the App Store. But it’s falling out of favor people.
calix2000 · 6 Aug 2026
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5/5Hydra Is My Go-To Camera
I just returned from vacation at Disney World and Universal Studios. I can definitely say that this camera app got a lot of use! I have owned a lot of camera apps over the years, but this one I consistently come back to. I basically took all my pictures with Hydra, and XP4N (a little bit unknown camera app that takes panoramas in one shot, and supports a few nice live filters—look it up). I’m a semi-pro photographer (self-proclaimed lol), but didn’t bring my DSLR. When I take a picture, it's a meaningful expression. I don't just snap a million photos and try to sort through them later. This app has a wonderful HDR mode with a nice UX for quick editing a photo immediately after taking it. You can also save an unprocessed photo, several different photo formats (JPEG, Adobe DNG, Apple ProRAW, etc), as well as HDR image formats like 32-bit TIFF, and then save them all at the exact same time you initially take the picture! You can also get some good super-resolution pictures in Hi-Res mode, and the best macro mode and low-light mode photos capable on a mobile device, IMHO (limited by hardware and lenses). There is a lifetime purchase option, and they do keep it updated although every major version release requires a new purchase (which is why the subscription option may actually fit you better if you only plan on using it once in while). The company has been around for a long time, and I'm confident they would have addressed any issues that I had, if I had ever needed support in the first place. I would no-doubt recommend this app to anyone interested in taking good pictures on mobile! The one thing I really miss is the HDR Video… any plans to reintegrate this feature in the future?
digitalblend · 6 Aug 2026
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3/5Looks to have some useful new features
Longtime user of original. While I appreciate power features there was a flow state in original letting one focus on capturing great moments. The update loses some of that and is a little jittery. That is taking a picture goes to editor but had to learn how best to get to other controls. Also the image seems to tile in inconsistently. Do like having control of amount of compression. Taking a photo in hdr seems faster but then spends more time processing. Finally I consistently crash in zoom and sometimes macro. Happy to revise rating when issues are resolved. Til then will continue using legacy version for expediency. Also sad to lose hdr video.
Happy little user · 6 Aug 2026
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3/5Great idea, needs work
Long time owner of the original and purchaser of version 2. The app is now much more modern and customizable. Great improvement in usability. However, Image quality is no better than the default iphone 13 pro camera app in most modes except maybe HDR in some situations. Despite all the neural wizardry, high res and zoom mode is worse than hydra 1. High res mode has less effective resolution than 1 single well process raw/proraw capture. Perhaps the dev should look into a Capture->ProRaw->JPG pipeline like NOMO Raw 2 for improved image quality. Sorry for being harsh on image the image quality front, but I really want the app to get better as a long time fan.
Eigebmeat · 6 Aug 2026
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5/5Great app. Nice addition to photo workflow
This review is based on using the app on a 13 pro Max. This app has some very nice features. I love the Hi-Res mode. Beside the obvious processing to get to the resolution, photos do not look as over processed as it may happen in native app. One little are of improvement would be low-light. I have encountered a few cases where the low-light (equivalent to night mode as far as I can tell) would not capture a photo while the native night move would in similar conditions. I am not sure if this has to do with low light conditions as it was in every case involving extremely dark scenes. I like the simplicity of the macro mode compared to native app. Just pick the mode. Great! No wondering whether it’s “on” or not. One of my favorite feature is the ability to save in .dng I can now skip the so-so camera app in Lightroom, use this superior app instead and still have my DNGs in Lightroom. I do recommend this app.
LuckyLuyckx · 6 Aug 2026
Privacy & accessibility
App Store
Privacy
- Data Not Collected Developer declared
Accessibility
No accessibility labels collected yet.
Versions
App Store
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2.0.2
Hydra 2.0.2 provides the following enhancements / bug fixes: - Faster shooting. Initial capture delays of up to 3 seconds were removed for a smoother experience. - In previous versions, Hydra could skip photo output generation for specific mode / destination configurations. As of 2.0.2, Hydra will always output a fallback file for each destination (File and/or Album) even if the user's format preference can't be honoured for the particular mode / destination combo. - Before/after comparison tiles (choice when sharing from Photo Editor) were incorrectly rendered in Zoom and Macro modes. This has been addressed in this release. - Hi-res shooting has been enabled for the ultra-wide lens (iOS 15 required, and an iPhone with UW camera). - Bluetooth and volume button trigger were failing after the app was brought back from background. Fixed. - Improvement for iPhone XR memory management to avoid crashes while shooting. - UI fixes: cropped text labels fixed (thank you Tom).
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2.0.3
Hydra 2.0.3 brings the following new features and enhancements. Shooting - Enabled additional iPhone 12 / 12 Pro cameras (Ultra-wide and front cameras) - Enabled Ultra-wide camera for Hi-res mode (starting on iPhone 12, iPhone 11 and earlier can't shoot in RAW with UW, required) - Improves stability when shooting on devices with less memory. Gallery - Faster photo browsing (swipe left/right) in the gallery, especially for large photo collections. - Display of file format in the gallery. - Fixes for the Peek & Pop tooling. - Improved performance of gallery editing operations - Improved gallery memory usage and app startup delay. Debug Tools - Added sensor layout reporting (Bayer configuration) for each camera capable of RAW shooting. - If your iPad (or iPhone) reports sensor layouts in the Debug Tools for cameras not handled in Hydra, please let us know (we'll add them) as we don't have access to every device model.
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2.0.4
NEW FEATURES - Portugese localisation ENHANCEMENTS - Better memory stability for Hi-res / zoom shooting modes, especially for memory-constrained devices & devices without Apple Neural Engine. - Improved speed for devices without Apple Neural Engine (pre- iPhone XR/XS). - Fix for crash occurring with iPhone 13 / iOS 15.4 combo. - Fix for launch crash occurring on older devices with large photo libraries. - Fix for a crash that could occur when deleting multiple photos from the album. - Improved handling of photo authorization (Selected Photos).
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2.0.5
Fix for a crash that could occur while loading a large photo library on older devices
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2.0.6
NEW FEATURES & ENHANCEMENTS - Handling of devices with older cameras. A number of iPad devices don't support RAW shooting which is a required feature for Hydra AI modes (HDR, Lo-light, Hi-res, Zoom, Macro). On these devices, only the Normal shooting mode is enabled within Hydra. - Fix for a crash that could occur while loading a large photo library on older devices - Fix for DNG (unprocessed) output in AI modes which now correctly include geotagging when requested. - Increased speed and memory usage stability when shooting with devices equipped with Apple Neural Engine (Core ML).
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2.0.7
BUG FIXES - Fixed problems/crashes linked to photo sharing (editor, gallery) - Fixed a crash linked to manual mode activation
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2.1
Hydra 2.1 brings specific new features for iOS 16 as well as photo capture stability improvements for all devices & OS versions. NEW FEATURES & ENHANCEMENTS - iOS 16 lock screen widget: you can now launch Hydra directly from your lock screen, optionally enabling a specific shooting mode. - iOS 16 home screen widgets: the new Photographer's Dashboard widget lets you display upcoming photography-related hours (sunset, sunrise, golden hours) on your home screen, and configure launch buttons with user-chosen mode presets. The smaller Photography Hours widget lets you display just the upcoming hours without launch buttons. - Other iOS 16 compatibility improvements & fixes. PHOTOGRAPHIC SUBSYSTEM UPDATE - Important stability improvement of the shooting core. Photo capture has been rewritten to address memory issues affecting a number of devices, limiting the number of in-flight photos independently of the total amount of taken pictures. Will improve shooting in all modes and in particular Hi-res, on all devices including iPhone 6s, XR, 12 mini. - A GPU-related drawing corruption has been identified & addressed, which resolves a number of output photo artefacts as well as incorrectly reported excessive motion errors while shooting. APPLE WATCH UPDATE - Apple Watch: the Apple Watch app for remote shooting has been rewritten to offer an improved & modern edge-to-edge design.
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2.1.1
BUG FIXES - Fixed a viewfinder crash - Volume button shutter trigger (and Bluetooth clicker) is back on iOS 16 - Device orientation related bug fix NEW FEATURES & ENHANCEMENTS - iOS 16 lock screen widget: you can now launch Hydra directly from your lock screen, optionally enabling a specific shooting mode. - iOS 16 home screen widgets: the new Photographer's Dashboard widget lets you display upcoming photography-related hours (sunset, sunrise, golden hours) on your home screen, and configure launch buttons with user-chosen mode presets. The smaller Photography Hours widget lets you display just the upcoming hours without launch buttons. - Other iOS 16 compatibility improvements & fixes. PHOTOGRAPHIC SUBSYSTEM UPDATE - Important stability improvement of the shooting core. Photo capture has been rewritten to address memory issues affecting a number of devices, limiting the number of in-flight photos independently of the total amount of taken pictures. Will improve shooting in all modes and in particular Hi-res, on all devices including iPhone 6s, XR, 12 mini. - A GPU-related drawing corruption has been identified & addressed, which resolves a number of output photo artefacts as well as incorrectly reported excessive motion errors while shooting. APPLE WATCH UPDATE - Apple Watch: the Apple Watch app for remote shooting has been rewritten to offer an improved & modern edge-to-edge design.
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2.2
NEW FEATURES & ENHANCEMENTS • Support for the quad-pixel sensor of iPhone 14 Pro in Normal mode: Hydra currently exposes the 48MP sensor when shooting in Normal mode. Both ProRAW (for editing) and JPEG/HEIC (high speed) can be used. • Hydra's photo editor gets updated to let you edit at the full 48MP resolution & save the result. • An intermediary format of 27MP is offered in Hydra (Photo reduction option) when shooting with the quad-pixel sensor to enable a greater photo resolution at a more reasonable file size. • Hydra AI modes can't currently offer support for the new sensor (48MP) as full-resolution RAW format is not offered to 3rd-party developers. Stay tuned on this subject as we definitely hope to do more when that becomes possible. • Fixed a UI-related glitch on iOS 16
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2.2.1
ENHANCEMENTS - Photo Editor: better compatibility for latest OS versions - Interface elements adjustments in presented sheets
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2.2.2
Fixed false-color AI artefacts when processing noisy inputs with the 'smooth' neural variant in Hydra (all AI modes). This affects iPhone 14 Pro with telephoto shooting, but also other phones in extremely low light environments.
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2.3
Hydra 2.3 brings iOS 17 enhancements including a new Shortcuts action and improved Home Screen / Lock Screen widgets. NEW FEATURES & ENHANCEMENTS - New Shortcuts action to automate Hydra launch & shooting. The programmable action lets you launch Hydra in any specific shooting mode, with automatic or manual control, and lets you optionally shoot immediately or after a delay. - iPhone 15 Pro action button: Hydra can now be launched with the physical button using the new action. Also lets you define a workflow with other actions / apps interactions. - Spotlight: Hydra can be launched from Spotlight search results in any particular shooting mode (iOS 17). - Home Screen / Lock Screen widgets: camera control (auto/manual) can be specified, enhanced compatibility with iPad and Mac (Sonoma), iOS 17 now required.
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2.3.1
Fixed a photo corruption bug (HDR mode) occurring on certain devices with 17.2 or later OS.
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2.3.2
This release brings compatibility and optimizations for latest OS.
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2.4
NEW FEATURES & ENHANCEMENTS • Optimized for latest iOS • App icons update (standard / dark / tinted) • Control Button: action button, lock screen, and control center (open hydra with specific mode) • Widget update (dark / tinted) • Screen mirroring on Mac: Keyboard shortcuts (think photo studio for iPhone camera with control from the Mac) • Screen mirroring on Mac: drag & drop of last shot picture from thumbnail directly on Mac • Apple Intelligence (camera domain) • Enhanced CoreML performance
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2.4.1
NEW FEATURES • Camera Control button (iPhone 16 + Pro): Hydra now provides full support for the new Camera Control button. Shooting (click) and settings menus (light press twice) are new offered for the following options: exposure control, grid display, timer, orientation lock, and color rendition. • Improved camera selection (lenses) and zoom scale reporting for iPhone 16/16 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max. • Improved neural engine post-shoot animation. • Added compare button in photo editor: unprocessed RAW vs. AI enhancement.
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2.4.2
Fixes a crash affecting older OS (iOS 15 / iOS 16)
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2.4.3
Fixed a display issue with the Auto/Manual toggle on iOS 18.
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2.4.4
Fixed erroneous name for Control Center / Locked Screen button.
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2.5
Hydra 2.5 brings enhanced support for iOS 26 with Liquid Glass integration for a modern experience. - New Liquid Glass app icon - Global Liquid Glass support in the viewfinder (lens buttons) including manual mode, camera settings, photo gallery, and after-shoot photo editor & tools (iOS 26 only).
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2.5.1
Hydra 2.5.1 brings improvements to Liquid Glass user interface on iOS 26, and is now localized to more languages. • Photo editor (after shoot) gets a more refined Liquid Glass look. • Other user interface elements have been refined. • Hydra is now localized to 24 languages.
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2.5.2
PRIVACY ENHANCEMENTS: Hydra no longer relies on App Center (Microsoft) for anonymous features analytics and crash reporting. Anonymous crash reports are now handled through built-in mechanism of iOS (user opt-in), and features analytics has been completely removed.
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2.6
Hydra 2.6 introduces manual mode presets: one of the most requested features. You can now save and reuse customized camera setups for different shooting scenarios, making it faster and easier to shoot exactly the way you want. MANUAL MODE PRESETS • Create presets directly from Manual mode • Fine-tune focus, shutter speed, ISO, and white balance • Combine manual and automatic controls, or use Auto Exposure (AE) with a custom EV bias • Save presets under custom names for quick access • Sync presets across your iPhone and iPad via iCloud BUG FIXES & IMPROVEMENTS • Fixed an issue where manual mode sliders were not displayed correctly on first launch on iPad
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2.6.1
Improved performance and fixed several bugs.
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2.6.2
· 30 Jul 2026
Improved performance and fixed several bugs.
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Availability by market
- US
Data quality & evidence
- Page completeness
- Live store listing
- Last verified
- 6 Aug 2026
- Sources
- App Store
- Independent summary has not been published yet.