Use the ‘Anti-AI’ Camera Apps Zerocam and Hallide to Keep Your Photos Looking More Natural

Zerocam is available for free for Android and iOS, though you are limited to five photos a day unless you subscribe: That costs $2 a month or $13 a year. There's also a monochrome version available, but that's only for iOS for the time being.

Halide

Halide is a much more comprehensive phone photography app for professionals and enthusiasts, which means it's stacked with options and settings. It does also offer a Process Zero mode, which gives you “zero-AI, minimally processed shots.” You can choose this when you first install Halide, or switch to it at any time within the app.

Even in the Process Zero mode, the photo-taking interface on Halide is much busier than it is with Zerocam. You've got options for viewing a luminance histogram on screen, adjusting focus, putting a grid on screen, and adjusting the zoom level. Another tap brings up features such as white balance and the shutter timer.

As far as image processing goes, though, this is kept down to a minimum—you can use it like a point-and-shoot camera in the same way as Zerocam. The photographs you take eschew the digital manipulations that iPhones apply by default, which means there's less of a safety net when it comes to post-processing bad photos.

Of course, if you need more advanced control, then Halide provides it. The manual mode includes adjustments for shutter speed and ISO, for example. You're able to make use of these settings whether or not you're in Process Zero mode, so the app gives you plenty of flexibility in terms of how you capture your images.

Halide is available only on iOS, and you do need to pay to use it: $3 a month, $20 a year, or $60 for life. There is a seven-day free trial available on the annual plan, so you can see if you like the app before you buy it.