Smartphone cameras have gotten incredibly good over the years, with the latest iPhone, Google Pixel, and Samsung Galaxy models capable of rivaling dedicated cameras in terms of quality. In fact, top-notch camera hardware is part of the reason flagship phones are so expensive these days. Hardware is just one part of the story, though. Smartphones also use image signal processing, computational photography, and post-processing software to improve the quality of your photos.

The use of generative AI is further complicating what constitutes a real photo from your smartphone’s camera. Samsung was caught using AI to fake moon shots on Galaxy Ultra phones, and Google now openly uses AI to generate details on photos via the Pixel 10 series’ Super Rez Zoom feature. If you ask me, all these AI features and extra processing are just gimmicks that take away from the intentional art of photography. That’s why I tried replacing default smartphone camera apps with third-party ones that eliminate unnecessary computational photography, and it went better than I expected.

Unprocess on Android

As minimal a smartphone camera experience as you’ll find

Each smartphone camera brand’s computational photography and color science profile takes up a different style. Samsung phones often prioritize brightness and exposure, Pixel phones usually increase color saturation, and iPhones like to maximize high dynamic range (HDR). While these smartphone processing profiles can look great on social media, they’re not always aligned with the primary goal of a camera—to accurately reproduce the appearance of what you’re trying to capture.

Luckily, there’s an easy way to take photos with your Android phone without excessive processing. There are a few apps that provide this function, but the best one is Unprocess, and it’s available for free on GitHub. The open-source Android app uses the official Camera2 API to capture raw sensor data from your phone’s cameras, which is then converted to a viewable file format. Users can choose to save their processing-free images in either RAW or JPEG file types.

The difference between photos captured with your phone’s stock camera app and those taken with Unprocess will depend on your phone model and its software. However, the distinctions are easy to see. In the series of photos below, the first image in each pair was taken with the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge’s stock camera app, and the second was captured with Unprocess.

You can see the photos from Unprocess omit the lightening that Samsung usually applies to images taken with its stock camera app. The results are warm and colorful, and that makes sense because the original photos were captured in the Arizona desert sun.

It’s not really about how the processing-free photos look straight from the camera. Since apps like Unprocess capture unaltered sensor data in RAW format, smartphone photographers can use photo editing and color grading software to adjust the look to their liking. This isn’t possible when shooting with a smartphone camera app in its default settings, as the photo is immediately processed and edited immediately after it is taken.

OS

Android

Price model

Free and open-source

Looking to shoot raw photos with your Android phone without over-the-top processing? Unprocess is a free and open-source app that lets you do just that.

Halide Process Zero on iOS

Light on post-processing, heavy on features

IPhone users can avoid Apple’s computational photography software by downloading the Halide Mark II app. It’s a professional-grade camera app designed by former Apple developers, and it includes a Process Zero mode that bypasses typical iPhone post-processing. This photography mode captures photos in RAW format straight from the camera sensor. Compared to Unprocess on Android, Process Zero in Halide is packed with features that make the shooter feel like a traditional film camera.

The app is designed to provide “digital negatives,” with exposure levels that can be adjusted after the original photos are taken. It avoids core elements of iPhone camera processing, like Smart HDR, Deep Fusion, and noise reduction. This creates photos that are more reminiscent of the real world, complete with grain and underexposure at times.

In the series of photos below, the first image in each pair was taken with the iPhone Air’s stock camera app, and the second was captured with Process Zero.

In these examples, you’ll see the difference between Apple’s standard color correction and your iPhone’s raw sensor data. That’s because Process Zero uses a single-shot approach that takes one photo without any extra adjustments. Meanwhile, the typical iPhone camera app often takes multiple photos, picking the best one and modifying it with computational photography algorithms.

OS

iOS

Price model

Free with in-app purchases

Halide Mark II is a professional-grade camera app designed for iOS. It also includes a feature called Process Zero, which is a shooting mode that bypassess your iPhone’s default camera processing.

Who should use Unprocess and Process Zero

For experienced photographers only

Unprocess and Halide’s Process Zero aren’t for everyone. These apps probably aren’t for most Android or iPhone users, as the standard smartphone processing algorithms often produce the so-called “better” image. However, for experienced photographers who want to be more intentional about their captures, the processing-free experience provides more control. I certainly enjoyed the simpler, realistic experience of shooting with these raw apps.