Adobe has just dropped a game-changer for iPhone photographers with Project Indigo, a free, professional-grade camera app that transforms your smartphone into a cinematic powerhouse.
Available now on the App Store, this experimental app from Adobe Labs brings a level of control and quality typically reserved for dedicated cameras, making it a must-have for both casual shooters and serious shutterbugs.
Full Manual Control for Cinematic Precision
Project Indigo puts you in the director’s chair with complete manual control over your iPhone’s camera. Want to fine-tune the shutter speed, ISO, or white balance? It’s all at your fingertips. Whether you’re chasing the perfect exposure or tweaking color tones for that cinematic vibe, this app lets you dial in every detail. It’s like having a film school camera in your pocket, minus the bulky gear.
The app also supports RAW (DNG) capture, giving photographers the flexibility to edit images with maximum detail and dynamic range. Unlike most smartphone camera apps that lean heavily on automatic processing, Project Indigo offers a natural, SLR-like look that prioritizes authenticity over over-saturated filters.
Night Mode and Long Exposure for After-Hours Creativity
For those who thrive in low-light conditions—when the rest of the world is asleep—Project Indigo delivers with a dedicated Night Mode. Using longer exposures and multi-frame processing, it captures stunningly clear images with minimal noise, even in dim environments. The app also introduces a Long Exposure mode, perfect for creating dreamy effects like silky water or light trails, provided your iPhone is stabilized on a tripod.
What sets Project Indigo apart is its ability to merge up to 32 underexposed frames into a single, high-quality image. This computational photography approach ensures low noise and exceptional highlight detail, rivaling the capabilities of professional cameras.
AI-Powered Editing to Polish Your Shots
Adobe’s expertise in AI shines through with Project Indigo’s Technology Preview features. The app includes experimental tools like AI Denoise and Reflection Removal, which can clean up noise in low-light shots and eliminate unwanted reflections when shooting through glass. These on-device AI processes work seamlessly to enhance your photos without compromising quality. However, some users have noted that these features can be resource-intensive, potentially causing older iPhones to heat up or drain battery faster.
The app also integrates directly with Adobe Lightroom Mobile, allowing you to transfer images with a single tap for advanced editing. RAW files come with embedded tone and color metadata, which Lightroom can use as a starting point while still giving you full control to tweak or reset adjustments.
Super-Resolution Zoom and HDR for Stunning Detail
Digital zoom has long been a weak point for smartphone cameras, but Project Indigo tackles this with its Super-Resolution Zoom feature. By capturing multiple slightly offset frames and combining them, the app delivers sharper images at zoom levels up to 10x (or 25x on iPhone 16 Pro Max).
This results in a 4x pixel increase—turning a 3MP image into a 12MP one at 10x zoom, for example—making your zoomed-in shots look impressively detailed.
The app also supports a hybrid SDR/HDR format for JPEGs, ensuring vibrant images on compatible displays while maintaining compatibility with standard screens. A live histogram, zebra striping for overexposed areas, and a level indicator in the viewfinder help you nail the perfect shot every time.
Why It’s Free and Who It’s For
Project Indigo is completely free, requiring no account or subscription, and is compatible with iPhone 12 Pro and later, as well as all iPhone 14 models and newer. Adobe’s goal is to explore the future of mobile photography and gather community feedback, making this app a testing ground for cutting-edge features.
Whether you’re a casual photographer looking for natural, high-quality images or an advanced user craving pro-level control, Project Indigo delivers. Its intuitive interface makes it accessible for beginners, while its robust feature set caters to those who want to push their iPhone’s camera to the limit.
Early Feedback and What’s Next
Initial reactions on platforms like X highlight excitement for Project Indigo’s capabilities, particularly its reflection removal and super-resolution features. However, some users have reported overheating issues on older devices when using experimental AI tools, suggesting Adobe may need to optimize performance in future updates.
Adobe has big plans for Project Indigo, with potential features like automated focus stacking and enhanced long-exposure capabilities on the horizon. For now, it’s an impressive showcase of what’s possible when computational photography and AI converge.
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Download and Start Shooting
Ready to elevate your iPhone photography? Project Indigo is available for free on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/ge/app/project-indigo/id6742591546. Whether you’re capturing foggy cityscapes or starry night skies, this app promises to make every shot feel like it came from a professional camera.
Download it, experiment, and share your feedback with Adobe’s community to help shape the future of mobile photography. #CapturedWithIndigo
