With the release of iOS 10, Apple took advantage of the increasing power and advancement of optics iPhones and iPads with the introduction of RAW image capture support into their system. However, users who want to edit their RAW photos on iOS are left with few options.
Now a former Apple engineering director aims to help professional and amateur iOS photographers alike with the launch of a powerful new application for iPhone and iPad.
Nik Bhatt spent 14 years at Apple, first as Senior Director of Engineering on the Aperture and iPhoto teams. He later served as CTO of the Photo Apps group, working with the Core Image and RAW teams. before founding your own company, Gentlemen Coders. His first application, RAW Power for Mac, drew on his knowledge of Apple photos and iCloud frames to provide a robust RAW editing workflow as a Photos for Mac extension and a standalone application. RAW Power for iOS brings all the features of the Mac version and more to your iPhone and iPad.
Interface and organization
When you start RAW Power for the first time, you will see a list of your recently accessed photos and albums from the Photos app. This is because RAW Power is deeply integrated with iCloud Photo Library. The application is designed to run smoothly. Any changes you make to a photo in RAW Power are non-destructively synced across all your devices with iCloud Photo Library and you can choose one of the versions.
Since the application workflow is structured in iCloud, you won't find options to import photos from other locations. This is not a problem as iCloud Photo Library can sync and upload RAW photos for editing. After choosing a photo, both the editor and an information panel are displayed showing the EXIF data for the photo. This is especially useful on iOSas the default photo app shows very limited metadata.
Edition
If you used RAW Power on Mac, you will already be familiar with the editing controls on iOS. The app processes photos with Apple's RAW engine, so the same power is achievable on iPhone. RAW images contain minimally processed data, allowing for more extensive editing capabilities. If you are new to RAW Power, the controls are pretty easy to use. There is a handy guided tour and a link to an embedded user manual directly.
After starting to edit, the user interface can become a bit short on the iPhone. However, the application is not unnecessarily cluttered: there are many functions to explore. Advanced users appreciate a histogram to judge and adjust exposureas well as comprehensive curve fitting tools.
The RAW tab is pretty comprehensive, mainly. By adjusting a range of sliders available only in RAW photos, you can push your images much further than you normally would. would be possible with a standard photo editor on iOS. Burnt reflections are recovered and blurry details of images can be made sharp and vibrant without much headache. RAW Power supports hundreds of RAW camera formats, plus iPhone DNG and RAW files, so your photos are very likely to benefit of this application.
RAW Power for iOS is compatible with iOS 11 on iPhone 6s and iPad mini 4 or later. The app is free to download with a single in-app purchase to unlock a package of advanced settings It contains white balance, curves, and depth effect options.
RAW Power for Mac is available as a standalone purchase on the Mac App Store for just under $ 15. While RAW Power may not replace your main photo editor, it is a valuable tool for anyone who wants to get the most out of their images on iOS.