Director Rian Johnson Releases a $12.99 iPhone Camera App for Photos

Rian Johnson, the director of Knives Out and The Last Jedi, has released his own iPhone camera app. It is called Chromagraph Camera and costs $12.99. He announced it Wednesday on X, and it already ranks second on the App Store's Photo & Video chart.

What it does

Most phone cameras process a photo right after you take it. Chromagraph skips that step. It starts with raw image data and bypasses the iPhone's standard processing. In its place, it applies the same custom image processing used on Johnson's movies.

Cinematographer Steve Yedlin, who has shot every Johnson feature since Brick in 2005, built it with color coder Eric Cameron. Yedlin says it is not a filter laid over the iPhone's look. He describes it as a full replacement, tailored to how Apple cameras behave.

The app also lets users adjust color, tone and texture. Yedlin describes the built-in look as rich in tone and color, with grain and halation (a soft glow around bright spots) that he, Johnson and Cameron personally like.

Why it exists

Johnson says he took the idea to Yedlin because he takes a lot of pictures with his phone and wanted this app for himself. He says he has tried plenty of good third-party camera tools, but calls this one an elegant one-stop shop. The team then decided to release it.

Limits to know about

• It takes still photos only for now.
• Video could come later, but would likely work only on newer iPhones.
• Android is unlikely. Android phones vary too much for a small team to tune.

Johnson explained the Android issue on X. He said Apple's consistent hardware is what lets the team work with confidence, and that there is no way to dial it in for every Android device.

Who it is for

This is for iPhone owners who want photos that look different from the stock camera and are willing to pay $12.99 to try it. The material does not say which iPhone models the app supports today. It also does not say how the photos compare in side-by-side tests.