Settings live behind ⋯ (More), in five tabs: RECORD, MONITOR, LOOKS, PHOTO and SETUP. Labels below are written exactly as the app shows them.
Android 13 or later, on a phone with a camera. We test on phones from Google, Samsung, Motorola, OnePlus, Sony, Xiaomi and Nothing.
How much of Decoloris you get depends on the camera, not the brand: see the next answer.
Decoloris builds each photo from the camera's raw image, the unprocessed data from the sensor. Some phones, mostly budget models and some front cameras, don't give apps raw images. On those cameras Decoloris works from the phone's own processed photo instead: your look, grain and halation still apply, but PORTRAIT and multi-frame noise reduction need raw and aren't available. You can check your camera's mode in settings.
The first line of ⋯ → SETUP tells you which mode the camera in use is in:
The front and back cameras can be in different modes.
Your looks, grain and halation work in both modes.
A new install starts with the film's color but no texture, so you can see the look first. To add it, go to ⋯ → LOOKS and turn TEXTURE on, which switches on grain and halation. GRAIN, SIZE, HALATION and GATE WEAVE can each be set on their own there too.
Pick a look from the row of tiles on the viewfinder; ⊞ opens them all in a grid.
Each look is drawn from the character of a classic motion-picture stock: the feel of film as it's remembered, not a lab-exact copy.
In DCIM/Decoloris on your phone, so they show up in your gallery app. The thumbnail on the viewfinder opens the latest one.
No. Decoloris Camera has no internet access at all: it can't send anything, by design. There are no analytics, no ads and no account. Purchases go through the Google Play Store app, and once your unlock has been confirmed it works with no connection. See our privacy policy.
Camera and microphone when you first open it. If you turn down the microphone, photos still work and videos record without sound. Location is only asked for if you turn on the location tag (see below).
Swipe down on the picture to hide everything; swipe up to bring it back. To see a one-line description of each look and control, turn on ⋯ → MONITOR ▸ TIPS.
In Full mode every photo is developed on your phone from the raw image, the way film is developed, and by default it averages eight frames to clean up noise. That work happens after you press, and the app tells you roughly how long saving will take. You can keep shooting: if you get ahead of it, the shutter waits for one photo to finish.
We aim for every photo to be saved within about eight seconds of your tap. On phones where the full engine can't manage that, Decoloris uses Standard mode so photos stay quick.
With ⋯ → PHOTO ▸ ZERO LAG on, the photo is the moment your finger went down, not a moment later. It's on by default. It uses more battery and makes the phone warmer over a long session. It doesn't run while video COLOUR is set to HLG10, or in Standard mode.
It takes several frames in one press and averages them into one cleaner picture: OFF, ×2, ×4 or ×8 (the default). More frames, less noise, a little more time. If a frame won't line up with the others it's left out rather than smeared in, but something moving fast through the frame can still blur, so turn it down when the subject is moving. If your phone is short on memory at that moment, it takes fewer frames and says so.
It lines up more frames when your hand moves, for cleaner, more detailed photos. It works when NOISE REDUCTION takes several frames.
It's on by default. You'll find it in ⋯ → PHOTO, under NOISE REDUCTION.
It may add half a second or more on slower phones. If you'd rather have speed, turn it off.
They tell the camera which compromise you prefer when there isn't enough light.
SHUTTER FLOOR sets the slowest speed a photo may use, so hand-held photos stay sharp. On AUTO that's 1/60. As the light drops, the camera raises ISO, and once ISO runs out the photo gets darker. The camera can tell whether the phone is moving, but not whether your subject is, so it never goes slower on its own. If you know the scene is still and the phone is steady, tap a slower speed (1/50, 1/30, 1/15 or 1/8, where your camera allows).
ISO CEILING is the other half: photos never go past the ISO you pick, and a slower shutter makes up the light instead. AUTO uses a limit set for your camera. After CALIBRATE, some phones also show a KNEE chip: the cleanest ISO your own camera measured.
No. The preview is held to the same 1/60 shutter and ISO limit the photo will use, so what you see is what a press gives you. A brighter preview would show you a picture the camera can't take. If you'd like a brighter view just for framing, ⋯ → MONITOR ▸ VIEWFINDER SHADOW LIFT brightens the viewfinder only; it never touches your photos or video.
Set ⋯ → PHOTO ▸ RANGE to BRACKET to hold onto highlights a single exposure would lose, like a bright window, sky or lamp. The camera takes darker frames alongside the normal one and keeps what they saw. It costs a little extra time. NIGHT and BRACKET can't both be on.
Every camera sensor is slightly different. CALIBRATE measures yours so Decoloris uses your phone's own figures instead of general ones, and low light comes out cleaner. It takes about two minutes and nothing leaves the phone.
If an update changes how calibration works, the app asks you to recalibrate.
HDR photos (Ultra HDR JPEG) need Android 14 or later. On Android 13, photos save as a standard JPEG. After each photo, ⋯ → PHOTO ▸ PHOTO FILE says which kind it was, and why.
Yes: long-press the shutter. A short press stops the recording. In Standard mode this isn't possible with a look or HLG10 on.
⋯ → PHOTO ▸ SELFIES: TRUE (the default) saves selfies the way others see you; AS SEEN saves them mirrored, the way the front viewfinder shows you, so text reads backwards. The front viewfinder is always a mirror either way.
Yes. TIMER (3 or 10 seconds) is in ⋯ → PHOTO, along with FLASH and TORCH on lenses that have a flash. The volume keys work as the shutter by default; change that in ⋯ → SETUP ▸ VOLUME KEYS. In video, a volume key stops the recording too.
PORTRAIT softens the background behind the people in your photo, the way a fast lens does. It finds the person, keeps their whole body sharp from head to feet, and lets the blur build gradually with distance behind them. Things at your subject's distance, like a railing they hold, the chair beside them, or the floor under their feet, stay sharp too, so the photo looks like it came from a real lens rather than a cut-out.
When the camera isn't sure where an edge is, PORTRAIT errs toward a lens-like softness instead of drawing a hard outline.
Tap the person button next to the lens switcher, or use ⋯ → PHOTO ▸ PORTRAIT. It's for photos, not video, and it's off by default. PORTRAIT is free: it's not part of the unlock.
On a few phones PORTRAIT would take too long to save, so the app turns it off there and says so. Everything else works as usual.
4K or 1080p, at the frame rates your camera actually delivers: from 24 up to 60, including 23.976, 25, 29.97 and 50 where available. The list only shows what works on the lens you're using, so some lenses stop below 60 in 4K. A few more limits:
If in doubt, keep SDR 10-BIT.
Tap the shutter figure in the readout row to open the angle and speed rail, and choose an angle in the ANGLE section. 180° gives the classic film motion blur.
Exposure aids, in ⋯ → MONITOR ▸ EXPOSURE AID. They're never recorded and they hide with the rest of the controls.
Not while a take is rolling: another lens is another camera, and switching would cut the take. Zoom instead, or pause the take, switch, and carry on.
Your phone is running hot. Phones protect themselves from heat by slowing down, and a slower phone can drop frames in a long video take.
HOT shows in orange while the phone says it is hot, or is about to be, and goes away on its own once it cools. When it first appears, a line above the strip says what it means for you; that line is shown once in a while, not over and over, and you can tap it away.
What changes while HOT is showing. Only things that are never recorded: the viewfinder may update a little less smoothly when you are not recording, and the on-screen meters refresh less often. Decoloris also holds back background work until the phone cools.
What never changes. Your look, and everything you record. The video you record is unaffected: grain, halation, the filter, color, resolution, frame rate and quality stay exactly as you set them for the whole take, hot or not. Photographs are never simplified. A still is always developed with the full look.
What you can do. If HOT is showing before a long take, a lower frame rate or 1080p runs cooler, and a short break helps most. Decoloris only suggests these; it never changes your settings for you. If the phone gets very hot, a take may stop by itself to protect the phone; the take is saved.
Every photo is a JPEG, the finished picture to share. With the unlock, on a camera that provides raw images, you can add two more:
RAW+ and MASTER are separate switches, so one photo can carry all three files. They're saved together in DCIM/Decoloris.
No. RAW+ and the masters are part of the unlock, and the app says so when you tap them. Your choice is kept: once you unlock, they start working on your next photo, with nothing to set again.
In ⋯ → LOOKS:
Both need a camera that provides raw images.
No. ⋯ → SETUP ▸ LOCATION is off by default. When you turn it on, the app asks for your approximate location only, and writes it into your photos on your phone (and, in Standard mode, your videos). Nothing is sent anywhere, because the app has no internet access. A photo taken before the phone has a location fix has no tag.
The whole camera: every look, every control, video and PORTRAIT. Free photos and videos carry a small Decoloris mark. Your first 10 photos save without the mark, no card needed; the UNLOCK row in ⋯ → SETUP shows how many are left. Video is always marked until you unlock.
RAW+, the masters and film borders need a camera that provides raw images.
Go to ⋯ → SETUP ▸ UNLOCK and tap SEE OPTIONS. You can choose:
The app shows the Google Play price for your country, tax included; our pricing page lists the US prices. Subscribe and your price stays the same for as long as you stay subscribed.
Cancel anytime in Google Play → Subscriptions, or from MANAGE SUBSCRIPTION in the app's unlock screen. Cancel during the 7-day free trial and you won't be charged. Otherwise you keep the unlock until the end of the month or year you've paid for. Buying the one-time unlock doesn't cancel a subscription; cancel that separately. For refunds, see our refund policy.
Sign in with the same Google account and open ⋯ → SETUP: opening it checks with Google Play and restores the unlock by itself. There's also a RESTORE PURCHASE button in the unlock screen. There's no Decoloris account, code or email involved, and once restored it works offline.
Nothing is wrong with your phone or the app. Google Play can take a few hours to list a product to a new install. Open ⋯ → SETUP again later, which asks the store afresh. If it persists, clearing the Play Store app's cache (Settings → Apps → Google Play Store → Storage → Clear cache) usually fixes it; it deletes nothing of yours.
If the row says "The store is not available on this device", the app can't reach the Google Play Store at all, so check that it's installed and enabled.
Some payment methods take a while to clear. The unlock switches on by itself when Google Play confirms the payment; there's nothing to do and no second charge.
More questions? Write to support@decoloris.com. Get Decoloris Camera on Google Play →