Rian Johnson's iPhone Camera App Goes Viral

Filmmaker Rian Johnson, acclaimed for crafting films like Knives Out and Star Wars: The Last Jedi, has seen his iPhone photography app Chromagraph Camera soar to the top of the paid App Store charts after garnering attention on social media this week. Johnson co-developed the app with his cinematographer Steve Yedlin and programmer Eric Cameron, integrating sophisticated image processing techniques from their filmmaking careers into the iPhone's still photography capabilities.

Currently standing at No. 1 in the Photo & Video category on the U.S. App Store, Chromagraph's announcement on X gained six million views within a single day, with users sharing their creations, some garnering thousands of likes. The app captures RAW photos and processes them using Yedlin's film-specific techniques, resulting in unique color, contrast, and grain treatments.

It also incorporates halation, a soft glow around bright regions. Users have the option to tweak the appearance using controls for color, tone, and texture. The effect becomes visible upon opening the app's gallery after taking a photo. Original RAW files remain unaltered, allowing for potential edits later. Users can export the processed images as JPEG or HEIC files, with the processing applied, and an automatic export feature sends each finished photo to their photo library.

Chromagraph Camera is available for a one-time purchase of $12.99 on the App Store and requires iOS 17 or later.