Apple just scored a notable hire from the indie app world. Sebastiaan de With, co-founder of Lux and the brains behind some of the most thoughtful camera apps on iOS, announced he’s joining Apple’s design team.
For anyone who’s spent time in the iPhone photography space, this is a big deal. De With isn’t just another app developer jumping ship to a bigger company. He’s someone who’s built a reputation for having strong opinions about how cameras should work and actually backing those opinions up with genuinely useful products.
The Guy Behind Your Favorite Camera Apps
If you’ve used Halide or Kino, you know the Lux philosophy. These aren’t apps that try to do everything for everyone. They’re opinionated tools built for people who care about how their photos and videos look. The Process Zero mode in Halide, which gives you unprocessed RAW files straight from the iPhone sensor, is the kind of feature that sounds niche until you try it and realize what you’ve been missing.
De With has also become something of a go-to voice for deep dives on Apple’s camera tech. His review of the iPhone 16e’s camera (which he memorably described as having a “vibe”) and his detailed breakdown of the iPhone 17 Pro showed someone who really understands both the technical side and the artistic side of smartphone photography. That’s a rare combination in the Technology world where most people lean heavily toward one or the other.
What This Means for Lux
Here’s the uncomfortable question nobody’s really answering yet: what happens to Lux and its apps? De With hasn’t said, and Apple definitely isn’t commenting. This puts Halide and Kino users in a weird spot. These are apps people have built into their workflows, apps that fill gaps Apple’s own Camera app doesn’t even acknowledge exist.
The pessimistic view is that Lux slowly winds down as de With gets absorbed into Apple’s machine. The optimistic take is that maybe, just maybe, some of that Lux DNA finds its way into Apple’s own camera software. Imagine Process Zero-style controls baked into the default iPhone camera app, or Kino’s pro video features becoming standard. That would be something.
Not His First Rodeo with Apple
This isn’t actually de With’s first time working with Apple. According to his website, he’s done design work for the company before, including projects on iCloud, MobileMe (remember that disaster?), and the Find My apps. So he’s not walking into Cupertino blind. He knows how Apple works, which might make this transition smoother than your typical indie developer acquisition.
The fact that he’s specifically mentioned working on his “favorite products” suggests he’ll be involved with iPhone or camera-related projects. That’s the logical fit given his background, though Apple being Apple, they could just as easily put him on something completely different. The company has a history of hiring people for their talent and then deciding later where they fit best in the business.
The Indie App Dilemma
This hire highlights a tension that’s always existed in the iOS ecosystem. Indie developers create innovative apps that push boundaries and explore ideas Apple won’t touch. Then, if they’re successful enough and talented enough, Apple hires them away. It’s flattering for the developer but leaves users wondering who’s going to keep pushing those boundaries.
The indie app scene has given us some of the best software on iOS precisely because small teams can take risks that a trillion-dollar company can’t. When those teams get absorbed into the mothership, something valuable gets lost even if something else gets gained. It’s not clear which side of that equation comes out ahead.
Maybe de With joining Apple means the company is serious about improving its camera software in ways that go beyond just adding more computational photography tricks. Or maybe it’s just another talented person getting hired because they’re good at what they do, and the actual impact on products won’t be visible for years, if ever.
