Popular camera app Hydra gets a big 2.0 update with AI shooting, more

Hydra 2 Feature Sheet (Image credit: Creaceed)

What you need to know

Developer Creaceed has launched an updated Hydra 2 app for iPhone and iPad.
Hydra 2 is an improved camera app that now features new AI=powered photography.
Hydra 2 is a whole new app and replaces the original Hydra in the App Store.

Hydra has long been one of the most popular camera apps in the App Store. Now it's better than ever with a whole new version 2.0 update now available for download.

The new Hydra 2 app has a lengthy list of changes and improvements over the previous version, including a refined and redesigned camera experience as a whole. The new computational photography is where things get interesting, however, with Hydra 2 using AI to make it easier to take great photos.

Hydra 2's new AI-powered RAW fusion offers to overcome the physical limits of small sensors, with capabilities such as over 20-stop extreme HDR to capture both highlights and shadows, detail-enhancing demosaicing and denoising in low light, macro shooting, crisp 6/8x digital zooming, and a whopping 110-megapixel resolution from the device's built-in 12-megapixel sensors.

There's a new manual mode as well as faster shooting and more. You can learn all about what makes Hydra 2 so great on its website, too.

Placed into the App Store as a new app rather than an update to the existing Hydra, the new Hydra 2 is a free download and supports unrestricted shooting in normal mode. All other modes can be unlocked and watermarks removed by paying either a one-time $11.99 or a subscription of $0.99 per month or $5.99 per year. Those who already have Hydra 1 can unlock all features with a 50% discount, bringing the price down to $5.99.

The new Hydra 2 app can be downloaded from the App Store now and is one of the best iPhone apps for taking photos — be sure to take it for a spin the next time you're taking snaps with an iPhone or iPad.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.