GSMArena tries Chromagraph, the iPhone camera app co-created by Rian Johnson

GSMArena reports that Chromagraph, an iPhone photography app, drew attention after filmmaker Rian Johnson tweeted about it on 28 October 2026. According to the outlet, Johnson asked his cinematographer Steve Yedlin to build an app that bypasses the iPhone's default look processing, and the pair worked with Eric Cameron to make it. GSMArena says the app captures raw image data and processes it with the colour science used on Johnson and Yedlin's films.

Testing on an iPhone 18 Pro, the outlet describes a basic black and gold interface with settings for save format, aspect ratio, default lens, export format and compression quality. Images are saved in the app as RAW files, with an optional automatic JPEG, and GSMArena says captured shots can be adjusted for exposure, contrast, shadows and highlights, white balance, saturation, film grain, halation and crop. The outlet also notes an anamorphic 2.39:1 aspect ratio option.

GSMArena says the default output has warm, golden hues with soft bloom around high-contrast edges and no artificial sharpening. It reports the app shines in sunny, high-contrast scenes but can produce odd results under indoor fluorescent lighting, and that default colours are understated and undersaturated. The outlet also reports usability issues, including a small button to return to the viewfinder, the app not remembering the last camera used, and the viewfinder sometimes loading slowly or failing to load.

Despite these points, GSMArena calls Chromagraph the most fun it has had shooting with a phone recently, and notes the app has received regular updates since Johnson's tweet. The outlet says Halide and Mood are alternatives for clean RAW capture, and describes Chromagraph as worth checking out for those who like its specific look.