If you’ve never ventured beyond your phone’s default camera app, it’s definitely worth exploring alternatives. Both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store offer dozens of capable options, each offering unique interfaces and features for taking photos and videos.

The latest addition to this space is Project Indigo, now available on iOS (with an Android version reportedly in development). The app stands out as it comes from Adobe, with some of its developers having previously worked on the default camera app for Google Pixel devices.

Project Indigo also introduces fresh ideas about mobile photography—showing how a phone's processing power can be used to create images that look more natural and improved compared to standard results. Give it a try, and you may find yourself using it far more than your phone’s built-in camera app.

How Project Indigo works

The developers behind Project Indigo have published a detailed explanation of the app and its goals. It’s designed to improve overall mobile photo quality by addressing the often “unrealistic” look of smartphone images (typically too bright and lacking contrast), while also giving users more manual control over the capture process.

Project Indigo is a computational photography app, which means it uses artificial processing techniques to go beyond what the camera sensor alone can capture—similar to applying smart filters in a photo editor. Clever algorithms are used to enhance image details.

When you press the shutter button in Project Indigo, up to 32 frames are captured, typically under-exposed to let in less light and reduce clipping (loss of detail). These frames are then intelligently merged into one balanced, natural-looking image that retains detail in both highlights and shadows.

To achieve a more realistic appearance, Project Indigo avoids many of the typical enhancements found in smartphone cameras: boosting brightness and saturation, sharpening edges, or smoothing textures. While these adjustments make photos appear more vivid—especially on small screens—they can compromise image authenticity.

Instead, Project Indigo makes fewer, subtler changes, aiming for results closer to what a DSLR might produce. Adjustments are made automatically based on the subject and scene, and images can be saved in either JPEG or RAW format for greater editing flexibility.

The app also offers full manual controls, allowing you to adjust focus, shutter speed, ISO, exposure, and white balance. You can even choose how many frames (up to 32) are captured per shot, and use a dedicated Long Exposure mode to blur moving subjects.

How to use Project Indigo

Download and open Project Indigo from the iOS App Store, and you’ll need to grant several permissions before you can start using the camera. There’s also an introductory tutorial included—you’ll see it right away, but you can return to it later by swiping left on the histogram at the top, tapping the gear icon, and selecting Camera features.

The main camera interface gives you two shooting modes: Photo and Night, which you can toggle using buttons near the shutter button or the icon in the top-right corner (a camera or moon symbol). In Night mode, longer exposure times are used to gather more light, so it’s important to keep your phone steady.

In the top-left corner, you can choose whether to save only JPEG files or both JPEG and RAW (DNG) formats. At the top of the screen is a histogram showing current brightness levels, and swiping left on it reveals tools like the camera timer and grid overlay.

At the bottom of the screen, you’ll find buttons for adjusting zoom and switching between front and rear cameras. Project Indigo uses advanced computational methods to maintain image quality when zooming in. Tap the button with two sliders (bottom right) to access the app’s professional-level manual settings.

These settings are presented through four or five additional buttons (depending on your mode), which you can tap to configure features like Long Exposure. More information will also appear at the top of the screen, including current shutter speed and ISO values. A stability indicator in the top-left corner shows how still your device is—important for low-light shots.

Adjust settings using the on-screen sliders, and preview your changes in real time. If needed, tap the sliders button again (bottom right) to reset everything to default. For help understanding the features, revisit the tips section via the settings menu (the gear icon next to the histogram), where you can also adjust preferences such as image stabilization and file output options.

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