Halide Co-Founder Sebastiaan de With Joins Apple's Human Interface Team

Sebastiaan de With, co-founder of the third-party iPhone camera application Halide, announced today that he has joined Apple's Human Interface Design (HID) team. This move follows de With's previous freelance design work for Apple and marks a significant transition for a developer whose independent work has directly influenced iPhone photography workflows.

Halide, developed by de With and Ben Sandofsky since 2017, established itself as a benchmark for manual camera control on iOS. The app provided granular adjustments for focus, exposure, and RAW capture that exceeded Apple's native Camera app capabilities, particularly appealing to professional photographers. Its interface prioritized gesture-based controls and exposure separation tools that many users considered superior to Apple's default implementation. De With's design philosophy emphasized minimalism combined with deep functionality—a clear alignment with Apple's design ethos.

Apple's Human Interface Design team oversees fundamental UI paradigms across iOS, macOS, watchOS, and visionOS. Recent projects include the redesign of system settings, Control Center modifications, and camera interface improvements in iOS 18. De With's hiring suggests Apple may be strengthening focus on computational photography interfaces, especially given his specialized expertise in translating complex camera functionality into intuitive touch interactions.

Notably, this isn't de With's first collaboration with Apple. He previously contributed freelance design work during iOS 14's development cycle, suggesting an established relationship. His public critique of iOS photography limitations—such as the lack of true manual controls and inconsistent exposure logic—demonstrated deep understanding of pain points Apple has gradually addressed in recent updates.

The practical implications remain measured. While enthusiasts speculate about potential camera system overhauls, Apple's design process involves large collaborative teams. De With's influence will likely manifest incrementally through refined exposure controls, gesture improvements, or RAW processing workflows rather than radical redesigns. His background in independent development could streamline how Apple incorporates professional photography features without compromising accessibility for casual users.

Halide will continue operations under co-founder Ben Sandofsky, who confirmed ongoing support and updates. The app remains available on the App Store, though its future development direction without de With's daily involvement remains uncertain.

This hiring follows Apple's pattern of acquiring specialized talent from successful third-party app developers, similar to Workflow's team joining to create Shortcuts. It underscores how Apple identifies and integrates external innovation that aligns with its core design principles, particularly when those solutions gain significant user validation in the App Store ecosystem.