Support
Updated: September 10, 2026
Need help? Write to [email protected]. One person answers this mailbox, usually within two working days. Please include your iPhone model, your iOS version, and the version number shown at the bottom of the app's Settings screen.
What the app does
Light & Deep is a viewfinder, light meter, and rangefinder for photographers using cameras that have none of those built in — hand-built cameras, medium and large format, panoramic bodies, and cine rigs. You choose a film format and focal length, meter the scene, measure the distance to your subject with the iPhone's LiDAR sensor, and see the expected zone of sharp focus drawn over the live scene as zebra stripes.
The zebra overlay is an estimate of acceptable sharpness calculated from the format, focal length, aperture, and measured distance. It is not a rendering of your lens's out-of-focus character, and it is not a guarantee about the final photograph.
Requirements
- iPhone running iOS 17.6 or later. The app is built for iPhone; there is no iPad layout yet.
- The depth features need a LiDAR sensor — iPhone 12 Pro or newer Pro and Pro Max models. On an iPhone without LiDAR the distance measurement, zebra overlay, and depth-of-field visualization are hidden. Everything else, including the light meter, the viewfinder, and the purchase, works normally.
- LiDAR is reliable for nearby subjects. Expect useful readings out to roughly five metres, and treat distant landscape readings as unavailable rather than merely imprecise.
Free and Pro
The app is free to download and free to keep using. The free version includes the light meter with aperture and shutter priority, the frame overlay with the 35mm full-frame and 6×6 formats, focal-length control, LiDAR distance measurement with the target-distance zebra on supported hardware, and the spot distance point.
Light & Deep Pro is one optional purchase that unlocks everything else: saving composite reference photos with exposure and depth metadata, all 53 film and cinema formats, depth-of-field visualization, spot metering, world-space point tracking, the ultrawide camera, black and white view, frame and zebra customization, the virtual horizon, parallax correction, the cinema tools, and light-meter calibration.
Pro is a one-time purchase: buy it once and it stays bought, on every device signed in to the same Apple Account. There is no subscription, no account, no login, and no renewal. The free version has no time limit — if you never buy Pro, nothing stops working.
Restoring a purchase
If you bought Pro and it is not active — on a new iPhone, after reinstalling, or after signing in with a different Apple Account — open Settings → Pro Access → Restore Purchases. The same action is on the Pro screen. Restore checks the Apple Account currently signed in on the device, so make sure it is the account you bought with.
Refunds
Purchases are handled entirely by Apple; the developer cannot issue refunds directly. Request one at reportaproblem.apple.com. Apple decides which purchases are eligible. If something in the app is not working as described, please write first — a fix is usually faster.
Common questions
The screen is black, or the app says it cannot start the camera
The app needs camera access to show anything at all. Open the iOS Settings app → Light & Deep → Camera and turn it on, then reopen the app.
Saving a photo fails
Open the iOS Settings app → Light & Deep → Photos and allow adding photos. The app only ever adds images; it never reads your library.
There is no distance reading and no zebra overlay
Your iPhone most likely has no LiDAR sensor. The depth controls are hidden on those devices by design. If you do have a Pro model, check that nothing is covering the rear camera array, and note that LiDAR does not work through glass or at long range.
The Pro screen will not show a price
The price comes from the App Store, so it needs a working connection. Tap Retry. If it keeps failing, check that In-App Purchases are permitted under Settings → Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions.
The light meter disagrees with my hand-held meter
The reading comes from the iPhone camera's own exposure system, which is calibrated for the phone's lens rather than yours. Pro includes a calibration offset for each lens: compare against your reference meter in even light and adjust until the readings match, under Settings → Light Meter Calibration.
The frame lines run past the edge of the screen
That is correct behaviour. When the format and focal length you selected are wider than the iPhone's field of view, the frame genuinely extends beyond what the phone can show. Switch to the ultrawide camera in Pro to see more of it.
Reporting a problem
The most useful reports say what you were doing, what you expected, and what happened instead. If you can, include the camera and lens you were using, the format and focal length selected in the app, and a screenshot. Send it to [email protected].
Privacy
Light & Deep collects nothing. There are no accounts, no analytics, and no advertising, and camera, depth, exposure, and optional location data are processed on your device. See the privacy policy for details.