Pearla - Pro Filmic Camera

I want to like this app so bad the UI has always been so over complicated and hard to use they really just need to hire a new company to redo the thing entirely instead of just tweaking it. when you go to your gallery the picture pops up as a full screen with the rest of your pictures below them to be scrolled through but there are no buttons at all to get out of this screen and go back to seeing them all in a grid. swiping up or down sometimes work to get you out of it to go back to the camera. you used to be able to see a preview of each film emulation filter but now you have to go to settings, click on the filter, go back to the camera to check it, then go back to the setting screen to change it again. instead of seeing them as you are changing them like any other camera app. I also cant figure out how to save the pictures or export at all because there are no settings or buttons in the gallery when viewing your images. You can just view them, but they are not showing up in my iphone gallery at all. I had “save photos to gallery” toggled off but now that I turned it on there is no way to save my previous pictures to my gallery unless I screenshot them. Overall very poor ui and frustrating experience

I will start by saying that I did purchase the yearly subscription for this app. Everything that is included in this app is well worth the money and very well done, however, there is one major flaw, the UI. As a tech nerd, as someone who has ran a media business now for nine years, and if someone who is around various different types of technology each and every day, I struggle to even find my way around this app. I’m not sure if there are bugs still being worked out, but there are numerous times when the toggle to switch from video to photo mode is just gone and I literally cannot even use the app for what I need it for. Ever since upgrading to the iPhone 17 Pro Max, the front camera is also completely broken on the app. Whenever you enter selfie mode, the video turns the entire selfie camera to landscape, however, not like you’re filming in landscape, like you rotated a vertical video into landscape, very frustrating and annoying. There is also very little intuitiveness when it comes to any sort of design help or accessibility, at times you can’t even figure out how to advance to the next screen because there are no buttons, everything is a slide over mentality, which is fine, but half the time it doesn’t work. In the end, definitely has a ton of potential and I really enjoy what it is, but they really need to work on a few things that I mentioned as it basically at least to me, makes the app completely unusable.

Pearla has quickly become my go-to for adding that authentic cinematic vibe to my videos. The open gate recording feature is a game-changer, letting me capture footage in a taller aspect ratio that feels truly professional. But what really sets it apart are the filmic emulations—they’re not just gimmicky filters; they’re thoughtfully crafted to mimic real film stocks, giving your shots depth and character. And the film grain? Oh man, it’s the best I’ve seen in any app. It adds that perfect organic texture without overpowering your footage—total magic! with 3 grain size settings and 3 grain strength settings, you can always get the perfect look. That said, it’s not perfect. The interface takes some getting used to; it’s packed with options that can overwhelm newbies at first. The subscription model stings a bit too—why not a one-time purchase option? And saving files? It’s needlessly convoluted, forcing extra steps that disrupt your workflow. Overall, if you’re into creative video editing and don’t mind the learning curve, Pearla’s worth it for those emulation and grain tools alone. Highly recommend for aspiring cinematographers! Slight update: when I originally downloaded this app I had access to 60 fps and 199 Mbps but now that I downloaded again for my new iPhone, those options have been removed and the Max options are 30 fps at 99 Mbps.