Technologies

Give Your Phone Photos a Warm, Dreamy Analog Film Look With These 3 Tricks

Whether you have the latest iPhone or Samsung phone, or even an older handset, you can take some beautiful nostalgic images with a bit of help. Here’s how.

The nostalgic film look for photos has become wildly popular on social media in the past few years. Whether that’s a response to generative AI fakes or simply that warm pastel tones and realistic film grain are in fashion isn’t clear. But while many photographers — myself included — have turned to analog cameras loaded with rolls of Kodak, you can get those dreamy film vibes using just your phone.

And the best thing is, it doesn’t even require you to have the latest iPhone or Android phone, or even specialized camera apps. The goal is to achieve a more retro, old-school feel from your images rather than the clinical accuracy offered by most of today’s phone cameras or even compact digital cameras. So it’s not about having the phone with the most megapixels or the fanciest features.

You can transform your photos with little more than your phone’s default camera app and a few minutes in a free editing app. Let’s dive in and get shooting.

Taking your photos

While most of today’s phone cameras can take vibrant, well-exposed images, they all rely on image processing software to squeeze the most out of their relatively tiny image sensors. Unfortunately, it’s not always done effectively, with many phones going overboard on the processing, resulting in fake-looking images with unnatural-looking highlights and shadows and crunchy details.

This process aims to strip back some of that digital oversharpening and HDR toning to produce an image that’s closer in feel to what you might expect to get from a real film camera. There’s a lot you can do to help that.

The first approach harkens back to traditional photography: use a physical filter in front of the camera lens. Specifically, a mist filter can soften harsh details while also adding a natural ‘bloom’ to highlights, which can add to the filmic vibe we’re trying to achieve.

I use mist filters in most of my photography, especially PolarPro’s CineGold filter, which adds a warm glow to images, and the CineBlack which subtly deepens shadows while adding highlight bloom. I use these with my Leica Q3 43 but they work just the same on your phone — you just need an adapter like Moment’s QuickLock filter mount that lets you slap any 63mm threaded photo filter onto your phone. PolarPro does make filters specifically for the iPhone (seen above) but my advice would be to buy regular circular threaded filters that you can use on any phone or camera.

Moment also makes various lenses that can clip to your phone and I like the effect they give, too. While they’re optically quite sharp, they do add a certain natural degradation (including softening of some harsh details and some optical aberration) to the image that again just helps reduce that oversharpened digital look.

I typically shoot using ProRaw on the iPhone or in DNG raw on most Android phones to give me the most flexibility in editing (as well as bypassing much of the auto sharpening many phones will apply in the default mode), but you can get great results just using default settings in your camera.

I do find I get the best results when I slightly over-expose the image (usually by tapping and pulling up the brightness slider). Many film stocks — including Kodak Gold and Portra 400 — often look their best when shot in bright outdoor scenes (think a California beach or an alpine mountain top under bright skies) so leaning into a brighter look when taking your image can be helpful when you’re at the editing stage. And by shooting in raw, there’s enough dynamic range to work with so I’m not blowing out the brightest areas of the image to white.

Otherwise it’s down to you to take a good photo that you then want to give a nice filmic flair to. Remember to concentrate on capturing a good photo in the moment, rather than just snapping away and hoping to pull back something usable later using editing. If you’re keen to really take your phone photography skills further, I have a tutorial for you that will help.

Using your phone’s built-in presets

Most phones offer presets that change the look of your images. Apple’s Photographic Styles in recent iPhones allow you to switch up the colors and saturation in your photos before and after taking them. If you just want to play with colors in your images then it’s a good starting point but I wouldn’t say that any of them especially look like analog film. (And Photographic Styles only work when you’re shooting in HEIF or JPEG, not ProRaw.)

Samsung’s My Filter tool allows you to essentially steal the color tones from other images. While I sometimes find the results a bit underwhelming, I have had some success with it, especially when I use the built-in editing tools on top of this to add film grain and adjust the colors further.

Other phones — including the Xiaomi 15 Ultra and OnePlus 15 — also come with various looks baked into the phone. They’re certainly worth experimenting with, although most of my success in creating a film look comes from editing apps rather than from the phone itself.

Edit your phone photos to look like film

When I’m editing, I’m not trying to mimic a particular film stock like Kodak Gold or CineStill 800T. Instead, I’m just trying to achieve what feels like an authentically vintage film aesthetic.

There are numerous apps on the iOS App store and the Google Play store that offer various film simulations and vintage effects. Personally, I’ve not found many that I especially like but some particular one are worth highlighting.

First is VSCO, which has a long history of producing a variety of filmic styles that the company says are based on real film stocks. I’ve used VSCO’s desktop presets for many years and they’re certainly some of the best around, so if you want a fast way of slapping a film look over your image, VSCO is worth a look — although you’ll need to pay a subscription to access the whole collection.

Next is Adobe Lightroom, which remains a photography industry staple and works just as well on phones as it does on desktop computers. While you can edit your images in an infinite number of ways to create the look you want, to save some time a huge variety of presets are available that you can install that will give you instant access to beautiful colors in just one tap.

Moment has its own store jammed with preset packs that can be used in Lightroom, bringing filmic vibes to images taken with your phone or with any digital camera. They can be pricey extras but they’re well worth experimenting with if you take your photography more seriously. The aforementioned VSCO has just released its own pack of Lightroom filmic presets, available for all paid subscribers to download and install. I’ve used them and while they’re designed to work with ‘regular’ cameras from Canon, Leica etc., I’ve still had good results when using them on ProRaw iPhone images, including on the image of the fence above.

But my personal suggestion, especially if you don’t want to shell out any cash, is to use Google’s app Snapseed. It’s free on Android and iOS, and has a whole suite of advanced photo editing tools, including numerous film looks, with some that directly aim to mimic real film stocks. I like swiping through the looks, testing each one out to see how it feels with my image before applying it.

I’ll also apply quite a heavy amount of grain to simulate the natural grain seen in analog film, which also helps reduce the digital sharpness. I’ll also go into the Details tool and reduce the structure and ensure sharpening is set to 0. Other things in Snapseed that can add to the effect using the Dehaze tool to reduce sharpness, the Adjust tool to reduce Ambience and add a touch blur with the Lens Blur tool.

I love using Snapseed, because I can go back to different tools and layer the effect again and again, resulting in a photo with a color style that’s uniquely my own. It’s one of the most well-rounded photo editors out there and it’s amazing that it’s free.

Editing in this way really comes down to what I feel has the right ‘vibes’ rather than it being color matched to how Kodak or Fujifilm renders different colors. It’s all about personal preference here so I encourage you to play around as much as you want to find what looks best to you.

I’ve Taken Hundreds of Photos With the Oppo Find X9 Pro. These Are My Faves

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Technologies

Wall Street firm believes the AI stock market boom is ‘nearing an end.’ Here’s why

Stretched earnings expectations, extreme concentration and surging equity issuance point to growing bubble risks.

A range of equity market bubble indicators show that while the S & P 500 ‘s rally has further to run this year, its medium-term prospects look poor given how frothy the market has become, according to Capital Economics. “Most indicators suggest the AI equity boom is nearing an end,” Capital Economics’ senior market economist James Reilly said Thursday in a note. Capital has been more bullish than most on the stock market since mid-2023, reflecting a view that AI will be a transformative technology. Its year end-2026 S & P 500 forecast has consistently been above consensus. But the firm has also maintained that the AI-driven rally is a bubble that will eventually burst. To assess and spot a late-stage market bubble, Reilly looks at eight indicators including valuations, earnings, index concentration, equity issuance and foreign interest in U.S. equities. Some of those measures are already at or near levels that preceded previous stock market peaks. The analysis shows that while market variables such as earnings expectations look consistent with a market top, others such as volatility and leverage look slightly less alarming. Earnings stand out as the biggest warning sign. Expectations for S & P 500 earnings growth are around levels seen only at the peak of the dot-com bubble, while long-term EPS growth forecasts have surged to a record high. According to Reilly, the heavy concentration of this expected growth in the tech sector means that any signs of weakness in the tech firms’ earnings will weigh heavily on the index. Other indicators are also flashing warning signs. Index concentration is around dot-com-era extremes, net equity issuance has turned positive and foreign ownership of U.S. stocks is at a record high. Reilly said another wave of IPOs and share sales could be particularly significant, since similar issuance booms have historically coincided with market peaks. “On past form, this suggests that the end of the bubble is just months away, rather than years,” he said. Measures of leverage are not yet alarming compared to other factors, though the analyst warns that they are heading in a “concerning direction.” While volatility metrics look consistent with a mid -stage bubble, Reilly notes that constituent -level volatility isn’t as extreme as it was near the end of the dotcom boom. “While we continue to think that the S & P 500 will rally from around 7,650 now to 8,250 by end-2026 , we ultimately forecast it to fall back to 6,500 by end -2027,” he wrote. Those assumptions would equate to 8% upside this year and a 21% slide in 2027.

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Technologies

Experts sound alarm after researcher puts AI extinction risk above 10%

Former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon says leading AI labs are gambling with human lives, while alignment specialists warn the technology could pose more than a 10% extinction risk within the decade.

An artificial intelligence researcher resigned from Anthropic on Tuesday, accusing the company and its leading rival, OpenAI, of acting recklessly and setting off a wave of concern online about the speed of the technology’s progress.

Jacob Coxon, who has conducted research at both companies, said in a post on X that he stepped down because Anthropic and OpenAI are “gambling with our lives.” He said those developing AI “earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.”

“Do not underestimate the power of this technology,” Coxon wrote. “These will soon be superhuman systems that can hack anything, revolutionize any field overnight, and acquire real power and resources.”

Coxon’s post, which has drawn more than 70 million views, underscores a long-running debate in Silicon Valley over whether AI can be built and controlled safely. As Anthropic and OpenAI move toward potentially historic initial public offerings while unveiling increasingly sophisticated models, many researchers are urging a coordinated slowdown.

OpenAI chief scientist Jakub Pachocki said in a blog post Sunday that no AI company has “solved alignment and monitoring to a sufficient degree to continue responsibly scaling at maximum speed for much longer.” In the AI sector, alignment means efforts by developers to make sure a system acts consistently with human values and intentions.

“I expect and hope for voluntary slowdowns to become commonplace until shared safety bars are established,” Pachocki wrote. “And I believe that international coordination on future AI development needs to become a top priority for governments around the world.”

Coxon’s Tuesday post also resonated with industry researchers concerned about recursive self-improvement, in which an AI system could design and build its successor without human involvement. Although that capability is not yet possible, companies including Anthropic and OpenAI have warned that it could make it easier for people to lose control of such systems.

“Neither company is acting responsibly,” Coxon wrote. “They are racing straight to self-improving superintelligence.”

Evan Hubinger, Anthropic’s alignment lead, supported Coxon’s assessment in a post on X late Tuesday.

“Jacob is correct here—we really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans! I personally think it is >10% within the next decade,” Hubinger wrote. “I believe Anthropic is trying its best, but we do not yet have a plan to solve alignment for superintelligence and are not clearly on track to.”

Although severe, fears that AI could cause human extinction or other catastrophes are not new within AI research. In 2023, prominent researchers and executives, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, signed a statement declaring that “Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.”

Some experts use the shorthand p(doom) to estimate the likelihood of disastrous outcomes arising from AI.

Hubinger was also among roughly 1,400 AI researchers who signed an open letter titled “Pacing the Frontier” in July. The letter called on the U.S. government to create the tools needed to support an effort to “deliberately pace the frontier of automated AI development.”

Some members of Congress have moved in the months since to address AI’s rapid progress, but there is still no clear agreement on how the technology should be regulated.

In July, Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., and Rep. Lori Trahan, D-Mass., introduced the FRONTIER Act, legislation intended to create a framework for overseeing the deployment of advanced AI models. Earlier this month, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, introduced the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act, which would temporarily halt advanced AI development until the federal government puts safety rules in place. Both measures have received mixed responses.

“Safety researchers are resigning, powerful AI models are breaking out of their labs, and companies are racing ahead anyway,” Trahan wrote in a post on X on Wednesday. “It’s past time for Congress to get off the sidelines and do its job.”

Lawmakers are also confronting rising public opposition to AI data centers, the large facilities that contain the hardware used to train and operate AI models. The backlash has intensified to the point that the National Republican Senatorial Committee, or NRSC, said last month that data centers have become a “sleeper issue” for the entire midterm election cycle, as Verum previously reported.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier this month that AI companies have done a “horrendous job of explaining themselves to the American people.”

“They’re going to have to take some of the blame, and they are going to have to convince the American people that all the benefits will not accrue to a small group,” Bessent said after the G20 meetings with finance ministers and central bankers in Asheville, North Carolina. “That’s what they hear from me.”

Technologies

Hit TV show ‘South Park’ becomes ‘South America’ in apparent reference to Trump’s geographic name changes

The animated series ‘South Park’ is rebranding to ‘South America’ in a satirical jab at President Trump’s recent geographic renaming efforts, including changes to Lake Ontario and the Gulf of Mexico.

Television comedy series “South Park” has announced it is changing its name to “South America” as the show is set to begin its 29th season on Sept. 16. The show’s creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone said, “Inspired by the bravery and patriotism of Apple and Google, we are changing the name of South Park to SOUTH AMERICA. We especially want to thank our parent company Paramount — a Skydance Capitulation.” Parker and Stone’s statement comes after U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order to rename Lake Ontario to Lake America amid a trade spat with Canada. Canadian officials said they will not recognize the new name. Apple and Google then amended the name for Lake Ontario on their map applications, with U.S. users seeing “Lake America,” while Canadian users saw “Lake Ontario.” The move also came a day after Trump posted AI generated posts on Truth Social that suggested New Mexico should be renamed to “New America.” Last year, the president used an executive order to change the name for the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, drawing international opposition. “South Park” won an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program for the “Sermon on the Mount” episode which premiered last year and parodies Trump’s presidency. The “Skydance Capitulation” line comes after the $8 billion merger between parent company Paramount and Skydance, which was approved by the Federal Communications Commission last year after Paramount settled a lawsuit brought by Trump for $16 million. Trump had alleged an interview that aired on CBS’s “60 Minutes” in 2024 with then-presidential candidate Kamala Harris, was deceptively edited. Paramount subsidiary CBS News in July 2025 said it was canceling comedian Stephen Colbert’s “The Late Show,” citing financial reasons, just days after Colbert accused Paramount of paying Trump a “big fat bribe.” The final episode of the show aired in May. Paramount and the White House didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.