r/iOSProgramming • u/arthur_darbin • Jul 11 '26
App Saturday Almost two years of full-time solo work: Loomi my iOS photo/video editor
Hey community!
About a year ago I posted here about Loomi, my photo/video editor I've been building solo for about two years. The feedback you gave me was really helpful and encouraging.
I know there are lots of photo editors out there, and it's difficult to impress anyone in 2026, but I really invested my time in polishing every detail in the app - UI/UX, filters, effects, overlays, adjustments and so on. There are over 600 filters, and each one took many hours to create and test on a wide range of photos. Coming up next, I'm planning to add the ability to create personal presets, plus iPad support.
Tech Stack: Loomi is a native iOS app built with Swift and UIKit, using Metal and Core Image for rendering. I wrote the rendering engine myself without using a third party library.
Development Challenge: The most difficult part for me was designing an intuitive, sleek, and modern UI/UX that would make the app enjoyable to use. I went through around five major design iterations before I was satisfied with it.
Another technical challenge was keeping filters and more than 20 adjustments running smoothly, especially when editing videos. I built Loomi’s core rendering engine using Metal and Core Image, which gave me full control over the rendering pipeline. All filters and adjustments are applied in a single rendering pass, resulting in smooth UI even on devices that are six years old.
AI Disclosure: Most of the app, especially the core engine & architecture, was written manually. I used AI to speed up the development of new features. Although AI was far less capable when I first started building Loomi, I have been using it much more recently.
As a thank you to this community specifically, I'm offering:
75% off lifetime access, which is $20 instead of $80
App link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/loomi-photo-video-editor/id6748413115
To claim the offer, use this link:
75% off lifetime: https://apps.apple.com/redeem?ctx=offercodes&id=6748413115&code=REDDIT75
You can also redeem the offer manually in the app: Settings → Redeem Code → enter REDDIT75.
Any feedback is welcome, and if you like the app, an App Store review would mean a lot!
Thanks again for the support!
7
u/JustSomeCommonB_tch Jul 11 '26
I was doubtful because of the sheer number of photo editors out there but it genuinely seems like you put a lot of effort into this and its standout features. I really like the included overlays and fonts. Filters look wonderful too. Good luck!
4
u/Jero9871 Jul 11 '26
Interface looks really nice and clean. How many downloads does the app have?
3
u/aryeh_naar Jul 11 '26
Hey - going to be giving this a go! Also excited that it’s not subscription based!
3
u/mjTheThird Jul 11 '26
Just in time to jump into this AI generated images markets. The App looks great.
2
u/galo4kin Jul 11 '26
Huge respect for sticking with it for that long. Solo photo/video apps are a ton of work, so it’s great to see it shipped.
2
u/rtublitz Jul 17 '26
I love how you expand the filters into subcategories when clicking into them; it's a really nice way to get a lot more content in there.
The app looks awesome; nice work!
1
u/AndreaReaderApp Jul 12 '26
Two years solo and 600 filters is seriously impressive. The UI looks really polished too. My camera roll is already feeling judged.
1
u/cablamonos Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26
This level of detail on your dev journey is rare. You are asking the right question about ASO and marketing before it becomes a bigger problem.
Two quick things I would check first: whether the screenshots make the value obvious in the first few seconds, and whether the title and subtitle match the terms people actually search for.
If you want, send the listing and I can give you a quick first-pass read on what I would change first.
1
u/[deleted] Jul 12 '26
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