​Ever since the Nothing Phone (1) launched, I’ve been obsessed with shooting in manual mode. But even years later, dialing in the perfect exposure on the fly can still feel like a guessing game.
​The moment Essential Apps dropped, I knew exactly what I wanted to build: a smart exposure companion. Not a traditional light meter that reads through your lens, but a widget that calculates the right settings using your location, time of day, and your phone’s actual camera sensor specs.
​Got access today, spent the day tinkering, and here’s how it turned out!
- ​V1: The initial prompt was a simple concept outline, but it spat out an almost production-ready widget right out of the gate.
- ​The Polish: Most of the effort went into UX and UI fine-tuning—color-coding camera tips so critical settings pop at a glance, adding shooting scenario context, and dialing in the spacing and typography.
​It’s not published just yet, but I’m hoping to push it live for everyone in the community very soon. Would love to hear what you think about it in the meantime.
