HEXTAZE

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Questions

What is HEXTAZE?
HEXTAZE is a camera app for iPhone that renders video effects live while you shoot and lets you play them like an instrument: an XY pad, a tempo clock, a 32-frame memory and on-device person detection. It records the rendered picture itself, never a screen recording. There is no account and nothing is uploaded.
Is HEXTAZE free?
Yes. Every effect, preset, stack and tool is free, with takes up to 8 seconds and a small HEXTAZE mark. One in-app purchase, not a subscription, unlocks unlimited takes, no mark on new takes, every fader and loops longer than 8 seconds.
What does the unlock change?
Free takes stop at 8 seconds and carry a watermark. After the unlock, takes have no limit and no watermark, and the faders open up. It is a single purchase, forever, with no subscription. The mark is part of the picture once a take is recorded: unlocking removes it from your next takes, not from earlier ones.
Restore a purchase
Settings › Instrument › Restore Purchases, signed in with the Apple ID you bought it with. Use it on a new iPhone or after reinstalling.
Which iPhones does it run on?
iPhone XS, XR or later, on iOS 17 or later. Live rendering and subject detection are heavy work: HEXTAZE lowers its frame rate by itself when the phone heats up.
Is there an Android version?
No. HEXTAZE is built on Metal, the iPhone's GPU framework, and on Apple's on-device person segmentation. There is no Android version planned.
Is it a filter app or a video editor?
Neither. The effects are played during the take, not added after. HEXTAZE keeps the last 32 frames in memory so effects like clones, time-warp, slit-scan and video feedback can reach into the past, which is impossible on a still and awkward in an editor.
How does the beat sync work?
Press play beside the pad and it moves on the tempo, from 4 bars down to 1/16, with dotted and triplet divisions. The tempo comes from TAP, from the microphone (LISTEN hears the music in the room and finds its tempo) or from a song you import, whose beats and bars are detected on the phone.
Does it react to sound?
The pad, DROP's strobe and the loop grid are locked to the beat. Two things react to the sound itself: the SPECTRUM map of SMEAR (preset PULSE) and DROP's backdrop, which moves with the music and ripples on the bass.
Can I import my own music or video?
Yes. Import › Sound from Files takes MP3, M4A, WAV or AIFF (at least 6 seconds, not copy-protected). Import › Video from Photos or Files plays a video in the viewfinder with your effect, and its sound comes with the take.
How do I make a loop with no seam?
Import a song, pick 2, 4, 8 or 16 bars, tap record once: one bar of count-in, then the take runs exactly your bars and stops on the downbeat. The song is cut on the same bars, to the sample, with no click at the join. See the step-by-step guide at hextaze.com/loops.
Does it record the effect, or do I need to screen-record?
It records the rendered picture itself. Buttons and overlays are never in the clip. Share sends the clip with its sound, Silent makes a copy without sound, Save puts it in Photos.
Can I take photos?
Yes. The VIDEO · PHOTO switch sits beside the red key. In PHOTO, one tap takes a photo: the rendered picture, with the current look, saved to Photos.
What data does HEXTAZE collect?
None. No account, no analytics, no ads, no tracking, and no network code in the app. Camera, microphone and imported songs are processed on your iPhone; clips stay in the app until you share or save them. The App Store label is Data Not Collected.
How do shared looks work?
Save a look to MINE, then share it as a link. The whole look is encoded in the link itself, built on your iPhone; nothing is stored on a server. Opening the link on an iPhone with HEXTAZE loads the look.
LISTEN won't light up, or drifts
Microphone access may be off (iOS Settings › HEXTAZE › Microphone), or a song is loaded and owns the tempo: eject it. LISTEN needs a steady kick: house, techno and hip-hop work best; ambient and free tempo don't. Get closer to the speaker, or switch to TAP.
The viewfinder is black
Camera access is off. Open the iOS Settings app › HEXTAZE › Camera.
Flashing lights
DROP's looks flash and change colour on the beat, its strobes most of all (ROOM, VOID, FLASH). HEXTAZE keeps every full-screen flash under three a second, but if you or the people watching are sensitive to flashing light, avoid them, and stop if you feel unwell.

More: the eleven effects, the loop guide, privacy. The full manual is inside the app, under Settings › Manual.