Halide co-founder Sebastiaan de With returns to Apple as part of Human Interface Design team

Apple

• Halide co-founder Sebastiaan de With joins Apple's Human Interface Design team
• De With previously worked at Apple on iCloud, MobileMe, and Find My app
• His return signals Apple's focus on strengthening in-house design talent

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Sebastiaan de With, best known as the co-founder of the popular iPhone camera app Halide, has announced that he has joined Apple’s Human Interface Design team. The move places one of the most recognisable figures in the Apple-focused design and photography community back inside the company, working on products he has long admired from the outside.

de With confirmed the news himself in a brief public statement, saying he was excited to work with what he described as the best design team in the world on his favourite products. While Apple has not commented publicly on his appointment, the role suggests direct involvement in shaping the user experience across Apple’s software and hardware ecosystem.

This is not de With’s first stint at Apple. Earlier in his career, he worked at the company on major services including iCloud, MobileMe, and the Find My app. Those projects placed him close to Apple’s core software platforms at a time when the company was expanding its cloud services and device tracking features. After leaving Apple, de With went on to build a reputation as an independent designer, collaborating with companies such as Sony, Mozilla, Oracle, HP, and EA.

He later co-founded Halide, a camera app that gained a loyal following among photography enthusiasts and professionals for its manual controls, thoughtful interface design, and deep integration with iPhone camera hardware. Halide has often been cited as an example of how third-party developers can push Apple’s platforms in directions that feel both powerful and distinctly Apple-like.

Within online Apple circles, de With is widely regarded as a thoughtful critic and commentator on interface design, camera technology, and the evolution of Apple’s products. His writing and public commentary have frequently explored the philosophy behind Apple’s design decisions, making his return to the company particularly notable.

de With’s appointment comes at a time of significant change within Apple’s design leadership. Last year, former software design chief Alan Dye left the company to join Meta, ending a long tenure overseeing the look and feel of Apple’s operating systems. Around the same period, Apple’s hardware engineering chief John Ternus was reportedly given broader responsibility for overseeing both hardware and software design efforts, a move seen as consolidating design leadership at the executive level.

Apple has also seen a steady outflow of veteran designers over the past few years. Several former employees have gone on to work with Jony Ive, Apple’s legendary former design chief, who left the company in 2019 to establish his own firm, LoveFrom. Ive has since partnered with OpenAI on the development of a new AI-focused device, further reshaping the wider design landscape that Apple once dominated almost exclusively.

Against this backdrop, de With’s return can be read as a signal that Apple is still intent on strengthening its in-house design talent with people who deeply understand its platforms and culture. His experience building one of the most respected iPhone camera apps could prove particularly valuable as Apple continues to invest in computational photography, camera software, and user-facing creative tools.

Separately, de With’s move coincides with fresh developments at Halide’s parent company. Lux, the studio behind Halide, has announced a public preview of Halide Mark III, the next-generation version of its flagship camera app. The timing suggests a moment of transition, with de With returning to Apple while the product he helped build enters a new phase of development.

How visible his influence will be inside Apple remains to be seen, but his appointment adds another well-known name to a design team navigating both internal change and growing external competition.