Grab Obscura 2 camera for free via the official Apple Store shopping app

Obscura 2, the award-winning iPhone camera app by developer Ben McCarthy, is currently available at no charge for a limited time through Apple’s official Apple Store app, a $5 value.

Released two months ago as a brand-new app, Obscura 2 is the official successor to Obscura Camera, the original app that proved very popular with iPhone photography fans in terms of producing close-to-perfect images with little effort.

This promotion is available in the regions that have the Apple Store app.

He wrote in a blog post:

Obscura is still a paid up front app and we have no plans to change that. The promotion will run for about two months and during that time Obscura will still be available for purchase. Think of it as Apple offering out promo codes rather than as a sale.

Here’s how you can redeem your free copy of Obscura 2.

How to redeem Obscura 2

To claim your free copy of Obscure 2, do the following:

1) Get the Apple Store app from App Store.

2) Open the Apple Store app on your iPhone or iPad.

3) Tap the Discover tab at the bottom of the app, then scroll down until you encounter the teaser for Obscura 2 near the bottom of the page. Tap the link “Download now for free”.

4) On the next screen, tap the blue button labeled “Download now for free”.

5) You’ll be asked to continue redeeming your gift in App Store. Tap Continue, then hit the button Redeem located in the upper-right corner of the screen.

6) If you’ve successfully redeemed your code, tap Done.

Go ahead, claim your free copy of Obscura 2 and let us know how you liked it in the comments.

About Obscura 2

Obscura 2 is iPhone-only, but iPad support is on the way.

“iPad support is coming very soon,” Ben wrote in release notes accompanying the download. “We wanted to have it launch with this version, but it wasn’t quite ready in time,” he continued.

Won’t this promotion upset existing users who’ve paid for the app?

“It’s always tough to change a product’s pricing, as one group will naturally feel like they’ve got the worse end of a deal,” Ben said, noting he didn’t make the decision lightly.

He went on to explain they’re doing this to help spread the word about the app.

Marketing an app is always tough, advertising is expensive and it’s hard to track its effectiveness without being creepy. Apple provided us with an opportunity to put Obscura in front of a huge number of people in a way we never could by ourselves. We’re hoping this helps us reach a critical mass that lets Obscura continue growing naturally.

“At the end of the day, what’s good for the business is good for all users,” Ben concluded.

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John Voorhes wrote in his review of Obscura 2 for MacStories that this approachable manual camera app comes with a bunch of tasteful filters and advanced manual control.

I couldn’t agree more.

If you need a powerful app that presents the complexities of manual camera features in a simple interface, you’re wholeheartedly recommended to grab a free copy of Obscura 2 while you can, even if you haven’t previously dabbled with DSLRs at all.

Claim your free copy of Obscura 2 and let us know how you liked it in the comments.