Halide Founder Sparks Backlash with Controversial Xiaomi-Leica Tweets

Sebastiaan De With, the founder and developer of the award-winning iPhone camera app Halide, has sparked controversy by posting tweets that have been perceived as racist towards Chinese smartphone brands, particularly targeting Xiaomi's partnership with the legendary camera brand Leica.

"It’s absolutely bizarre to me that Leica values its brand so little that it lets Chinese companies put their logo on iPhone knock-offs," he tweeted.

The iconic German rangefinder camera maker Leica has been in partnership with Xiaomi since 2022 to co-engineer cameras. Xiaomi is the world's second-largest smartphone vendor by shipments. Previously, Leica had partnered with Huawei from 2015 to 2021, which had become the world's largest smartphone maker by 2020 before its sales plummeted due to US sanctions.

When tech enthusiasts commented on De With's tweet, asking whether he had tested Xiaomi's cameras that have been co-engineered with Leica's expertise, he labelled the devices as iPhone rip-offs.

"I’ve certainly used these phones. Imitating the state of the art is great. Remixing is awesome. Blatant rip-offs are shameful and bad," De With replied to tech writer Ishan Agarwal.

Many have observed that Xiaomi's latest flagship phone, the 14 Pro, bears a design language similar to the iPhone 15 Pro. However, while most phones have converged in design and functionality, some argue that Xiaomi's devices have transcended what the iPhone pioneered. For example, features such as zoom and portrait mode were first seen on Chinese smartphones from Huawei.

"This sounds like a scripted PR response. It’s a PRC sponsored tech company, not a charity," De With remarked, displaying xenophobic overtones.

Halide is renowned as one of the best manual camera apps for the iPhone and is exclusively available on the platform. De With is known for releasing technical breakdowns of iPhone cameras whenever Apple launches a new model.