Halide Co-Founder Lawsuit Alleges Misconduct After Rival Joins Apple

Ben Sandofsky only found out about Apple's efforts to lure his co-founder away from Lux while he was actively investigating that same co-founder for a different matter entirely. That detail, buried inside a civil complaint filed in the California Superior Court of Santa Cruz, explains how one of mobile photography's most celebrated creative partnerships came apart in the most acrimonious way imaginable.

Sandofsky filed the lawsuit alleging that Sebastiaan de With was fired from Lux in December 2025 for financial misconduct, specifically misappropriating more than $150,000 in company funds for personal expenses. The lawsuit also alleges that de With took confidential source code and materials relating to Lux's future features with him when he joined Apple's design team in January 2026.

Lux Optics makes Halide, the popular third-party photography app, as well as Kino for shooting video, Spectre for long exposure shots, and Orion for turning an iPad into an external HDMI monitor. Halide has long been the most popular paid camera app on iPhone, and both Halide and Kino have won Apple App Store Awards. De With was widely regarded as the design engine behind that reputation: he was the main mover behind Lux's UX, and would presumably have been put straight to work on iOS 27.

The backstory to all of this runs through a failed acquisition. The Information reports that Lux Optics was in talks with Apple for a potential acquisition during the summer of 2025, with people familiar with the talks claiming Apple wanted to bring the iPhone 18 Pro's cameras to a professional grade and upgrade the built-in camera app with more advanced controls. Both co-founders reportedly concluded they could increase the company's value further before selling, and the talks ended in September. When those talks stalled, Apple continued to engage with de With, eventually hiring him earlier this year.

Per Sandofsky's accounting of events in the lawsuit, the following month he learned concerning details about de With's behavior, specifically how de With used company funds and Lux's credit card. Sandofsky confronted de With and then, unsatisfied with the explanations, hired an investigator and put de With on leave in November. By the end of December, Sandofsky had fired de With.

After de With was fired, Lux demanded he return all of Lux's property, including his work computers and all sensitive data related to Lux's apps. The lawsuit claims that by the time de With interviewed with and joined Apple in January, he had still not returned confidential materials. The complaint also alleges he retained confidential materials related to Lux's future product development and the Apple Design Award won by Lux Optics.

De With's legal team disputes all of it. His attorneys refute the allegations, denying that de With "used, transferred, or disclosed any Lux intellectual property" to Apple. His attorney stated: "The lawsuit is an attempt to leverage Apple's involvement and gain attention." The defense position goes further. The lawsuit was only filed, de With's side contends, after de With raised concerns with Sandofsky about financial irregularities at Lux and requested access to its financial records and payments, suggesting the filing was a retaliatory response to those efforts and an attempt to avoid scrutiny of that conduct.

Sandofsky's lawsuit is solely focused on de With and alleges no wrongdoing by Apple. Still, the complaint's existence has pulled Apple's acquisition strategy into public view in a way neither company likely intended. The judge in the case will decide on whether to allow the lawsuit to proceed and if de With will be granted access to Lux's financial records — an outcome that could reframe the entire dispute depending on what those records show.

As it stands, the Halide website still states that "Lux is Ben Sandofsky, Sebastiaan de With, two friends that are reimagining what photography can look like in the 21st century." That copy will need updating regardless of how the case resolves.