January 28, 2026
Shutter speeds and spicy takes
Aperture: Senior QA (2004-2005)
Apple’s secret photo app confessional has fans nostalgic and critics salty
TLDR: An Apple veteran recalls the secretive, high‑pressure birth of Aperture, the pro photo app rushed to beat Adobe’s Lightroom. Commenters split between warm nostalgia for a legendary team and frustration that a fixed deadline meant a rough launch—and a reminder that Apple later left pros hanging when Aperture was axed.
Apple insider Chris Hynes just dropped a throwback about joining a hush‑hush team that became Aperture—Apple’s pro photo app meant to beat Adobe’s Lightroom to the spotlight—and the comments are a battlefield. The sentimental crowd is swooning over the camaraderie (“so much laughter!”), the clandestine interviews, and co‑creator Randy Ubillos’ office full of photos as the ultimate wink‑wink clue. The other half? They’re side‑eyeing the fixed ship date and calling it classic Apple: announce big at PhotoPlus Expo and sprint to the finish.
Strongest opinion on deck: Aperture was visionary but rushed. Nostalgic pros are defending the team’s “wicked smart” vibe and praising the daring “build from scratch” energy; skeptics say the race to beat Adobe set QA up for pain and shipped version 1 with wobble. The abandonment of Aperture years later fuels extra spice: some blame Apple for ghosting pro creatives, others say the market moved on.
The jokes are flying. “Interview by wallpaper” turned into a meme—“guess the product by decor”—and everyone’s dunking on Apple secrecy like it’s spy school. QA war stories (“fixed date, many demos, what could go wrong?”) are getting upvoted, while a few Lightroom loyalists claim Adobe won the long game. It’s nostalgia vs. nitpick, with a side of memes and a whole lot of feelings.
Key Points
- •The author transitioned from Apple’s Mail team to a secret project that became Aperture, influenced by mentor Paul Marcos.
- •Interviews revealed a team including co-creators Randy Ubillos and Stan Jirman, plus James Dempsey and Dan Waylonis.
- •Aperture was over a year from shipping when the author joined, with the software largely in demo form.
- •Apple set a fixed ship date to precede Adobe’s Lightroom and planned an announcement at PhotoPlus Expo in New York in Fall 2005.
- •The team was senior, assembled quickly via word-of-mouth, with Randy Ubillos acting as a spiritual leader facilitating debates.