Halide co-founder Sebastian de With is suing because he took the code to Apple

Lux Optics co-founder Sebastian de With It made headlines When he joined Apple in late January. The company was behind Halideone of the most popular photography apps for iPhone, has gained a lot of popularity due to the powerful, professional controls it offers.

Apple was clearly a big fan I tried to get developer last summer. Those talks never came to fruition, and in the end the company simply hired De With. At the time, it was widely believed that Apple had stolen it from Lux. But new allegations from a lawsuit filed by co-founder Ben Sandowski in California Superior Court in Santa Cruz claim that De With was fired for financial misconduct in December of 2025.

according to Informationthe lawsuit accuses De With of “improperly using more than $150,000 of Lux funds to pay personal expenses,” as well as “taking Lux source code and confidential materials with him when he joined Apple.”

De With’s lawyer denied the allegations, saying, “The attempt to bring Apple into this dispute appears to be aimed at creating influence and attracting attention.”