Grainline Darkroom applies film-style edits entirely on your device, keeps the original frame untouched, and cannot upload anything because it has no network access.
Preview
Written descriptions of each screen — we do not host screenshot images for this listing.
About this app
Grainline Darkroom is a photo editor built around emulating film stocks: grain structure, halation, colour cross-talk, and the way a highlight rolls off rather than clips. Edits are non-destructive and stored as a recipe alongside the original, so the file you shot is never overwritten and any edit can be unwound years later. Recipes export as small text files that other people can import, which is how the app's user community actually shares looks — there is no gallery, no feed, and no account.
It is for people who shoot deliberately and want control over the finish: photographers coming from desktop editors, film shooters scanning negatives, anyone who has been annoyed by a filter they cannot take apart. It is not a quick-share app — there is no built-in posting, and you export to your gallery and share from there. Processing runs on the device, so a very large batch on an older phone is slow in a way a cloud editor would not be, and that is the trade the app makes on purpose.
The headline fact about distribution is that Grainline Darkroom declares no internet permission at all, which is unusual for a photo editor and is verifiable from the manifest rather than a promise: an app with no network permission cannot send your photographs anywhere. Halcyon publishes the release artifact openly and has explicitly authorized open redistribution, so APKBrowse hosts the stable APK directly through a short-lived signed URL with resumable byte ranges. The Play and F-Droid listings carry the same code, though the F-Droid build is signed with the F-Droid key.
Before installing, check two things. Version 2.4.0 requires Android 8.0 or newer and ships arm64-v8a and armeabi-v7a binaries; the camera and media permissions are for importing frames and capturing directly into the app, and both are optional if you only ever open files through the system picker. Second, note the history: version 2.0.0 did declare internet permission, for a crash reporter the cooperative removed in 2.2.0 after users objected. If you are rolling back, 2.2.0 is the sensible floor — it is on the same signing key and installs cleanly after an uninstall, whereas 2.0.0 reintroduces the network permission and cannot read the recipe format the current build writes.
What's New in v2.4.0
Open build APK re-hosted after the cooperative restated its redistribution licence; store listings unchanged.
- Halation and highlight roll-off modelling for six stocks
- Recipe format v3 with per-layer masking
- Faster batch processing on devices with 4 GB RAM
- Fixed EXIF orientation loss on exported frames
Version history
May 13, 2026 · 58.9 MB · Android API 26–35 · code 240
Open build APK re-hosted after the cooperative restated its redistribution licence; store listings unchanged.
- Halation and highlight roll-off modelling for six stocks
- Recipe format v3 with per-layer masking
- Faster batch processing on devices with 4 GB RAM
- Fixed EXIF orientation loss on exported frames
SHA-256 5aec5f041900e50fb609a40d700960129d3cc84646c12f4876f49956329696c3
Jan 30, 2026 · 54.2 MB · Android API 26–34 · code 220
Release that removed the internet permission along with the crash reporter; the sensible rollback floor.
- Removed the crash reporter and the internet permission with it
- Recipe import from files shared by other users
SHA-256 102714ded60741291254373ed25145195db9acf12e01f84e95369f711a31cbce
Sep 18, 2025 · 49.6 MB · Android API 24–34 · code 200
Last build declaring internet permission, for a crash reporter removed in 2.2.0 after user objections.
- Introduced non-destructive recipes stored beside the original
- Grain structure modelling replacing the noise overlay
SHA-256 90653f33dcd946bf68c27b0e1807587c9230e11dae3e65e35dee5d26f77c1d32
Will it run on your device?
98%
- Runs on a broad range of modern Android versions.
- Multiple CPU architectures are covered.
- Optimized for more than one screen class.
- Aligned with the latest Android target SDK expectations.
Grainline Darkroom questions, answered
Is it safe to install Grainline Darkroom from an APK?
Yes, when it is the download listed here, which Halcyon has explicitly authorized APKBrowse to serve from its openly published release artifact. Verify the fingerprint against the value on this page before installing anything claiming to be this app from anywhere else.
How do I verify the download is genuine?
Compare the SHA-256 of the file against the hash listed for that version, which matches the checksum in the cooperative's public release feed. Note that the F-Droid build legitimately has a different fingerprint, because F-Droid builds from source and signs with its own key.
Can the app upload my photos?
It cannot, because it declares no internet permission at all — an app without that permission has no way to open a network connection, regardless of what its code tries to do. You can confirm this yourself by inspecting the manifest rather than taking the claim on trust.
Will Grainline Darkroom work on my Android version?
Version 2.4.0 requires Android 8.0 (API 26) or newer and ships arm64-v8a and armeabi-v7a binaries for phones and tablets. Processing is on-device, so an older phone will handle a large batch noticeably more slowly than a recent one.
How do I roll back to an earlier version?
Uninstall the current build and install the older APK — the signing key is unchanged, so nothing blocks it. Stop at 2.2.0 if you can: 2.0.0 still carried the internet permission for a crash reporter that has since been removed, and it cannot read recipes written by the current build.
Installation Guide
Open Settings on your Android device
Go to Security → Unknown sources (or Install unknown apps)
Enable "Allow from this source" for your browser or file manager
Open the downloaded APK file from your Downloads folder
Tap "Install" and wait for installation to complete
Launch the app from your home screen
Make sure to re-enable Unknown Sources restrictions after installation for security.
How to install this safely
How to verify the file you downloaded
Before you install anything, confirm the file is the one described here. On a computer, run shasum -a 256 your-download.apk (macOS or Linux) or certutil -hashfile your-download.apk SHA256 (Windows), then compare the output character-for-character with the SHA-256 on this page. If a single character differs, the file is not the build we recorded — delete it.
What the signing certificate proves
Every Android app is signed with a private key that only its developer holds. The fingerprint on this page is a hash of the matching public certificate, and it proves continuity rather than identity: it tells you a build came from whoever signed the earlier ones. Android enforces this at install time — if a package claiming to be com.halcyonworks.grainline is signed with a different key, the system will refuse to install it over your existing copy. A fingerprint that changes between releases is worth pausing on, because a repackaged app that has been modified by someone else cannot keep the original signature.
How to roll back to an earlier version
If the current release misbehaves, 2.2.0 is the last build before it. Android will not install an older version code over a newer one, so you must uninstall Grainline Darkroom first — which clears its local data unless you have a backup. Reinstall the older APK only if its signing fingerprint matches the build you already trust, and check the API range: an older release may target an Android version your device has moved past.
Why we list sources instead of hosting everything
The official store channel is almost always the right choice: it updates automatically and carries the publisher's own distribution guarantees. A direct APK is useful when a device has no store access, when a rollout has not reached your region, or when you need a specific version — and only when the publisher has authorized that copy. APKBrowse does not list pirated, cracked, or unauthorized rebuilds of Grainline Darkroom, and a listing is removed when the evidence for it stops holding up.
Get Grainline Darkroom
Every source we list for com.halcyonworks.grainline is legality-reviewed. Pirated or cracked builds are never offered.
Publisher-authorized · resumable transfer
Other sources
F-Droid listing
officialBuilt from source by F-Droid and signed with the F-Droid key; not update-compatible with the Play build.
Community mirror page
community mirrorCovered by the cooperative's open redistribution statement but not proxied by APKBrowse; check the fingerprint yourself.
We check legality and signature continuity, but device behaviour still varies. Install at your own discretion.
App Information
Security Verification
We record provenance; we do not run malware scans. Verify the hash yourself before installing.
SHA-256 Hash
5aec5f041900e50fb609a40d700960129d3cc84646c12f4876f49956329696c3
Signing certificate
E4:C4:72:59:7C:CC:5E:42:AB:D5:3A:94:2F:0E:C9:A2:08:BA:D8:D5
Permissions Required
Previous Versions
The signing certificate fingerprint for this release is on record, so a build that does not match it did not come from this publisher.
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