A messy legal battle just erupted between the co-founders of Halide, one of the iPhone's most beloved pro camera apps. Ben Sandofsky filed suit against his former partner Sebastiaan de With in California Superior Court, alleging de With didn't just leave for Apple in January - he was fired for financial misconduct and allegedly took proprietary source code with him to Cupertino. The lawsuit peels back the curtain on what looked like a clean talent acquisition but now appears to be a corporate breakup gone nuclear.
The photography app world just got a lot messier. Apple hiring Sebastiaan de With from Lux Optics in late January seemed like another routine talent grab from the world's most valuable company. But a lawsuit filed by his co-founder Ben Sandofsky paints a starkly different picture - one involving alleged financial misconduct, stolen source code, and a failed acquisition attempt that may have set everything in motion.
According to court filings reported by The Verge, Sandofsky claims de With was actually fired from Lux Optics before joining Apple, not poached as initially reported. The lawsuit alleges de With committed financial misconduct and then took proprietary Halide source code with him to his new employer. If true, it's a bombshell allegation that could put Apple in an uncomfortable position regarding intellectual property it may have inadvertently acquired.
The backstory makes this even more intriguing. Apple reportedly attempted to acquire Lux Optics outright last summer, according to sources familiar with the discussions. Those acquisition talks never materialized into a deal, leaving the small team behind one of the App Store's most celebrated photography tools independent. But just months later, hired de With anyway, bringing him onto the design team.
