Version 3. Mandelbrot Metal 3 is available for iPhone and iPad. Explore free with the Infinity Engine and all 156 built-in palettes; choose Pro for expanded creative tools and output. Requires iOS 26 or iPadOS 26 or later.
Creating Art With Infinity
Mandelbrot Metal 3.0 · iPhone & iPad
Fractal art begins with noticing color, shape, rhythm, and depth. Mandelbrot Metal gives you a place to explore those qualities, from the familiar Mandelbrot boundary to the branching patterns of Julia sets. This guide follows the creative process from a promising view to a finished image, with palette suggestions, artwork examples, and exercises you can return to.
Version 3.0 brings the Infinity Engine to Mandelbrot exploration through the validated 10²⁵× limit. Precision adjusts automatically; useful detail and render time depend on the scene, iterations, and device. Free and Pro share the same rendering engine. Julia sets use a separate direct renderer.
1. Begin With Exploration, Not Perfection
On a new installation, the app opens Elephant Valley from the included starter bookmarks. Start Exploring dismisses the one-time welcome; Show Me Around opens Getting Started. Later launches and app updates restore your last exploration, including the location, Julia state, palette, contrast, iterations, and 3D Look. Reopening the tour never changes your view.
Home (the house icon), also available as More (…) → Full Mandelbrot Set, returns to the classic Mandelbrot overview, even from Julia mode. It keeps your palette and 3D Look, resets contrast, and enables Auto Iterations. Back restores the previous view and settings. Home does not reload Elephant Valley.
Great fractal art does not start with "finding the right place." It starts with wandering - following curiosity and noticing when something feels alive on screen.
- Zoom slowly: the geometry evolves dramatically as you descend.
- Pan in small arcs: sweep across the screen to reveal symmetry or rhythmic patterns.
- Use Julia as a side trip: when a Mandelbrot point looks promising, single-tap it to open the matching Julia Set. Julia mode often feels more mirrored, lace-like, and botanical; tap again to return to the exact Mandelbrot view where you started.
- Use Back and Forward as comparison tools: try a different crop, Julia seed, or zoom path, then step backward and forward to decide which direction feels stronger.
- Look for natural compositions: sweeping curves, diagonals, spiral clusters, foreground/background relationships, and other shapes you would notice in photography.
- Bookmark moments, not destinations: when something "clicks," tap the bookmark icon so you can return and refine it later.
"Lava Reefs" - from wandering to artwork
"Lava Reefs" (See the image) began as pure exploration - zooming, panning, and reframing until a dynamic structure emerged. That is typical of strong fractal pieces: they are discovered, not plotted on a map.
2. Let Palettes Define the Emotion
Choose from 156 built-in palettes, including 55 Ultra-Wide palettes marked [UW]. Tap a star to favorite a palette. Filter by All, Standard, Ultra-Wide, or Custom. Try several palettes on the same view before changing the composition.
Below are the built-ins grouped by the moods they tend to evoke. Use these groups as quick entry points when you are shaping the feel of a piece.
Calm / Atmospheric / Natural
Soft, airy, and cinematic.
Arctic • Aurora • Aurora Blade • Aurora Borealis • Deep Ocean HC • Desert Dusk HC • Glacier • Lake [UW] • Midnight • Misty Woods [UW] • Ocean • Peacock • Polar Neon • Rain Clouds [UW] • Rainy Day [UW] • Sunset • Sunset Glow • Twilight
Painterly / Artistic / Pastel
For gentle, expressive, painterly visuals.
Starry Night • Pastel Breeze • Monet Flowers [UW] • Misty Woods [UW] • Orchid [UW] • Sea Shells [UW] • Moonstone [UW] • Cool
Warm / Fire / Heat
Energetic, bold, dramatic.
Lava • Ember • Fire • Fire & Ice • Hot Metal • Solar Flare • Tropical Heat • Volcano [UW] • Volcanic Sky [UW] • Late Sunset [UW] • Calf. Sunset [UW] • Naples Sunset [UW]
Vivid / Electric / Neon
High-impact, modern, and visually explosive.
Acid Dream • Blue-Orange Punch • Candy • Cosmic Fire • Cosmic Pop • Cyberpunk • Electric Blue • Electric Jungle • Electric Lime • Electric Sunset • Hypernova • Laser Lines • Laser Pop • Magenta Storm • Miami Lights • Miami Nights • Neon • Photon Flux • Solar Neon • Teal-Magenta Punch • Tokyo Nights • Tropical Punch • Ultraviolet • Ultraviolet Blaze • Vaporwave Edge • Vivid Neon • Vibrant
Metallic / Glossy / Sculptural
Polished, industrial, reflective character.
Carbon Fiber • Chrome • Chrome (2) • Chrome Glossy • Cold Steel • Copper • Copper (2) • Copper Glow • Cybersteel • Gold • Gold (2) • Iridescent • Metallic Silver • Oil Slick • Oil Slick (2) • Polished Gold • Silver (2)
Gem-Tone / Jewel / Rich
Deep, luxurious, saturated color.
Amethyst • Citrine • Coral • Emerald • Jade • Ruby • Sapphire
Ultra-Wide Palettes (768-step)
For the smoothest gradients and print-level subtlety - perfect for artwork.
Abstract [UW] • Arenal [UW] • Bananas [UW] • Beach Sunset [UW] • Begonias [UW] • Blown Glass [UW] • Blue Heron [UW] • Blueberries [UW] • Bookstore [UW] • Bridge [UW] • Bromeliads [UW] • Calf. Sunset [UW] • Cambria [UW] • Car Show [UW] • Chihuly [UW] • Colorful Hats [UW] • Crab Nebula [UW] • Crazy Patterns [UW] • Dragonfly [UW] • Dresses [UW] • Eucalyptus [UW] • Galaxy Quest [UW] • Golden Sunset [UW] • Guitar Player [UW] • Hurst Pool [UW] • Jade [UW] • Jubilant Days [UW] • Jupiter [UW] • Lake [UW] • Late Sunset [UW] • Macaw [UW] • Mashup [UW] • Marquis [UW] • Misty Woods [UW] • Monet Flowers [UW] • Moonstone [UW] • Mt. Dora [UW] • Naples Sunset [UW] • Orchid [UW] • Paul Klee [UW] • Pedal Board [UW] • Plants [UW] • Rain Clouds [UW] • Rainy Day [UW] • Redrum [UW] • Roji-en [UW] • Sarchi [UW] • Sea Shells [UW] • Seurat [UW] • Spectrum [UW] • Starry Night [UW] • State Street [UW] • Volcanic Sky [UW] • Volcano [UW]
Monochrome / Scientific / Utility
For structural study, high contrast, and dramatic minimalism.
Binary Stripe • Icefire • Grayscale • Heatmap High Contrast • HSV • HSV Hard • HSV Thin Bands • Inferno • Inferno Hard • Inferno+ (Gold) • Magma • Magma+ (Warm) • Mono Ramp High • Mono Ramp Inverted • Noir Edge • Retro CRT • Royal HC • Sci-Fi Radar • Turbo • Plasma • Plasma Hard • Viridis • Viridis+ (Boosted)
3. Use Creative Tools to Shape the Composition
Fractal Type
Single-tap a Mandelbrot point to explore its Julia set. Tap again in Julia mode to return to the originating Mandelbrot view. The HUD shows the mode and Julia constant. You can also choose the fractal type from the top controls.
Exploration History
Back and Forward restore completed exploration steps, including the view, iterations, palette, contrast, and 3D Look. History holds up to 50 states for the current session. A new navigation step after going Back clears the Forward branch. Save lasting discoveries as bookmarks.
Completed gestures, mode changes, coordinate jumps, bookmark loads, and Home create history steps. Back and Forward restore the saved creative state. Duplicate steps are ignored. History is temporary; bookmarks survive later launches. Save your favorite before exploring a new direction after going Back, because the previous Forward branch is replaced.
Iterations
Iterations control how long each point is evaluated. Try Auto first, then compare a manual value on the same scene. More iterations may reveal detail near boundaries; they do not guarantee a sharper result everywhere. The slider gives fine control at low values and reaches the selected maximum at its right edge.
Infinity Engine
At deep Mandelbrot magnifications, the CPU builds a high-precision reference orbit. Metal evaluates nearby pixels using perturbation and recovery. Precision selection and fallback are automatic. This is finite-precision computation, with a validated limit of 10²⁵×; useful detail still depends on the scene and iteration budget. Julia uses its direct renderer. During navigation the last completed image follows your gestures, then the requested view is rendered progressively.
3D Look
With Pro, toggle 3D Look to add relief shading. Compare it on and off with a neutral or metallic palette. Lighting changes the appearance, not the fractal geometry. Let the completed render settle before deciding which version to capture.
Composition
Try a three-image study: keep one scene fixed and capture it with a calm palette, a warm palette, and a monochrome palette. Compare how color changes the apparent depth and focal point. Next, save a closer crop as a separate bookmark. Change one setting at a time so you can tell what helped. The app has no rotation control; rotate an exported PNG in Photos or another editor if that suits the composition.
4. Jumpstart Inspiration With Community Bookmarks
Over 50 of our favorite Mandelbrot and Julia bookmarks are included, ready to explore from your first launch of version 3.0.
The starter collection is added once on new installs and upgrades. Your existing bookmarks are kept, matching bookmarks are not duplicated, and starters you delete stay deleted.
Your Community Portal Preview includes downloadable bookmarks that many users do not know about yet.
These bookmarks are curated creative starting points, not finished pieces. Think of them as a shared fractal sketchbook.
How to use them creatively
- Drag to pan. Spread two fingers to zoom in; pinch them together to zoom out. Double-tap to zoom 2× and center that point. The last complete image moves with your gesture while the new view renders. Tap the house to see the full Mandelbrot set.
- Check the saved mode: bookmarks remember whether they were made as Mandelbrot or Julia scenes. Julia bookmarks also preserve their source
cvalue. When sorting by name, the bookmark list shows the mode so you can spot Julia studies and Mandelbrot deep-zoom locations quickly. After opening one, the HUD shows Bookmark: Name under the mode label so the active starting point stays visible. - Reframe them: adjust composition for more tension, symmetry, or breathing room.
- Recolor them: swap palettes to change mood completely.
- Dive deeper: push zoom further to reveal new geometry.
- Make them yours: once you have transformed a bookmark into something you love, save it as your own and share it.
In Manage Bookmarks or Manage Palettes, use Import or Export All. Swipe a row toward the trailing edge to reveal Export, or toward the leading edge to reveal Delete. Duplicate names are numbered. Palette sharing requires Pro. Share custom palettes with their bookmarks so the recipient has the matching colors.
Bookmark files describe scenes; palette files contain a name, color-space information, and color stops. A bookmark does not bundle a custom palette. Export that palette separately and import it on the receiving device before reopening the bookmark. Imported duplicate names are numbered.
5. Exporting Artwork: Automatic, High-Quality Results
Tap Capture, choose a resolution, then Capture Now. Canvas is included in Free; Pro adds 4K, 6K, 8K, and Custom. Every capture renders a separate complete PNG and shows progress. Presets preserve the canvas aspect ratio. When the share sheet opens, save to Photos or Files, or send the image to another app.
First settle on your framing, palette, contrast, and iterations. Capture renders a new image at the requested size, including 3D Look when enabled. Presets use the longest edge: 4K is 3,840 pixels, 6K is 5,760, and 8K is 7,680, with the canvas proportions preserved. Check the dimensions before a custom export. Larger images and higher iteration budgets take longer; inspect the finished PNG at full size before printing.
Pro viewing tips
- Open your exported image in Photos and pinch-zoom into the fine structures - the sharpness at deep zoom is one of Mandelbrot Metal's strengths.
- After exporting to Photos, tap the image once to hide the UI and view it full-screen. Fine details become much easier to see.
- Try viewing your art in Photos' slideshow mode for a clean, distraction-free presentation - great when showing work to others.
6. Learn Faster With Built-In Help & the User Guide
Getting Started is the short introduction. The complete User Guide and Creative Guide are available inside the app, including offline, in all 16 supported languages. Their English editions on the website contain the same sections and wording. Use the contents links to jump to a topic, and return to the guides as your work becomes more ambitious.
To show Getting Started on the next launch, open More (…) → Welcome Options and enable Show Welcome at startup. Don’t show again disables future startup presentations. Open User Guide or Creative Guide from More (…) whenever you need help.
7. A Simple Daily Creative Ritual
Many artists thrive with small, repeatable creative habits. Here is a five-minute routine you can use with Mandelbrot Metal:
- Open Mandelbrot Metal.
- Load a random bookmark.
- If you are in Mandelbrot mode, single-tap an interesting point to try its matching Julia Set.
- Tap again to return to the Mandelbrot view if the Julia variation is not the one.
- Use Back and Forward to compare the strongest two or three directions before choosing one.
- Change to a new palette.
- Zoom until something "clicks."
- Capture your favorite frame.
"Deep & Very Detailed" - an example outcome
"Deep & Very Detailed" (See the image) was created at a zoom of 2,808,812,540x, using the 768-step palette "Bookstore [UW]" and 7,500 iterations. Pieces like this often emerge from short daily sessions rather than single marathon explorations.
8. Next Steps
Pro adds unlimited bookmarks, custom and imported palettes, 3D Look, and high-resolution capture. Open More (…) → Mandelbrot Metal Pro on iPhone, or Upgrade to Pro / Pro Account on iPad. The purchase screen shows current prices and Restore. Eligible previous owners retain Legacy Pro access.
Explore downloadable bookmarks and palettes from the community, import them into Mandelbrot Metal, and use the tools in this guide to shape them into finished artwork.