MALPAbout MALP
Free camera color identifier for people with color blindness
A free camera color identifier for people with color vision deficiencies, and anyone who wants a color name. Check clothes, craft materials, or a photo. No account or installation required. Images stay on your device.
Open MALPHow do I identify a color with my phone?
Open MALP in Safari or Chrome on your phone and allow camera access. Aim the center target at a solid area of the object. Read the color name and shade, or choose Tap to capture in the camera quick settings to take a reading when you are ready.
Can I find a color name from a photo?
Yes. Open Image from the menu, choose a photo on your device, and tap the point you want to inspect. MALP shows the sampled color, its approximate name, and your enabled HEX and RGB values. The image is not uploaded.
Does MALP upload my photos or camera footage?
Camera frames and selected images are processed on your device, not uploaded by MALP. Settings are saved in this browser. Selected images stay in memory only until the page is closed or reloaded.
How does lighting affect the results?
Try even, neutral lighting and avoid glare, shadows, or colored light. Camera processing and lighting can change the result: MALP is not a calibrated measuring instrument. Do not rely on it for safety-critical decisions.
Can I use MALP without installing an app?
Yes. MALP is free to use in your browser, with no account or installation required. You can optionally add it to your home screen for quick access. If your camera cannot start, choose an image instead or open the site in Safari or Chrome.
Color naming, accuracy, and how MALP works
MALP helps anyone identify everyday colors using a camera or an image. On your phone, aim the center target at a color, or choose an image and tap the area you want to identify.
Version 2.0.0
Reading a color
- Color name and swatch
- A familiar name, such as Blue or Red, describes the color family. The swatch shows the actual sampled color, not the nearest reference.
- Descriptive shade
- A more specific description, such as Light blue, Deep red, or Muted green. It is shown only when it differs from the main color name.
- RGB
- The red, green, and blue channels, each from 0 to 255. For example, 255, 0, 0 represents pure red.
- HEX
- The same RGB values written as a six-digit hexadecimal code. For example, #FF0000 is the same pure red as RGB 255, 0, 0.
- Alternatives
- Up to two nearby named colors from a built-in reference palette, ranked by perceptual similarity. Some colors have no useful alternatives. These are suggestions, not extra measurements.
- Name match
- How similar the sample is to its nearest reference color. A score of 100% means the RGB values exactly match a reference. It is not the probability that the name is correct, and it does not measure camera accuracy.
Tap a HEX or RGB value to copy it. A short message confirms the copy or explains if it failed.
How color naming works
Naming uses CIELAB and CIEDE2000 perceptual matching against 139 distinct CSS reference colors. Names and shade boundaries are still approximate.
Sampling modes
In Settings, you can hide individual color values. Open the camera's quick settings beside the flashlight to change sampling mode and sampling rate. Balanced updates twice per second. Tap to capture keeps the preview live and reads a color only when you tap Grab color. Image sampling always happens when you choose a point.
Steadier camera readings is the default. It averages the 3 by 3 pixels around the target and briefly holds small changes in the color name until two readings agree. The swatch and numbers stay current; large color changes and manual grabs update names immediately. Image sampling always reads the exact selected pixel. Enable Exact pixel in the camera's quick settings for single-pixel camera sampling without averaging or name stabilization.
Accuracy and limitations
Try even, neutral lighting and avoid glare, shadows, or colored light. Camera processing and lighting can change the result: MALP is not a calibrated measuring instrument. Do not rely on it for safety-critical decisions.
Some cameras support the flashlight button in the top-right corner of the preview. It can help in low light, but may also create glare or change how colors look.
On-device privacy
Camera frames and selected images are processed on your device, not uploaded by MALP. Settings are saved in this browser. Selected images stay in memory only until the page is closed or reloaded.