“…Metal halides, especially metal halide perovskites, have attracted enormous attention for their superior opto/electronic performance. − Among them, zero-dimensional (0D) organic–inorganic metal halides (OIMHs) show distinctive advantages in the rich combination of components. − By designing the inorganic and organic components of OIMH crystal, dimensionally reduced crystallographic/electronic structures would exhibit quantum confinement effect that can lead to different optical properties from the bulk. − For example, 0D OIMHs based on n s 2 ions (mainly Pb 2+ , Sn 2+ , Sb 3+ , Bi 3+ , Te 4+ ) can exhibit self-trapped excitons (STEs) photoluminescence (PL) due to soft lattice and strong electron–phonon coupling, emitting photons with broad emission, large Stokes shift and high efficiency. − Therefore, 0D OIMHs have been developed in flourishing optical applications such as X-ray scintillator, thermography, and optical waveguides. − More importantly, weak intermolecular/ionic interactions might endow 0D OIMHs with switchable structure and PL. − ,− …”