# GuanZhen: Photo Critique·Gear — Critique, style & gear advisor

> Critique, style & gear advisor (iPhone/iPad app by 宇 岳.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/guanzhen-photo-critiquegear/id6776724430 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [宇 岳](https://appshunter.io/developer/6776671977)
- Category: Photo & Video, Utilities
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Age rating: 12+
- Requires: iOS 17.6 · 100 MB
- Languages: American English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified, China), Chinese (Traditional, Taiwan)
- Released: 2026-06-25
- Data updated: 2026-07-30
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/guanzhen-photo-critiquegear/id6776724430/reviews.md

## What is GuanZhen?

GuanZhen is a photography analysis and growth coach for people who are serious about shooting better. It doesn't edit your photos for you — it helps you see your shooting habits, the technical flaws in a shot, what works (and doesn't) creatively, and whether a piece of gear is actually worth buying.

STYLE ANALYSIS — Free, on device
Scan your library, read EXIF and basic visual information, and chart how you actually shoot: focal lengths, apertures, ISO, time of day, and which bodies and lenses you really use. It runs entirely on your device — no photos uploaded.

SINGLE-PHOTO CRITIQUE — Free, on device
Combine EXIF, pixel analysis, and on-device Vision scene recognition to get an objective technical report for one photo: exposure, sharpness, noise, safe shutter speed, aperture use, and more.

DEEP ANALYSIS — Advanced
- Deep Style Profile: pick 9–15 recent photos to distill your stable aesthetic tendencies, how they're changing over time, and where to go next.
- Six-Dimension Creative Critique: light, composition, exposure & tonality, color, post-processing, and content & expression — to judge whether an image holds up and how to make the next one better.
Deep analysis runs in the cloud, only after you explicitly opt in. Submitted jobs keep running in the background, with progress on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island.

GEAR LIBRARY
Track the bodies and lenses you own, browse a camera and lens database with new and used market prices side by side, and get recommendations based on your real shooting data — a first kit for beginners, or the next upgrade for what you already own, with optional sensor-format and brand preferences. Scan your library for a gear "return on investment" view that shows which gear actually makes your keepers and which gathers dust.

ACADEMY & GROWTH
- Today's Shooting Opportunity: a full-day sun dial showing night, twilight, golden hour, and current sun/moon position; grant location to add local weather, sunset, stargazing, and visibility guidance (it falls back to on-device sun and moon math when unavailable).
- A photography wiki, illustrated knowledge, and shooting challenges.
- Weekly Smart Training: actionable drills built from the gear you own, your shooting habits, and your recurring weak spots.
- A growth timeline that surfaces your progress and what to practice next.

PRIVACY
Local-first by design: style analysis and single-photo critique run entirely on device. Cloud deep analysis only happens after you confirm it; your photos are never uploaded or modified automatically.

SUBSCRIPTION & PURCHASES
Core style analysis and single-photo critique are free. Deep analysis, smart training, growth reports, and PDF export are advanced features available via the GuanZhen Pro auto-renewing subscription or with credits.
- Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase.
- The subscription auto-renews unless turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period.
- Manage or cancel anytime in Settings › Apple ID › Subscriptions.
- Privacy Policy: https://guanzhen.top/privacy.html?lang=zh | Terms of Use (EULA): https://guanzhen.top/terms.html?lang=zh
(Exact prices and durations are shown in the App and on the App Store.)

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**Subscriptions**

| Subscription | Price | Period |
| --- | --- | --- |
| GuanZhen Pro | $2.99 | per month |

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 3 Silver | $0.99 | one-time |
| 10 Silver | $1.99 | one-time |
| 25 Silver | $3.99 | one-time |
| First-Purchase Offer · 6 Silver | $0.99 | one-time |



## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.5 — 2026-07-29

DIAGNOSE FROM ANY APP Select a photo in Photos, Files, or any app's share sheet and tap "Diagnose in GuanZhen" to submit it — no need to open the app first. EXIF is preserved byte for byte; back in GuanZhen, tap the banner at the top to open the free single-photo critique.

EDITING RECIPE Deep critiques now include up to four actionable editing steps, and say so plainly when there is nothing worth changing instead of padding the list. After editing, tap "Compare after editing" to check whether the result moved in the intended direction and whether the correction was overdone.

COMPOSITION GUIDE — Free, on device Single-photo critique now marks the actual position of your subject and suggests up to two crop ratios (1:1, 4:5, 3:2, 16:9). If the frame is off level by more than 2°, it reports the correction angle.

SHOOTING FOOTPRINT MAP — Free, on device Heat zones and the three cities you shoot most, generated from the location data already embedded in your photos. The map requests no location permission, your photos are never uploaded, and a share card can be exported in one tap. New in this version:

Tonight's Light: a weekend-afternoon prompt that picks one of the spots you have shot before and tells you when golden hour starts there
Retake list: mark a location and the light you want, and get a reminder when the window matches
Record wall: farthest, earliest, latest, and most in a single day — surfaced only when a record is broken
Time-of-day titles now span bronze, silver, and gold, with progress on your leading title mirrored in the widget
Four Seasons: once a location has spring, summer, autumn, and winter, a 2×2 seasonal card is generated automatically, and you can swap any frame by hand
Spot dossier: the rating trend for a single location and the issues that recur there
A Saturday micro-exploration card, hidden badges on the badge wall, and alerts for rare sky windows and solstice light — silent for the whole month when there is nothing worth reporting
MASTERWORK BENCHMARK Tasks in Weekly Smart Training now include a written reference brief covering composition, light, the key moment, and common failure points — text only, with no image to copy.

RAW SUPPORT RAW and DNG files are detected and badged, with editing-headroom guidance written separately for RAW and JPEG.

GEAR ROI REPORT, REBUILT Cost is now derived from depreciation over your holding period rather than current resale value, so gear that holds its value is no longer ranked as the hardest to pay back. Phone and camera shots are counted on separate tracks. The "gathering dust" percentage, the named list, and the sell suggestions all come from one and the same test, so the numbers no longer disagree with the names. APS-C and Micro Four Thirds focal lengths are converted to full-frame equivalents. Figures will come out lower after a rescan; this is the corrected accounting.

ALSO IN THIS VERSION

Added an annual subscription plan
Long critiques and style reports are no longer truncated mid-output
Fixed the dark flash at launch, and iPhone landscape incorrectly using the iPad two-column layout
Improved contrast on secondary text, added press feedback on buttons and a "Continue where you left off" entry point, and banners now queue by priority

### 1.4 — 2026-07-15

This is the biggest update since GuanZhen launched.

[Comparison Diagnosis]
Upload two photos for an A/B comparison: before and after editing, picking the best frame from a burst, or verifying a reshoot against earlier advice. Dimension by dimension, it tells you which photo is stronger, where the gap is, and how to fix the weaker one. Your first comparison is free.

[Growth Tracking]
- New personal photography profile: frequent subjects, favorite focal lengths, activity streak, stage titles and achievement badges
- New trend chart on the growth timeline: every diagnosis becomes a point on your curve
- New home screen widget Growth at a Glance: see your streak and weekly focus without opening the app
- Subscribers get an automatic darkroom monthly report reviewing each month's shooting
- Export deep diagnosis reports as PDF for long-term archiving
- Search and filter your diagnosis history by type and grade

[Reshoot Reminder]
When a deep diagnosis suggests a reshoot, schedule a reminder. The notification takes you straight to the reshoot comparison so you can verify the improvement.

[Shooting Opportunities]
- New Sun Dial: a solar dial showing the day's light phases, with home screen and lock screen widgets plus a Control Center shortcut
- Golden hour reminder: get notified 40 minutes before the evening golden hour, enough time to head out and set up
- 7-day golden hour forecast on the opportunity card
- Photo pick assistant: scans this month's photos on device and sends the promising ones straight to diagnosis

[Learning]
- New beginner course: six short lessons that take you from confused about settings to a photo you are happy with
- Exposure lab: drag aperture, shutter and ISO and watch a real photo re-render live
- Light lab: side-by-side portraits shot under different lighting directions
- Daily tips can now send a daily reminder; completing a challenge generates an achievement share card

[Gear]
- Gear library expanded to 700+ camera bodies and lenses with market price references, continuously updated from the cloud
- First camera advisor: complete kit suggestions matched to your actual budget, with the budget breakdown explained
- Gear ROI scan: analyzes your real shooting data to show which lens earns its keep and what to buy next

[Photography Persona]
The free style analysis now maps you to one of 15 photography personas, with rarity tiers and a dedicated share card.

[Subscription and Archive]
- New annual subscription, 34% less than paying monthly
- Subscriber archive capacity raised to 200 entries, with iCloud backup so nothing is lost when you switch phones
- New friend invites: both sides get one free deep analysis when a code is redeemed

[Experience and Stability]
- Deep analysis now completes reliably in the background: lock the screen or switch apps, and get notified when it is done
- Recalibrated scoring across the board; exposure diagnosis now weighs the subject separately for sounder conclusions
- Extensive interface polish and full localization in Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, English and Japanese

### 1.3 — 2026-07-04

Added Photo Persona and share cards, and redesigned the single-photo diagnosis experience.

Academy now includes Exposure Triangle practice and a Light Studio.

Gear Library now supports cloud sync and can provide more personalized gear recommendations based on your diagnosis weak spots.

### 1.2 — 2026-06-28

This update reworks the analysis entry point and greatly improves gear-library accuracy:

• New "Analysis" hub: the former "Style" and "Diagnosis" tabs are now combined into one entry — just tap in and choose "Multi-photo Style Analysis" or "Single-photo Analysis" for cleaner navigation.
• More accurate gear recognition: the same camera/lens is no longer split into multiple devices due to differing EXIF name formats, so your gear ROI reports are more reliable.
• Added many gear aliases, making gear easier to find when searching or adding.
• Corrected the valuation range for several lenses so ROI prices better reflect the real market.
• Refined gear recommendation cards so scores stay tidy even with long names.
• Improved the diagnosis confidence notes to focus on advice you can actually act on.
• Fixed an issue where an old result could reappear after leaving single-photo diagnosis, plus overall stability improvements.

### 1.1 — 2026-06-27

V1.1 Updates:
Improved reliability for long-running in-depth analyses.
Improved subscription and Silver balance syncing, fixing cases where active members could not access in-depth analysis.
Refined access rules for Guided Training, Growth Timeline, and gear recommendations.
Improved error messages, balance refunds, and overall stability.

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-07-30.*