# Lighting Designer — user reviews

> 80 indexed App Store user reviews of Lighting Designer by Scenario Software LLC, rated 4.00/5 from 144 ratings.

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/lighting-designer/id511366142/reviews
- App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/lighting-designer/id511366142.md
- Rating breakdown: 5★ 86 · 4★ 21 · 3★ 9 · 2★ 11 · 1★ 17

## Newest reviews (21 of 80)

### 3/5 — Crashes too much…. I really want it to work!

*2024-07-28*

There is so much to like about this app. The. Layout, user interface, simplicity of design. 
I’ve used it for over 5 years on and off, and I would use it more but it crashes too often for me to trust it for all my work. If it were more stable I would use it on every job.

**Developer response:** Hi gaffer, sorry you’re having trouble! Email me at lightingdesigner.app@gmail.com, or use the “Email Developer” feature in the app, and we’ll get you sorted out.

### 2/5 — Do NOT waste your money

*2023-03-11*

App barely works. Yes the idea is great but the interface is fiddly, whole thing is buggy, and it crashes when you do basically anything. Can’t even render a simple lighting plot. App just keeps crashing every couple things I do. Paid way too much for an app that I can’t even use.

**Developer response:** Try out our new platform, Scenario. Everything you’ve described here is the reason we’ve built it from the ground up to be more stable and flexible!

### 3/5 — Love the app and its potential but it’s BUGGY

*2022-10-14*

I’ve used the app on and off for a few years. Unfortunately each time I give it a shot the crashes and frozen screens put me off and a number of times, I resorted back to hand-drawn lighting diagrams rather than dealing with the issues of this app.

While it offers so many possibilities, I’d love for it to be more stable.

### 2/5 — Great App In Theory

*2021-09-13*

This app is really cool in the sense that I can create really organized lighting plots for my crew. However, it crashes so frequently that it becomes borderline un-usable. If the developer fixes the bugs this app would make a great tool, however it has a long way to go.

**Developer response:** Typically I’d ask you to reach out over email to get more details, but I see you already have! Thanks!

### 3/5 — Crashes

*2021-08-03*

This App could really be fantastic, there’s a lot of useful features and I found it reasonably simple to work out. The crashing gets ridiculous though. Once I’d reached a certain point in putting together quite a simple plan, it started closing itself down literally every five minutes. The result is that it’s really too slow to be of much use, even on an ipad pro with pencil.

**Developer response:** Sorry to hear that! Please email lightingdesigner.app@gmail.com, or email through the app, and we’ll get the problem worked out.

### 2/5 — Clunky

*2021-06-07*

Really regret wasting my cash on this app. It’s incredibly clunky and counter intuitive. Having to link things (like a gel) to a light by going into another menu as opposed to just writing it in a box is insane. Why can we select a 12x12 solid, for example, but if we want to show a 12x12 grid we need to “attach” another object?
Where are the reports of total units and total watts/amps?

It also seems the units are not to scale

**Developer response:** Adrian, thanks for your feedback. You can reach out over email if you want to discuss more improvements!

In the meantime: there are various ways of adding Gels, and one of them actually IS writing it in a box (in the Patch table). I also agree that adding frames could be a smoother process, and I’m planning to add electrical distribution and calculation in a future update. You can get total fixture counts using the Truck feature and in the equipment list.

The units are to manufacturer’s specifications. What are you comparing them against? If it’s a floor plan image, that might be what’s not to scale. You can use the “Calculate Image Size” feature to fix that.

If you have more ideas, please email me and we’ll talk!

### 2/5 — Buggy to the point of being unusable

*2020-11-03*

Yup that’s it

**Developer response:** I’d love to hear more about these bugs so I can get them fixed! Please email me at lightingdesigner.app@gmail.com, or use the “Email Developer” feature in the app, so we can track them down.

### 2/5 — Keeps crashing while naming fixtures

*2020-09-21*

K

**Developer response:** Sorry to hear that! Please email me at lightingdesigner.app@gmail.com, or use the “Email Developer” feature in the app, and we’ll figure out what the problem is.

### 4/5 — Mac

*2020-08-21*

This app could be great if it didn’t crash as often and I would love to be able to import scale drawings and just have to add the lighting also the ability to use it on my Mac as well as my iPad would make it amassing

**Developer response:** You actually can add scale drawings! Use any image that you can get into your device’s photos, then use the LD “Calculate Size” feature. You can set two points on the image, tell the app how far apart they SHOULD be, and LD will rescale the image to match the app scale. Email if you need any help!

### 4/5 — Excellent but still doesn’t have all of the basics

*2020-01-15*

I love this for making plots super quick BUT, it is limited to 4 universes. When rigs now have way beyond that. So I cannot do this for larger rigs or even distributed rigs. Such a bummer I had to put this app on the back burner for now.

**Developer response:** Not to worry; starting with v3.6.0, the app allows you to address fixtures up to 48 universes and 9999 channels. Let me know if you want more!

### 3/5 — Continuous crashing and overpriced

*2019-10-28*

This IS a great app and app idea. There is some intuitiveness to it although without a user guide accessible on iPhone (it’s there just a blank screen though) within the app you already have to have some familiarity with draft and design. The price tag is not justifiable due to crashes as I can’t even generate a test plot without losing my mind! Maybe it’s better on iPad but if I had an Ipad out I may as well have had a computer out and plotted that way.

**Developer response:** It’s certainly better on iPad, but it seemed wrong to not make it available for iPhone as well. I highly recommend iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil, and I built in keyboard shortcuts as well!

The User Guide requires an internet connection to use, so just make sure that’s available.

### 4/5 — Idea

*2019-10-18*

I think having some templates or demo shows might help make it easier to understand at first

**Developer response:** Thanks! I’ll think about the best way to make that happen! Some video tutorials are certainly long overdue, but I’m sure anyone working in film/tv/theater will understand the laughability of finding the “free time” to do it :)

### 3/5 — Potentially great but buggy

*2019-04-22*

I love the app for doing my overheads. Would however love desktop / laptop support and synchronization so I’m not stuck with only using my iPad. 

Also the recent update is extremely buggy, ‘LD’ is constantly asking for permission to let others look me up my email and when I say don’t allow or allow it just pops up over and over again. This forced me to restart my iPad multiple times and im extremely concerned if I have to reinstall the app if it keeps happening, would I potentially lose my plots ?!

**Developer response:** Interesting thing about the repeated attempts. I would recommend just allowing it; the only reason it asks is so it can determine whether or not you’re signed into an iCloud account, which is how it knows whether or not to allow the option to sync your Plots. The email thing is just its weird way of asking. None of your personal details are ever sent to Apple or to me automatically, and there’s no LD function to look people up by their email.

Update: in v3.5.2, the app should only ask you once and then leave it alone. I still recommend accepting, but if you don’t, it won’t affect the functionality of the app in any important way.

### 4/5 — Nearly there but...

*2019-03-14, version 3.4.0*

This works well but has some quirks with resizing the plan and naming objects that I’m sure will be solved soon.  The main reason for not giving 5 stars is the lack of export functions.  It really needs at a minimum vector based PDF export so you can fine tune what you hand out.  More export and import functions would be fantastic, like dxf, and svg as well.  

Not being able to import your own fixture graphics is annoying but not a show stopper as the inbuilt library is reasonable and you can rename as required.

The email output is ok, but hard to get the image dimensions right, and not really very configurable.  I found I had to mail it to myself, edit the output to get it the way I wanted it.

Overall, a good app and worth the price.

### 3/5 — I life the potential of this app.

*2019-01-17*

I do like the potential that this app has but one thing that i feel is missing, maybe i just cant figure it out, is the ability to type in room measurements instead of dragging. For instance when adding a rectangle shape it would be nice in the measurement bubble to type in the measurement when i tap it.

**Developer response:** If you create a shape, then tap the “Shapes” button to open the detail table, you can enter the dimensions of the shape as numbers. You can do this with any object, with some variations for what type of object it is. Please email me if you have any other questions!

Edit: for v3.6.0, there's a "Shape Sizing" tool for images, which means you can define the length of a certain segment of an image and the image will automatically size itself. Enjoy!

### 3/5 — Still buggy and crashes too much

*2018-11-16*

Yea, if the devs could fix this, that’d be great. 
It’s a solid app for LD’s and Board Ops but it’s becoming a real hassle. And for $25 bucks....not worth the buy atm.

*iPad Pro 12.9*

**Developer response:** Just had a new update approved (v3.4) with many bug fixes. Looking forward to hearing what you think! And send me an email if you have any specific questions!

### 3/5 — Crashes

*2018-11-11*

This app seems ok but the crashes are not helpful and the interface isn’t as intuitive as I’d hoped for. It’s quite expensive for an app that keeps crashing all the time. I gave it 3 stars because if it worked without crashing it’d be very good.

**Developer response:** I just released a new update that fixes a lot of bugs! As for the interface, I’d love to hear your thoughts about how it could be improved. Send me an email and we’ll talk!

### 4/5 — Fairly useful

*2018-07-25*

This has helped me plan projects fairly swiftly, and distribute to crew. The rendering of plans can sometimes confuse and overlap vital info like lamps which makes it hard to read. It can crash randomly, but never really lost anything I had done. So pretty good, all in all. Would love to see improvements for it to become more useful. Please add underwater lamps!

**Developer response:** Great to hear! If you’re looking for more fixtures, check out the Crescit LightShop Library subscription, which will give you access to over 13,000 fixtures plus more thousands of gels and gobo patterns. You can also exercise more control over your objects stacking order by using the Z position feature. Send me an email if you have any questions!

### 3/5 — Buggy

*2018-06-16*

Spent 2 hours building a lighting diagram for a job, for this program to irreversibly undo an hour of my work like it was the cool thing to do. Buggy as hell. Freezes and crashes, doesn't save your work, awful awful app.

EDIT:
Gave this another try- still crashes unexpectedly from time to time, but it’s not losing my work anymore, which is a solid step in the right direction.

Really cool features being added since last I tried the app, but I think a stable app should be highest priority over features.

**Developer response:** So sorry to hear that! That particular undo-grouping bug was a really tough one to track down, but I do believe I've eliminated it in the latest releases. Hope you're finding the updates useful!

### 4/5 — Good but

*2018-05-09, version 3.3.5*

This is a great little app in that you can use it wherever you can use an iPad Pro - thus very portable and straight forward.

I would like to see more export and save options other than to image - would love to see a DXF and PDF export option.

### 4/5 — Awesome App

*2018-04-19*

Love this App, as a pro stage designer I used this app to communicate with my LDs and Technical Staff for show setups. Love the import and send to crew staff for the job design

**Developer response:** Thanks so much for the review! I’d love to hear your thoughts on the latest release; please send me an email if you have any questions!

## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated)

### 1/5 — ROUBOOOO!

*2026-04-19*

Simplesmente baixei o app e já foi cobrado um valor de 149$ na minha fatura? O app eu nem sei pra que serve!

**Developer response:** Você pode solicitar um reembolso pela App Store, mas não tenho certeza de por que você comprou um aplicativo sem saber para que ele servia?

### 1/5 — Crashes

*2023-05-26*

This app keeps crashing just like others have stated

**Developer response:** Try our new platform, Scenario. It’s incredibly stable on any device!

### 1/5 — Unstable

*2022-12-08*

Will inmediatly ask for a refund. 
The app is extremely unstable and crashes continuously.

### 1/5 — Crashes when trying to render large plots

*2022-10-25*

The app crashes when rendering plots larger than 36 pieces on my iPhone 12. Not a good choice for event lighting design if you’re trying to draw plans to scale.

### 1/5 — Crashes all the time

*2020-02-20*

Running on a iPad Pro, latest OS. Crashes all the time, awful. Feel robbed.

**Developer response:** Sorry to hear that! I’d recommend deleting and re-downloading. After that it should work normally.

Send me an email at lightingdesigner.app@gmail.com if you have any other questions!

### 1/5 — Buggy und it crasches

*2019-12-15*

I bought this App to create Lightning Plans for Movie Sets. The Problem is That its impossible to work with this App, because of permanent rasches. And as i Tried to add dmx adresses , it failed completley. So in my opinion ist not Worth the Money. Never had a buggy app like this , sorry.

**Developer response:** Sorry to hear that! It sounds like your download might have been corrupted in some way. I’d suggest deleting and re-downloading the app; after that, it should function correctly. I’ve received a few reports like this over the years, and a re-download has always done the trick.

Email me at lightingdesigner.app@gmail.com, or use the Email Developer function built into the app, or the contact form on the website, to let me know how it works out!

### 1/5 — App keeps on crashing and I keep on losing my work

*2018-03-05*

Spent quite some time on different diagrams then the app decided to crash and back to square one. I wouldn’t recommend this app for any use in a professional setting.

**Developer response:** So sorry to hear that! I've made some big improvements in v3.3, especially the ability to restore your work from an automatic backup just in case you lose it. Hope this helps!

### 1/5 — Crash app

*2017-04-23, version 3.1.0*

Crashes and crashes and crashes, don't waste your time

### 1/5 — Can't Recommend

*2017-02-04, version 3.0.5*

Been using this app for a number of years now. Thought it showed promise at first, but issues with constant crashing which cropped up a couple years back have not been resolved. The new twist this year, and the final deal breaker: along with what appears to be a makeover of the app comes this new feature where my files from last year will no longer open leaving me without access to data which could have made my current production work significantly easier. I've been forced to look for a more stable and trustworthy option elsewhere and am having to rebuild my work along the way.

### 1/5 — Save your money.

*2016-05-10, version 2.1.8*

App crashes constantly and many of the functions don't work. App was a good idea that wasn't well executed. Would rather have my money back.

## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated)

### 5/5 — It’s great

*2021-11-27*

Makes camera positioning easy

### 5/5 — Great program, very helpful

*2019-05-12*

Just started using this program and thus far, I’m a huge fan. I feel like a laptop version is critical, but small steps... 

I really appreciate the level of control and the density of the functionality and detail you can add and manipulate. Clearly a lot of time and thought went into this. Haven’t gotten deep enough to add truck/ crews / contact info but am looking forward to seeing how that works. 

Having done my plots and layouts by hand previously this is a huge help. 

Bry Thomas Sanders
Director of Photography

### 5/5 — Ajuda e atualização

*2019-02-23*

Comprei o App com a intenção de utilizar no iPad 2, infelizmente não funciona!

E possível vc liberar a atualização para uso, também no iPaid 2 10.03?

**Developer response:** Desculpe, só posso atualizar o aplicativo para as versões mais recentes do iOS. Eu sou um desenvolvedor de uma pessoa que é realmente um diretor de fotografia e eu não tenho tempo para manter todos os dispositivos. Eu recomendo comprar um novo iPad! (Google Translate)

### 5/5 — Great app with dedicated developer

*2017-04-15*

Update: The developer has now introduced the ability to share plot files which is very useful! The developer is clearly very dedicated to the app's development and is very happy to take onboard suggestions from users. As long as the developer continues to work on developing features and stability then it will continue to be a vital tool.

---------------------------
Previous:
Easy to use, even if a little buggy on my iPhone! One feature I would like to see is the ability to email plots so the can be opened in LD on another device! Overall gives a nice plan though!!

**Developer response:** Thanks for the review! As of the most recent release, v3.1, you can do exactly this: email Shows and Plots to anyone else who uses LD. Enjoy!

### 5/5 — Update?

*2016-11-10, version 2.1.8*

I love what this app is trying to do. Needs an update for iOS 10. Some of the functionality has gone away since the new iOS.

### 5/5 — Easy to use "Cad" alternative.

*2015-07-01, version 2.1.8*

I am a professional Film Electrician with IATSE local 873 in Toronto Canada. This LD App is almost the perfect solution to drawing lighting plots, with ease of use and a ready made fixture libraries of Truss, Motors, Lights and many other items such as stage gear and furniture.  With a little more development, time and App updates this will be the go to App for drawing lighting plots.
Keep up the good work and look forward to any new App updates.  
Thanks.

### 5/5 — Newer versions are much improved

*2015-05-02*

If you're a lighting designer or board op and looking for a way to do a quick sketch of a plot look no further. Despite the other reviews which are a year old I decided to take the risk and buy the app. It was WELL WORTH IT, the app is amazing and saves me a ton of time erasing and re-drawing plots when something needs to get changed. 

I've been using the app for almost a month and have used it extensively during tech-weeks and it very rarely crashes. I highly recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind taking the time to learn the software (it doesn't take that long) and could use a more efficient way to create plots on location.

Even if you're not an LD or board op but deal with logistics of set and equipment lists this is a great app everything is easy to send or print. (made even easier with the addition of a crew list)

### 5/5 — Love it

*2014-11-11, version 2.1.8*

This app is amazing. I now plot out most set ups so I can duplicate them later. I've been looking for this app ever since I got my first iPad.

### 5/5 — A solid tool for any DP/Gaffer

*2014-02-18, version 2.1.6*

Being a pencil and paper guy, I was reluctant to spend the $30.00 on this app. Immediately after reading the manual I was plotting designs with ease. And FAST. As a DP embracing some of these cine-based apps I can confidently say this is an essential for my tool bag. This app is worth the cash. 

One big note is the support is GREAT. My questions were answered with a fast and friendly response.

### 5/5 — A great tool for the tool chest

*2013-12-10*

I’ve been following this app since it’s initial release.  The early versions were interesting and somewhat useful, depending on the size of your project.  With the latest update this program is crossing over to a serious light plot drafting machine.  

As a film light board op, it’s not uncommon for me to show up to a set the day of shoot with little to no documentation for the rig I’m controlling.  With this app I’m able to stand on set and quickly create a rough layout of lights that can be refined into a good looking plot to share with the crew.  

While the serous drafting program on my laptop will always out perform this app.  Where this app fits in is for quickly generating a small to medium set that looks professional from the beginning.  I look forward to see where this app goes from here.

**Developer response:** I appreciate this review so much; you seem to really understand the direction I'm going with this. Thanks!

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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 2026-09-08.*