Color Curves vs DotMatrix Studio
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Color Curves
Adjust photo colors with powerful RGB curves. This tool allows for precise control over tone and light, offering both combined and individual red, green, and blue channel adjustments. Edits are non-destructive and can be applied directly through the Photos extension.
- RGB curves editing
- Separate R, G, B channels
- Photos extension integration
- Non-destructive edits
- Full resolution support
- Minimalist interface
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Edit colors with RGB curves either together or Red, Green and Blue separately. Curves is one of the most powerful tools when editing photos. It lets you dynamically change tone and light in images as simple as possible. Key Goals · Fully usable through Photos extension · Non-destructive edits and update original image in app · Full resolution support · As simple and minimalistic as possible If you have any questions or run into any problems: colorcurves@jhnd.me
DotMatrix Studio
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Your photos, run through a monitoring terminal. DotMatrix Studio turns anything you shoot or import into a 1-bit artifact — the dot-matrix look of VFD displays, old newsprint and station monitors. There is no preset carousel to scroll past: you dial the look in yourself and watch it render live. SHOOT IN 1-BIT A live dithered viewfinder shows you the look before the shutter, not after. Toggle between DOTMATRIX and NORMAL if you would rather frame with the plain camera first, adjust pixel size and palette on the rail, and flip between front and back cameras. THREE FILM STOCKS NEWSPRINT — Floyd–Steinberg error diffusion, the fine scattered grain of a printed photograph. MATRIX — Bayer 8x8 ordered dithering, the regular weave of a hardware display. HALFTONE — real circular dots on a grid, with an adjustable cell size. All three are written by hand for this app and tuned by eye, not borrowed from a library. FOUR PALETTES OXBLOOD, PAPER, PHOSPHOR and AMBER. Each is a two-colour stock with its own accent, from warm terminal red to green phosphor glow. THE DIALS Virtual resolution, 80 to 480 pixels wide, is the chunkiness itself: drop it and the image breaks into big honest dots, raise it and the detail creeps back. Contrast runs -50 to +50. Halftone cell size is adjustable. Scanlines darken every third row. Press and hold the preview to peek at the original underneath. TELEMETRY FRAMES Five frames — ACQUIRED, STATION, SPECIMEN, REC, or none — stamp your artifact with instrument chrome: dates, dither codes, resolution readouts, and a caption of your own. Frame text is drawn at full export resolution, so it is never a pixel-doubled smear. WALLPAPERS Render your artifact at your device's exact pixel size as a lock and home pair, then set it from the Photos app. A LIBRARY THAT STAYS EDITABLE Saved artifacts are parametric: the source photo and every setting are stored together, so reopening one restores the whole editing session. Change your mind about a palette a month later and nothing is lost. EXPORT PNG at 2048px on the long edge. Save to Photos, share anywhere, save as a wallpaper, or keep it in the library. Saving and sharing record the artifact automatically, so an exported image is never a dead end. COMPLETELY OFFLINE There is no network permission in this app at all. No account, no sign-in, no analytics, no ads, no location. Your photos never leave your device, because there is nowhere for them to go.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: DotMatrix Studio at Free against Color Curves's $1.99. Color Curves's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
DotMatrix Studio is free to download; Color Curves costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
| Parameter | Color Curves | DotMatrix Studio |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 1.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 40.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 9 months | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 24 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | JHND i Sverige AB | John Darkwa |
In-app purchases
Color Curves
No in-app purchases
DotMatrix Studio
No in-app purchases









