Comparison

Panols vs Surface Camera

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Panols

Easily split any photo from your library into multiple squares for seamless posting on Instagram. Showcase your panoramic shots or other images across your profile grid. Organize and edit your photos with metadata, tags, and personal branding.

Highlights
  • Split photos into multiple squares
  • Post panoramas to Instagram
  • Edit and organize photos
  • Add personal branding
  • View photo metadata
  • Sync edits with Photo Library
Read full description

Your story. Beyond the frame. Turn one photo into a seamless, swipeable story. Panols gives every detail room—and every frame your personal touch. CREATE Choose a photo and a layout. Make a single-image post or spread your story across 2–5 tiles. Or ask Siri: “Create a new Panol.” MAKE IT YOURS Refine the crop and rotation. Add borders, rounded corners, colors, and watermarks. Find the words with optional title and description suggestions from Apple Intelligence—or write your own. SHARE Export your images in order, ready to share. Your original stays untouched. Revisit saved Panols or explore your geotagged moments on the Globe. YOUR LANGUAGE. YOUR WAY. More languages. Layouts for larger text and right-to-left reading. Clearer accessibility labels and support for your motion and transparency settings. On iOS 27, bring supported RAW and ProRAW photos into your editing workflow with Apple’s new RAW 9 processing. The frame is limited. Your story isn’t. For iPhone and iPad running iOS/iPadOS 18 or later. AI suggestions require iOS 27 and supported Apple Intelligence capabilities. RAW processing requires iOS 27 and supported, local, unadjusted photos. Some layouts and branding tools require Panols+. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Surface Camera

Capture photos with a vintage film aesthetic using a variety of distinct film profiles. Fine-tune your shots with editing tools and save directly to your photo library.

Highlights
  • Eight distinct film profiles
  • Adjustable blur and light leaks
  • Manual focus and exposure control
  • Comprehensive editing suite
  • Direct saving to Apple Photos
  • HEIC, JPEG, and ProRAW capture
Features
Read full description

A film camera for iPhone. Choose your film. Compose the frame. Make the photograph. Surface brings eight distinct film profiles to your iPhone, with the look visible in the viewfinder before you shoot. Add blur or light leaks, take control of focus and exposure, and save directly to Apple Photos. FIND YOUR FILM Four black-and-white profiles: Selenium 400, Bromide 125, Metol 125, and Palladium 3200. Four color profiles: Chroma 100, Tonal 400, Radian 400, and Prism 100. Your chosen profile becomes part of the photograph at capture. Editing refines that photograph while keeping its film. SHAPE THE FRAME Position blur and adjust its strength. Add a light leak, then randomize it to explore a different color and pattern. Tap to focus, adjust exposure, and use focus peaking. Flash, a timer, and slow shutter are close at hand. EDIT IN SURFACE Adjust Exposure, Contrast, Blacks, Whites, Saturation, Warmth, Tint, Grain, Halation, and Vignette. Crop and straighten, undo and redo, and save your edits back to Photos. ONE PHOTO LIBRARY Captures and edits live in Apple Photos. Browse your Surface photographs, import photos for editing, share favorites, and manage your collection without maintaining a second library. CAPTURE YOUR WAY Choose HEIC, JPEG, or Apple ProRAW on supported iPhones. Capture at 12, 24, or 48 MP depending on your hardware and settings. ProRAW supports 12 or 48 MP. Open the viewfinder from Siri, Shortcuts, the Lock Screen, or Control Center. MADE FOR YOUR IPHONE Film rendering and editing happen on your device. No Surface account, ads, or tracking. Apple services handle purchases, optional iCloud Photos sync, and location-name lookup. Available in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, and Korean. Requires iOS 18 or later. Camera features vary by iPhone model. MEMBERSHIP Choose a monthly or yearly auto-renewing subscription, or a one-time lifetime purchase. Purchases are handled by Apple. Subscriptions renew unless canceled through your Apple Account settings. Local prices are shown before purchase. Privacy Policy: https://surfacecamera.app/privacy/ Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Panols4 screens
Surface Camera4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Surface Camera at 5.0 against Panols's 4.4. Surface Camera also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 5 days). Panols's advantage is ratings volume (122 vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Panols sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and Surface Camera sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Surface Camera holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Panols has 122 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Panols ships an update every 5 days, Surface Camera every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Panols versus Surface Camera: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPanolsSurface Camera
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (122 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews48.1% of reviews—
Number of ratings122 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 5 daysEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.018.0
Further details — not scored
Size47 MB80 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJuan ArreguinCarlos Tarrats

Customer experience

Panols

All ratings120 ratings
Positive85.8%
Neutral3.3%
Negative10.8%
Written reviews108 reviews
Positive48.1%
Neutral9.3%
Negative42.6%

Surface Camera

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Panols

Reported bugs

15 issues
  • App freezes during image creation
  • App crashes when loading images
  • App crashes on high-resolution photos
  • App crashes on iPhone X
  • App crashes upon choosing a photo
Show 10 more
  • App stalls or does nothing when clicking split button
  • App doesn't export photos
  • Photos not saved to library
  • In-app purchases not restoring
  • App adds a vignette effect
  • Seams visible in split photos
  • Lower quality in one half of split photo
  • App doesn't start or respond to input
  • App freezes or shows black screen
  • Unable to restore purchases

Requested features

7 requests
  • Option to choose number of parts to split into
  • Support for more than 3 parts/squares
  • Ability to split into portrait orientation
  • Add spaces between generated images
  • Support for 3x2, 3x3, 4x1, or more grid sizes
Show 2 more
  • Option to make pictures over more than one row
  • Add vignette effect removal option

Surface Camera

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Panols

Subscriptions2
  • Panols+ Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Panols+ Yearly3 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time5
  • Portrait Formats$0.99
  • Watermarks$1.99
  • Multi-grid Formats$2.99
Show 2 more
  • Unlock All Features$4.99
  • Panols+ Lifetime$24.99
3 purchases

Surface Camera

Subscriptions2
  • Surface Monthly$1.491 Month
  • Surface Yearly$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Surface Lifetime$49.99

Questions

Is Panols free?
Panols is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Surface Camera free?
Surface Camera is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Panols or Surface Camera?
Surface Camera is rated higher. Panols averages 4.4 out of 5 from 122 ratings, while Surface Camera averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Panols or Surface Camera have ads?
Neither Panols nor Surface Camera shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Panols or Surface Camera?
Panols ships an update every 5 days, and Surface Camera every 2 days. Most recently, Panols was updated on November 2, 2026 and Surface Camera on October 31, 2026.

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