This vs 'splain
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
This
Enhance your photos by adding labels, descriptions, and commentary. This app offers a clean interface with customizable pointers and automatic text optimization for clarity. Share your annotated images easily across various social media platforms and messaging apps.
- Add pointers, labels, and descriptions
- 7 expressive pointer designs
- Adjustable pointer size and position
- Automatic text legibility optimization
- Save and share to social media
- Clean, minimal design
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Tell the whole story by adding pointers, labels, descriptions, and commentary to your photos. FEATURES: • Awarded “App Store Best of 2016” by Apple • From Tinrocket, creator of Waterlogue (App Store Best of 2014) and Olli (App Store Best of 2017) • Clean, minimal design • Simple, interactive, and fun to use • 7 expressive pointer designs to suit your mood • Easily add, delete, re-size, or re-position pointers • Automatically optimizes text legibility • Save to your phone or share via Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, Mastodon, Message, Email, and more WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT THIS BY TINROCKET: “App Store Best of 2016" —Apple “App Store Pick of the Week” —Starbucks “This for iOS makes adding simple annotations to photos dead simple”—Lifehacker “This is an absurdly easy way to add information to photos and send them away.”—MacStories KEEP UP WITH TINROCKET: • Follow @Tinrocket on Instagram for the latest! • We’re here to help: If you have a question or need assistance, you can always email us at support@tinrocket.com • If you like “This,” please consider leaving an App Store review or rating. Every review counts and helps indie developers like ourselves.
'splain
Easily add text, annotations, and visual elements to your photos and videos. Customize with a variety of fonts, colors, and sizes. Save your creations or share them directly to social media.
- Point and tag functionality
- Customizable fonts, colors, and sizes
- Direct sharing to social media
- Internal photo album
- Slideshow functionality
- Supports photos and videos
- Keyframe editing for videos
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Splain your photos with speed with the best point and tag app for iPhone! * simple, easy to use interface * lots of fonts, colors, and sizes to choose from * easily share to SNS or save for later * internal photo album and slideshow functionlity * supports still photos or videos * keyframes to modify adding and moving during video playback and more!
Screenshots
Verdict
This and 'splain both sit at 4.8 stars, but that hides the real split: 86% of This's written reviews are positive against 45% of 'splain's. This also leads on update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 29 months) and ratings volume (535 vs 1). 'splain's advantage is price ($1.99 vs $2.99) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.6). On rating, 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
This costs $2.99 and 'splain $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
'splain holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: This has 535 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 86% of This's written reviews are positive against 45% of 'splain's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
This ships an update every 5 weeks, 'splain every 29 months. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | This | 'splain |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | $1.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.8 (535 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 85.6% of reviews — better | 45.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 535 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks — better | Every 29 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 9.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 45 MB | 18 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Tinrocket, LLC | GREEN MONSTER .INC |
Customer experience
This
'splain
Bugs and requests
This
Reported bugs
2 issues- App crashing when saving to Photos
- Annotations not aligning properly on certain backgrounds
Requested features
4 requests- Additional color options for annotations
- Ability to add multiple lines or brackets from a single point
- Option to save original and annotated images separately
- Support for larger screen sizes and newer devices
'splain
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
This
No in-app purchases
'splain
No in-app purchases
