Pulse Camera Control vs CamRanger 2
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Pulse Camera Control
Control your Canon or Nikon DSLR wirelessly from your smartphone or tablet. Take photos, videos, and time-lapses with instant feedback and creative control from up to 100 feet away.
- Wireless DSLR control
- Remote photo/video capture
- Time-lapse with exposure ramping
- ISO, shutter speed, aperture control
- Instant image thumbnails & histograms
- Control up to 3 devices
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This is the smartphone control app for Pulse. Pulse is a device that attaches to your Canon or Nikon DSLR and allows you to wirelessly take photos, videos and time-lapses from your phone or tablet and get instant feedback. With Pulse you get complete creative control all while staying free to use your phone or tablet. From the mountains to the studio Pulse handles everything from your biggest projects to impromptu street photography. With its small size and intuitive features, you'll never want to leave it behind. Pulse Features : -Wirelessly control ISO, shutter speed and aperture from up to 100 feet -Receive image thumbnails and histograms within seconds -Take 'Holy Grail' timelapses with exposure ramping -Control up to 3 Pulses at once -Free up WiFi and Internet as Pulse uses Bluetooth and BLE -Extend your session with 24 hours of battery (USB rechargeable)
CamRanger 2
Wirelessly control your Canon, Nikon, Sony, or Fujifilm camera from your iPad or iPhone. Offers advanced features like live view, remote capture, and automatic focus stacking for professional-level tethering.
- Wireless camera tethering
- Remote camera control
- Live View
- Quick image previews
- Automatic focus stacking
- Intervalometer
- HDR/Advanced Bracketing
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The CamRanger 2 provides reliable, professional level wireless camera tethering and control of your Canon, Nikon, Sony, or Fujifilm camera with your iPad or iPhone. From simple, fast image previews to advanced controls, you will be amazed at what you can do with the CamRanger 2 and your camera. A separate CamRanger 2 device is required. The CamRanger 2 only works with supported cameras: https://camranger.com/knowledge-base/supported-cameras/ - Quick Image Previews - Live View - View and set camera parameters (Shutter Speed, Aperture, ISO, White Balance, Focus Mode, Capture Mode, etc.) - Touch focusing and focus adjustments - Remote capture - View full resolution images with meta data and histogram - Movie Recording - Automatic Focus Stacking - Intervalometer (Time-Lapse) - Bulb Mode - HDR/Advanced Bracketing - Send images to multiple devices - Save images to iOS Photo Library, upload to social media, backup to CamRanger 2 SD card See https://camranger.com for full details and supported cameras
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: CamRanger 2 at 4.6 against Pulse Camera Control's 3.0. CamRanger 2 also leads on ratings volume (337 vs 23) and update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 2 months). Pulse Camera Control's advantage is monetization model (free vs paid). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
CamRanger 2 holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: CamRanger 2 has 337 ratings behind it against 23, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 45% of Pulse Camera Control's written reviews are positive against 54% of CamRanger 2's.
Pulse Camera Control ships an update every 2 months, CamRanger 2 every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Pulse Camera Control | CamRanger 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.0 (23 ratings) | 4.6 (337 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 44.6% of reviews | 54.2% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 23 | 337 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 4 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 34 MB | 60 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Tangy Laboratories Inc | CamRanger |
Customer experience
Pulse Camera Control
CamRanger 2
User reviews
Pulse Camera Control
From 23 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Great for time lapses
- 👍 Works well for long exposures
- 👍 Useful for astrophotography
- 👍 Makes camera use easier
- 👍 Good design scheme
Room to improve
- 🐛 Endless bugs and confusion
- 🐛 Completely incompetent company
- 🐛 Still will not work
- 🐛 Occasional clipping with onscreen text
- 🐛 Connection can be unreliable
CamRanger 2
From 337 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Very helpful and useful tool
- 🚀 Reliable and dependable performance
- 👍 Good quality cables work fine
- 💡 Lots of useful features
- 👍 Excellent customer service
Room to improve
- 👎 Outdated and needs updates
- 👎 Large and awkward design
- 👎 Plastic antennas easy to break
- 👎 Battery life is poor
- 👎 Requires third-party hardware
Bugs and requests
Pulse Camera Control
Reported bugs
58 issues- Endless bugs
- Bluetooth connectivity issues
- Disconnects frequently
- App can't find device
- Occasional clipping with onscreen text
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- Connection unreliable depending on camera settings
- Unit needs to be disconnected and reconnected
- Bluetooth connection reset and deleted
- Bluetooth keeps cutting out
- Incorrect camera mode detection
- HDR option not working
- Bug report submission failure
- Firmware update issues
- Camera lockups
- App unable to update firmware
- GUI outdated
- Bluetooth dropping out
- Live view not available
- No preview on D800E
- Inability to connect to D3s
- Special cable needed for some Canon models
- Awkward app navigation
- Missing camera settings information
- Disconnection between app and pulse
- Disconnection between pulse and camera
- Camera stuck in busy mode
- Camera error messages
- Device not found by app
- Thumbnails not displaying correctly
- USB cable port compatibility issues
- Firmware update bricked device
- Firmware update makes device useless
- Device will not stay connected via Bluetooth
- Intermittent disconnects
- Vibration when tripping shutter
- Playback on camera's LCD issue
- Inability to see image output
- App not working on iPhone 7+
- Training video not accessible
- Inability to control shutter speed, aperture, and ISO
- Thumbnail feature not working
- Video to photo transition issues
- App is broken
- Disconnects after trying to load thumbnail
- Bluetooth connection issues
- App does not connect to Pulse
- Number scrollers unresponsive
- Dialogue box annoyance with thumbnails
- Menu options missing on iPhone 4
- Camera settings not always propagating
- App not connecting to device
- Device not recognized by app
- HDR exposure sequencing incorrect
- Thumbnails not working
- Company unresponsive to problems
- Does not work with Canon 5D Mark IV
- App does not connect to Pulse Controller
- Shows up in Bluetooth list but app says not connected
Requested features
18 requests- Apple Watch support
- Image preview
- Histogram
- Ability to disable vibration when tripping shutter
- Retainment of playback on camera's LCD (Nikon) while Pulse is plugged in
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- Directly download images to phone from app
- See lens output
- Live view
- Focus point control
- Ability to see ISO, f, and t of the pic just taken
- Dark mode option
- Advanced analytics dashboard
- Full image display for thumbnails
- Ability to turn off LED
- Fix bugs and improve reliability
- Improve app navigation
- Add shutter speed, aperture, and ISO settings control
- Make training video accessible again
CamRanger 2
Reported bugs
10 issues- CamRanger2 causing Canon R5C to crash in video mode
- Software would not let me download images to my camera
- Doesn’t pair with Fuji XT4
- Connection is lost at random times
- Error - Unable to connect to CamRanger
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- Not working for Fuji
- No full screen function
- App incompatible with iPadOS 13.1
- Not yet compatible with iPad Os
- Cannot get Dropbox to connect
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to build macros
- Fix the toggle button for connection mode
- Full screen function for Sony A7RIII
- Fix Dropbox connection
In-app purchases
Pulse Camera Control
No in-app purchases
CamRanger 2
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Pulse Camera Control free?
Is CamRanger 2 free?
Which has better reviews, Pulse Camera Control or CamRanger 2?
Do Pulse Camera Control or CamRanger 2 have ads?
Which is updated more often, Pulse Camera Control or CamRanger 2?
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