Comparison

Variable Color vs Color Name Recognizer Camera

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

Head to head
About

Variable Color

Easily scan and identify colors from your surroundings. Find matching paints and materials, organize your color discoveries into palettes, and share them with others. Streamline your color selection process for design, DIY, or professional projects.

Highlights
  • Scan and identify colors instantly
  • Match colors to paint and material libraries
  • Organize colors into custom palettes
  • Share color palettes with others
  • Cross-reference colors between brands
  • Attach images to palettes
Features
Read full description

The Variable Color app assists consumers, DIYers and professionals (such as interior designers, architects, paint contractors and material specifiers), streamline the color selection process. Scan color, find products that match, coordinate and complement. Color referencing, collecting, organizing and sharing has never been easier and more efficient. Variable Color offers: • Instant color match to exact colors • Speed up the color selection process • Share color palettes with friends, clients & colleagues • Material & paint libraries on your mobile device • Cross reference colors between brands & materials Color referencing, collecting, organizing and sharing has never been easier, more accurate and more efficient. A Color Reference System of a Different Color The Variable Color system changes the way modern color management systems operate. The compact size and mobility allow for easy collection and identification of color, which is critical, as you may never know when a color will inspire you. The COLOR MUSE system gives you the ability to match these colors to color and material libraries. Making color matching more black and white The Variable Color system can differentiate colors the human eye isn’t able to. Our technology can be broken down into three essential components. The Variable Color app allows color referencing, selection and inspiration collection to streamline the color selection process. Features: • Scan, store, file and reference colors • Reference scans against color libraries • Scan colors and store them in your custom palettes • Remembers device connections for connecting with ease during later usages • Provides paint and material matching for leading U.S. and International paint companies • Browse full color libraries of paint and material manufacturers • Attach pictures to your inspirational palettes About Variable Inc. Variable, Inc. is an industry leader in color hardware technology, color mobile app development, digital color referencing and color library management across multiple industries throughout the world.

About

Color Name Recognizer Camera

Instantly identify the name of any color by pointing your device's camera at it. Get detailed color values like RGB, HSV, and CIE L*a*b. Supports multiple languages and offers advanced color analysis tools.

Highlights
  • Real-time color name recognition via camera
  • Multiple color value formats (RGB, HSV, CIE L*a*b)
  • Supports up to 1500 base color names in 8 languages
  • Extract color palettes from images
  • Save and export captured colors
  • Color contrast grid display
Features
Read full description

What is the name of this color? Point your camera at an object and Color Name Recognizer Camera identifies the color in real time. Along with a human-readable name, the app shows RGB, hexadecimal, HSV, and CIE L*a*b values for the sampled color. Choose a simple color-name table for familiar names or a larger table for more specific results. Free users can select tables containing up to 50 base color names. The 100-name table requires Premium. Premium users can use multilingual tables containing up to 1,500 names. FEATURES • Recognize color names in real time with the camera • Inspect RGB, #RRGGBB hexadecimal, HSV, and CIE L*a*b values • Adjust camera zoom and the sampling-region size • Pause the camera to inspect a stable result • Magnify the sampling area • View related and similar color names • Generate complementary, analogous, monochromatic, triadic, split-complementary, and tetradic color palettes • Hear the recognized color name spoken aloud • Explore color contrast grids • Check exact WCAG contrast ratios, AA/AAA results, and accessible alternatives • Audit every color pair in a Palette Project • Describe colors by tone, intensity, temperature, and broad color family • Preview estimated protanopia, deuteranopia, tritanopia, and monochromacy appearances • Compare two colors for possible color-vision confusion • Enable optional stable spoken identification and haptic family-change alerts on the live camera • Build colors manually in RGB, HSV, and CIE L*a*b spaces • Search by color name or HEX and compare the nearest named matches • Pick a color from a photograph • Extract a dominant color palette from an image • Save colors to a local library • Revisit automatically deduplicated Recently Identified colors • Export saved colors and palettes with Premium access COLOR-NAME LANGUAGES Color-name tables are available in English, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German. The app interface also supports additional localized languages. FREE AND PREMIUM ACCESS Free: • 30- and 50-name base color tables • Core camera recognition, color values, manual tools, image tools, and saved colors • Color Harmony generation and HEX copying • Searchable Palette Projects with ordered swatches, names, notes, tags, and duplication • WCAG Contrast Checker with live previews and complete palette audits • Color Vision Assistant with descriptions, profile simulations, confusion advisories, and optional camera feedback • A limited number of similar-color results Premium: • Multilingual base color-name tables from 30 through 1,500 names • More similar-color results • Save Color Harmony palettes to Palette Projects and Saved Colors • Export palettes as CSS or JSON COLOR VALUES RGB components are shown from 0 to 255. Hexadecimal values use the #RRGGBB format. HSV shows hue, saturation, and value. CIE L*a*b uses the D65 reference white and provides a perceptual representation of color. Recognition results can vary with lighting, reflections, camera exposure, and device characteristics. The app is an identification aid and is not a calibrated colorimeter. Color Vision Assistant simulations and confusion advisories are estimates for accessibility and design review. They are not a medical test or diagnosis and do not represent every person's perception. SUBSCRIPTIONS AND PURCHASES Available products, prices, trial eligibility, and billing periods are displayed on the in-app purchase screen and confirmed by the App Store. Subscriptions automatically renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel a subscription in your Apple Account settings. Restore Purchases is available for eligible purchases made with the same Apple Account. Privacy Policy: https://whitewhalesoft.com/APPS/ColorNameRecognizerCamera/Privacy.html Terms of Use: https://whitewhalesoft.com/APPS/ColorNameRecognizerCamera/Terms.html Questions or suggestions? zhaoxiaojian@hotmail.com

Screenshots

Variable Color4 screens
Color Name Recognizer Camera4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Color Name Recognizer Camera at 100% against Variable Color's 0%. Color Name Recognizer Camera also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.4). Variable Color's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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. Color Name Recognizer Camera sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days. Variable Color asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Color Name Recognizer Camera holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 62 and 44 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 0% of Variable Color's written reviews are positive against 100% of Color Name Recognizer Camera's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Variable Color ships an update every 5 weeks, Color Name Recognizer Camera monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 17, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Variable Color versus Color Name Recognizer Camera: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVariable ColorColor Name Recognizer Camera
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (62 ratings)4.8 (44 ratings) — better
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings62 — better44
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS15.1 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size83 MB28 MB
Age rating4++4
DeveloperVariable Technologies LLC小健 赵

Customer experience

Variable Color

All ratings62 ratings
Positive85.5%
Neutral4.8%
Negative9.7%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Color Name Recognizer Camera

All ratings44 ratings
Positive90.9%
Neutral6.8%
Negative2.3%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Variable Color

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

Color Name Recognizer Camera

Subscriptions3
  • Weekly Premium Subscription$2.997 Days
  • Monthly Premium Subscription14 Days trial$5.991 Month
  • Annual Premium Subscription14 Days trial$24.991 Year
One-time1
  • Premium Access$59.99

Questions

Is Variable Color free?
Variable Color is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Color Name Recognizer Camera free?
Color Name Recognizer Camera is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Variable Color or Color Name Recognizer Camera?
Color Name Recognizer Camera is rated higher. Variable Color averages 4.4 out of 5 from 62 ratings, while Color Name Recognizer Camera averages 4.8 from 44 ratings.
Do Variable Color or Color Name Recognizer Camera have ads?
Neither Variable Color nor Color Name Recognizer Camera shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Variable Color or Color Name Recognizer Camera?
Variable Color ships an update every 5 weeks, and Color Name Recognizer Camera monthly. Most recently, Variable Color was updated on September 17, 2026 and Color Name Recognizer Camera on September 20, 2026.

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