ShadowMagic vs CloudyBay
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ShadowMagic
A virtual lighting simulator for theatrical and stage design. Visualize lighting, color, shadows, and scenery with realistic fixtures and over 1600 gel colors. Save and share your designs.
- Virtual light lab and Black Box theatre
- Realistic Source Four® Spotlight and Fresnel fixtures
- Zoom and dimming capabilities with photometric accuracy
- Over 1600 gel colors from major manufacturers
- Precise fixture positioning and auto-focus
- Save, organize, and share designs as PDF reports
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A virtual light lab, or Black Box theatre for visualizing lighting, color, shadows, and scenery. The lab has a 40’ x 30’ stage and a 40' x 20' cyclorama. The theatre space is 80’ wide, 40’ high, and 80’ deep. Designers can choose up to eight fixtures to light a very basic scene. Two types of lights are available. The Source Four® Spotlight is available with 14°, 26°, 19°, 36°, 50° lens barrels. The The Source Four® 7” Fresnel may also be selected and zooms from full flood at 65° to spot focus with a beam angle of 20°. All of the beam spreads are photometrically correct. The lamp for both fixtures is a 750 W HPL, and when it is dimmed the color temperature decreases from 3200° K at full down to 2300° when the light is at 4%. Each light can be dimmed individually or the entire scene lowered using a grand master. Intensity has a resolution of 1%. A theatre lighting simulator would not be complete without gels and we have over 1600 colors to choose from the 4 major manufacturers. The gels can be assembled into a collection called a gel string and any color from the string can be applied to each light. Each of the lights may be positioned anywhere around the theatre to simulate booms, shinbusters, or the balcony rail. Resolution of the position is 0.1 feet. When focused on the actor, the lights are auto-focused so you can move the light’s position and see the resulting angle. Lights focused on the backdrop are focused manually by touching the cyc. When you move or rotate the actor, the lights will follow and stay focused right in the center of the body. Scenes may be saved and organized into projects. Both can be shared as a .pdf report with colleagues and friends to show off your ideas. While simple in concept and operation, ShadowMagic has subtleties such as reflections from a matte gray stage covering and the coloring of shadows from other light fixtures. From beginners to seasoned professionals, ShadowMagic makes visualizing and lighting a scene much quicker and easier and more fun.
CloudyBay
Control your smart lighting devices with a mobile app. Customize colors, brightness, and scenes for any room. Manage your lights remotely and integrate with voice control systems for a seamless smart home experience.
- 16 million color options
- Precise color and brightness adjustment
- Customizable lighting scenes
- Remote control from anywhere
- Voice control integration
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CloudyBay smart lighting devices, give different intelligent settings for every room, providing a smart lighting experience. 1. 16 million colors, meets every kind of your needs. 2. Accurate and smooth setting of color, dimming, cool and warm light etc. 3. Various scenes. One-touch to change different lighting atmospheres, easily transform your living room into a dance floor.. 4. Control your smart light regardless of distance. As long as you have a network, you can use smart phone to control the lights anytime, anywhere. 5. It can easily access your existing intelligent voice control system, enjoy hands-free and intelligent life from now on.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: ShadowMagic at 100% against CloudyBay's 18%. ShadowMagic also leads on rating (5.0 vs 2.5) and update cadence (every 3 months vs every 7 months). CloudyBay's advantage is price (Free vs $14.99) and ratings volume (83 vs 2). On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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
CloudyBay is free to download; ShadowMagic costs $14.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
ShadowMagic holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 2.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: CloudyBay has 83 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of ShadowMagic's written reviews are positive against 18% of CloudyBay's.
ShadowMagic ships an update every 3 months, CloudyBay every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on September 18, 2026 and September 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ShadowMagic | CloudyBay |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $14.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better | 2.5 (83 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 18.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 83 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months — better | Every 7 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #187 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 14.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 114 MB | 203 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Crossroads Motorsport, LLC | CloudyBay Inc. |
Customer experience
ShadowMagic
CloudyBay
In-app purchases
ShadowMagic
No in-app purchases
CloudyBay
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is ShadowMagic free?
Is CloudyBay free?
Which has better reviews, ShadowMagic or CloudyBay?
Do ShadowMagic or CloudyBay have ads?
Which is updated more often, ShadowMagic or CloudyBay?
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