Profoto Control vs Phocus Mobile
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Profoto Control
Control Profoto Bluetooth-enabled lighting equipment remotely from your smartphone. Adjust settings with intuitive touch controls and ensure your gear is up-to-date with easy firmware updates.
- Smart remote control
- View and control Profoto Bluetooth products
- Touch, swipe, and tweak lighting
- Easy firmware updates
- Update Profoto Bluetooth products
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The Profoto Control app has been created for the modern, connected photographers that want to get the most out of their creative workflow – whether using a DSLR or Mirrorless camera. This is the Profoto experience at its best. Key features: SMART REMOTE CONTROL View and control all Profoto Bluetooth-enabled products from your smartphone screen. Touch, swipe and tweak until you get the light just right. EASY UPDATES The latest updates for Profoto Bluetooth-enabled products are now available at your fingertips. Update quickly from the app, so you are ready to shoot with the latest, improved firmware. Ultimately, this app lets you be as creative as you can be. LOOKING FOR PROFOTO CAMERA APP? Looking for a way to create images with your smartphone and Profoto lights? Search App Store for “Profoto Camera” and start using it! Please send your feedback and feature ideas to hello@profoto.com! Love, Profoto team.
Phocus Mobile
Edit and manage high-resolution RAW images from Hasselblad cameras on your mobile device. Experience natural color reproduction and advanced noise reduction with HDR capabilities for stunning detail and light.
- HNCS HDR image display, editing, and export
- Full quality RAW editing
- Multi-format RAW/JPG/HEIF download
- TIFF generation for lossless editing
- Camera control of capture parameters
- Download/delete images from camera
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“Hasselblad Natural Noise Reduction” is the first noise reduction model that can run locally on mobile, perfectly preserving Hasselblad's natural tones and image details, and noise reduction of 100 million pixel RAW images can be completed in about 15 seconds, further unlocking the potential of Hasselblad's images. When viewed on an HDR-capable iPhone or iPad, photos shot with the Hasselblad cameras truly come to life in Phocus Mobile — revealing the stunning light and shadow details and rich color gradations enabled by HNCS HDR. Expanding the possibilities of the Hasselblad workflow, Phocus Mobile takes the image editing process to a new, portable level. Enabling the traveling or studio photographer to have a quicker, more seamless workflow. Phocus Mobile can render natural and true colors to the greatest extent, taking full advantage of the Hasselblad Natural Color Solution (HNCS). The following functionality is supported: - Brand-new HNCS HDR image display, editing, and export experience - Full quality raw editing powered by HNCS engine - Support multi-format download (RAW/JPG/HEIF) - Supports generating TIFF for cross-platform quality lossless editing - Download or delete images from camera - Camera control of capture parameters - Supports generating full or medium size JPEG Compatible Camera Models [USB or Wi-Fi]: -X2D II 100C* -CFV 100C* -X2D 100C* -X1D II 50C -CFV II 50C *Only Chinese and English are supported within the app This app is only compatible with iOS and iPadOS. To use it on Mac devices, please download Phocus for Mac from the official Hasselblad website. For X1D/H system cameras, please download Phocus for X1D/H system from the App Store.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Phocus Mobile at every 2 weeks against Profoto Control's every 2 months. Phocus Mobile also leads on review sentiment (47% vs 38%). On price, rating, ratings volume 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Profoto Control against 4.6 for Phocus Mobile. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 896 and 522 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 38% of Profoto Control's written reviews are positive against 47% of Phocus Mobile's.
Profoto Control ships an update every 2 months, Phocus Mobile every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Profoto Control | Phocus Mobile |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (896 ratings) — better | 4.6 (522 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 38.0% of reviews | 46.6% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 896 — better | 522 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 16.2 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 80 MB | 435 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Profoto | Hasselblad |
Customer experience
Profoto Control
Phocus Mobile
User reviews
Profoto Control
From 896 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fast and responsive app
- 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
- 💡 Useful features for controlling lights
- 🔥 Excellent lighting quality
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
- 🚫 Compatibility issues with newer devices
- 🔍 Lack of advanced features and customization
- 💤 Unreliable firmware updates
Phocus Mobile
From 522 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Blazing fast WiFi connectivity and file transfer speeds
- 🎨 Superior color rendering and Hasselblad Natural Color Solution (HNCS)
- 📱 Excellent remote camera control and tethered shooting capabilities
- 🖼️ Clean, intuitive user interface design
- ⚡ Quick connection to camera and effortless browsing of large files
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes, especially on iPad
- 🔌 USB-C connectivity issues with newer iPad models
- 📦 Limited storage options for large RAW files on mobile devices
- 🔗 Unreliable WiFi connection stability
- ⚠️ Inconsistent app performance across updates
Bugs and requests
Profoto Control
Reported bugs
4 issues- Unable to register equipment in the app
- App crashes on launch or when connecting to lights
- Firmware update process is unreliable
- Inconsistent exposure and zoom support
Requested features
4 requests- Add support for more Profoto light models
- Improve camera integration and functionality
- Implement independent light group control
- Provide localization in more languages
Phocus Mobile
Reported bugs
18 issues- App crashes when opening high ISO files
- Photos disappear after update or when selecting for processing
- Export fails for multiple images, erasing original capture date/time
- Images not available in library despite camera connection
- App crashes on iPad Pro with M1/M2 chips
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- USB-C connection not recognized after updates
- Noise reduction adjustments not updating properly
- Moire and pattern noise appearing on JPEG export
- App fails to connect to X2D despite camera being recognized
- Exposure simulation locked on regardless of camera settings
- EV correction not working in all modes on X2D
- Live view picture cropped on long sides of frame
- Error when saving multiple photos to Photos app (PHPhotosErrorDomain error 3301)
- App crashes when resizing window with Stage Manager on iPad
- Wired connection not supported in recent versions
- TIFF export producing 8-bit files instead of 16-bit
- Drive mode settings overwritten when using remote shutter
- App not recognizing HEIF format files from camera firmware 3.0
Requested features
25 requests- Import photos from external SSD or USB storage
- Manual color control for watermarks
- Support for multiple camera connections
- Layer masking and adjustment layers
- Delayed shutter release/self-timer functionality
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- Erase/content removal tool
- Dodge and burn tools
- Export in HEIF/HEIC format
- 16-bit TIFF export capability
- Perspective/keystone correction
- Batch import retry functionality
- Custom watermark options with date/name
- Geo-tagging support
- Fine art frame auto-application
- Live view support for X2D
- Ability to import RAW files directly from app
- Compressed DNG export option
- Android version of the app
- Black point adjustment
- Portrait orientation support for live view
- Ability to stop interval drive mode remotely
- Precise value input for edits (not just sliders)
- HEIF10 or TIFF16 export for better dynamic range
- Files API integration between mobile and desktop
- Exposure simulation toggle for flash photography
In-app purchases
Profoto Control
No in-app purchases
Phocus Mobile
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Profoto Control free?
Is Phocus Mobile free?
Which has better reviews, Profoto Control or Phocus Mobile?
Do Profoto Control or Phocus Mobile have ads?
Which is updated more often, Profoto Control or Phocus Mobile?
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