Comparison

Profoto Control vs Lightphase

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Smart remote control
  • View and control Profoto Bluetooth products
  • Touch, swipe, and tweak lighting
  • Easy firmware updates
  • Update Profoto Bluetooth products
Features
Read full description

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.

About

Lightphase

This app predicts and displays the timing of various light phases, including golden hour, civil twilight, and astronomical twilight. It helps photographers and outdoor enthusiasts plan their activities around optimal lighting conditions, offering detailed information and countdowns.

Highlights
  • Predicts golden hour and twilight times
  • Counts down to next light phase
  • Displays six distinct light phases
  • Visualizes the day's light curve
  • Interactive scrubbing through the day
  • Watch complications and widgets
  • Offline functionality
Features
Read full description

Lightphase is a clock for natural light. It tells you which light you are standing in, the minute it changes, and how long you have left. Shooting the overlook at golden hour? Lightphase gives you the minute it starts and the minute it ends. Hiking back after sunset? It tells you when Civil Twilight runs out, the last light you can walk by without a headlamp. Waiting for a dark sky? It shows when night begins, which is often more than an hour after sunset. Every phase of light, named Lightphase divides the day by the sun's angle into the phases photographers and hikers plan around, and names each one in plain words. Daylight. The sun is high, the light is flat and the shadows are short and hard. 35° Window. Low enough for directional light, with fuller color and more contrast than golden hour. The long, workable stretch of morning and afternoon. Golden Hour. Warm, low sun from the horizon to 6 degrees up. Long shadows and raking side light. Civil Twilight. The sun has set and the sky is still bright. Enough light to walk by, or to shoot handheld. Nautical Twilight. Deep blue sky over a faint horizon. Most of what people call blue hour happens here. Astronomical Twilight. The last glow before full dark. The stars are out, and a long exposure still picks up the horizon. Night. Full dark, with no usable light from the sun. The answer comes first The top of the screen holds the answer: the light you are in, when it began and ends, and how much of it is left. Below it sit the next golden hour and the next sunrise or sunset, with the time it gets dark or the first light before it. See the whole day at once Behind the answer, the screen takes the color of the sky at the sun's height where you are, with today's light drawn as a curve across it. Drag the sun along the curve and every reading follows your finger. Find out what the light will be doing at six before you decide where to be at six. Glance without opening anything The Home Screen widget shows the sky, the light you are in and how long it lasts. The medium size adds the next golden hour. On the Lock Screen, a widget shows the phase and when it changes. On your wrist, too The watch app comes with three complications. One names the light you are in and when it changes. One counts down to a light you choose, with a ring that empties as it runs. One draws today's arc with the sun where it stands right now. Readable in direct sun A light palette for bright sun and a dark one for dusk. Every phase is spelled out in words, so you never have to tell one color from another. Times that match the almanac Sunrise and sunset are timed to the sun's upper edge meeting the horizon, and the twilights use their standard angles. Almanacs use the same definitions, so the times agree with the ones you already trust, and the app shows where every number comes from. Works where the signal does not Lightphase works out the light on your iPhone from where you are and the time of day. It keeps working in airplane mode, in a canyon, and anywhere the bars run out. Your location stays on your iPhone, where only the latest position is kept for your widgets and complications. One price, everything in it One purchase covers the iPhone app, the watch app, every widget and every complication. There is no subscription and nothing to buy inside. The sun does not charge a monthly fee, so neither do we. Every light Lightphase tracks Sunrise, sunset, golden hour, blue hour, first light, last light, civil twilight, nautical twilight, astronomical twilight and night.

Screenshots

Profoto Control4 screens
Lightphase4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Lightphase at 100% against Profoto Control's 37%. Lightphase also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). Profoto Control's advantage is price (Free vs $4.99) and ratings volume (896 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Profoto Control is free to download; Lightphase costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Lightphase holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Profoto Control has 896 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 37% of Profoto Control's written reviews are positive against 100% of Lightphase's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Profoto Control ships an update every 2 months, Lightphase every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Profoto Control versus Lightphase: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterProfoto ControlLightphase
PriceFree — better$4.99
Rating4.7 (896 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews36.9% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings896 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, Apple Watch
Requires iOS17.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size80 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperProfotoOnyx Mueller

Customer experience

Profoto Control

All ratings896 ratings
Positive92.5%
Neutral2.2%
Negative5.2%
Written reviews111 reviews
Positive36.9%
Neutral10.8%
Negative52.3%

Lightphase

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

Lightphase

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Profoto Control

No in-app purchases

None

Lightphase

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Profoto Control free?
Profoto Control is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Lightphase free?
Lightphase costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Profoto Control or Lightphase?
Lightphase is rated higher. Profoto Control averages 4.7 out of 5 from 896 ratings, while Lightphase averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Profoto Control or Lightphase have ads?
Neither Profoto Control nor Lightphase shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Profoto Control or Lightphase?
Profoto Control ships an update every 2 months, and Lightphase every 2 weeks. Most recently, Profoto Control was updated on October 22, 2026 and Lightphase on October 12, 2026.

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