Comparison

SmartBeam® Luminance Camera vs Biotic Instruments

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

Head to head
About

SmartBeam® Luminance Camera

This app transforms your iOS device into a professional luminance camera, enabling quick assessments of surface brightness. It uses a calibrated false-color filter to visualize light variations, aiding lighting designers, architects, and engineers. The tool also allows for saving and sharing images for reports and collaboration.

Highlights
  • Surface and point luminance measurement
  • Live false color display
  • Luminance selfie mode
  • Multiple luminance scales (Cd/m2, cd/ft2, fl)
  • Auto and manual exposure control
  • Image sharing and saving
Features
Read full description

The SmartBeam® Luminance Camera app solves the problem of how to make quick and meaningful assessments of surface light levels. The app turns your iOS device into a professional luminance camera wherever you are. Luminance is a fundamental measure of the brightness of a given surface or the amount of light emitted or reflected off that surface. It also indicates how much luminous power can be perceived by the human eye. The SmartBeam® Luminance Camera app augments the human visual system and increases the dynamic range and ability of the eye to perceive variations in luminance by representing images from the smartphone camera through a calibrated false color filter in real-time. This accentuates the differences in luminance​ in an easy to read manner. The app is intended as a useful, quick and easy to use tool for lighting designers, architects and lighting engineers who are specifying, using, or planning to use, LED lighting fixtures. It is also designed to help the lighting product development process. For instance, the app can be used to quickly measure beam distributions produced by LED lighting products offering considerable time and cost savings over other techniques. A key feature of the app is the ability to share images directly from your smartphone to help collaboration on lighting installations or new lighting product development. Images can also be posted directly to social media. The app also includes the ability to save images for inclusion in reports. For fun, the app can be used to produced luminance photographic maps of your favorite places or people and even fun selfies! Features · Surface and point measurement of luminance · Live false color display of luminance variations · Luminance point measurement · Luminance selfie mode · Choice of Cd/m2, cd/ft2, and fl scales · Auto and manual exposure · Calibration options · Share of false color and normal images · Save of false color and normal images By using this app, you agree to Apple's Standard End User License Agreement (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Biotic Instruments

Manage your irrigation and lighting systems remotely. Schedule watering and lighting cycles, group devices, and configure alerts. Seamlessly switch between cloud and Bluetooth control for your irrigation and lighting units.

Highlights
  • View and modify irrigation schedules
  • Modify lighting schedules
  • Organize devices into groups
  • Configure device alerts
  • Toggle cloud/Bluetooth control
Features
Read full description

The Biotic Instruments app has been designed to give you total control over your Biotic Instruments Irrigation and Lighting Control Unit. You can: -View and modify irrigation and lighting schedules. -Organize your ILCU devices into groups -Device alert configurations -Toggle device connectivity between Cloud and direct Bluetooth control.

Screenshots

SmartBeam® Luminance Camera4 screens
Biotic Instruments4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: SmartBeam® Luminance Camera at 3.7 against Biotic Instruments's 2.0. SmartBeam® Luminance Camera also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (6 vs 1). Biotic Instruments's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 16.0). On price, review sentiment, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. SmartBeam® Luminance Camera sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Biotic Instruments asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

SmartBeam® Luminance Camera holds the better App Store score, 3.7 against 2.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SmartBeam® Luminance Camera has 6 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 0% and 0% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SmartBeam® Luminance Camera ships an update every 3 weeks, Biotic Instruments every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
SmartBeam® Luminance Camera versus Biotic Instruments: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSmartBeam® Luminance CameraBiotic Instruments
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.7 (6 ratings) — better2.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings6 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS16.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB84 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTEYEO LLCGreenery NYC Corp.

Customer experience

SmartBeam® Luminance Camera

All ratings6 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Biotic Instruments

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

SmartBeam® Luminance Camera

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Subscription7 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Annual Subscription7 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Pro Version$14.99
None

Biotic Instruments

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SmartBeam® Luminance Camera free?
SmartBeam® Luminance Camera is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Biotic Instruments free?
Biotic Instruments is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, SmartBeam® Luminance Camera or Biotic Instruments?
SmartBeam® Luminance Camera is rated higher. SmartBeam® Luminance Camera averages 3.7 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while Biotic Instruments averages 2.0 from 1 ratings.
Do SmartBeam® Luminance Camera or Biotic Instruments have ads?
Neither SmartBeam® Luminance Camera nor Biotic Instruments shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SmartBeam® Luminance Camera or Biotic Instruments?
SmartBeam® Luminance Camera ships an update every 3 weeks, and Biotic Instruments every 2 months. Most recently, SmartBeam® Luminance Camera was updated on October 29, 2026 and Biotic Instruments on October 30, 2026.

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