SmartBeam® Luminance Camera vs Biotic Instruments
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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/
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.
- View and modify irrigation schedules
- Modify lighting schedules
- Organize devices into groups
- Configure device alerts
- Toggle cloud/Bluetooth control
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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
Verdict
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
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.
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.
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.
| Parameter | SmartBeam® Luminance Camera | Biotic Instruments |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.7 (6 ratings) — better | 2.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 6 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 84 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | TEYEO LLC | Greenery NYC Corp. |
Customer experience
SmartBeam® Luminance Camera
Biotic Instruments
In-app purchases
SmartBeam® Luminance Camera
- Monthly Subscription7 Days trial$1.991 Month
- Annual Subscription7 Days trial$19.991 Year
- Pro Version$14.99
Biotic Instruments
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is SmartBeam® Luminance Camera free?
Is Biotic Instruments free?
Which has better reviews, SmartBeam® Luminance Camera or Biotic Instruments?
Do SmartBeam® Luminance Camera or Biotic Instruments have ads?
Which is updated more often, SmartBeam® Luminance Camera or Biotic Instruments?
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