Comparison

iSoftBox vs Chic

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

Head to head
About

iSoftBox

This creative lighting tool allows photographers to illuminate subjects and add accent colors using their mobile devices. Explore dramatic effects with multiple devices or image stacking for enhanced still photography.

Highlights
  • Key light illumination
  • Accent light for colors
  • Multiple device synchronization
  • Image stacking for dramatic effects
  • Creative lighting control
Features
Read full description

iSoftBox turns your iPhone or iPad into a clean, controllable light source for photography. Use the display you already have to illuminate small subjects, digitize film, create calibration frames, or paint with light. A Clean, Full-Screen Light The selected color fills the entire display without permanent controls, toolbars, or status indicators contaminating the light. Adjust hue, saturation, and brightness with intuitive gestures. A temporary visual readout appears only while you make an adjustment. Made for Real Photography • Product and Macro Lighting — Use one device as a key, fill, rim, or accent light for small subjects. Combine multiple devices when your setup needs more coverage or separation. • Film Digitizing — Place a negative carrier over a neutral white screen to create a practical backlight for camera scanning. • Astrophotography Flat Frames — Rest the device over an upward-facing telescope aperture and use its uniform screen to capture flat-field calibration frames. • Light Painting — Move a colored screen through a long exposure to create broad, expressive trails that are difficult to achieve with a point light. Controls That Stay Out of the Shot Swipe to adjust brightness and saturation, or use a two-finger gesture to change hue. Customize which gesture controls each property and choose the drag direction that increases its value. Double-tap to open detailed controls. When your setup is ready, lock gestures to prevent accidental changes while positioning a subject, film carrier, or other equipment. iSoftBox keeps the display awake while the light is active. When the app leaves the foreground, it restores your original system brightness. Accessible and Private All gesture-driven adjustments are also available through standard controls for VoiceOver and Switch Control users. iSoftBox requires no account and includes no analytics or tracking identifiers. Your preferences remain on your device. Whether you are building a careful tabletop setup or experimenting outdoors after dark, iSoftBox gives you a simple photographic light that is always close at hand.

About

Chic

This app recreates the aesthetic of vintage film cameras with unique filters and effects. It allows users to add artistic elements like light leaks, bubbles, and retro styles to their photos and videos, making everyday moments feel special.

Highlights
  • Vintage film camera aesthetic
  • Creative filters and effects
  • Light leak effects
  • Bubble and bling overlays
  • Y2K and retro styles
  • Minivlog recording
  • Lofi and oil-painted color styles
Features
Read full description

Chic - Creative Film Camera Restore the texture and color of the film camera, while using the image technology to give the film camera more ways to play Added hot image elements, such as light and shadow, bubbles, bling, etc. to create a variety of ways to play with the camera and take high quality portrait photos easily. "Light Leakage Capsule" gives your photos a different feeling with random light, helping you capture a good story. "Smart B" is a bubble light spot in the summer by smelling the blue in the wind of Kamakura. "Millennium Disco" is a glittering millennial party that sets off a wave of Y2K. The film camera is a great tool for minivlog to record the fragments of daily life. "Summer Art Museum" is a low-fidelity and oil-painted color fragment of life. "LofiLive" is a low-fidelity view combined with overlay frames to record the most comfortable fragments of life. "Livelog" is inspired by Super 8mm, a projector that turns photos into negative movies and records every ordinary thing for you. We will continue to release new camera themes to help you record your life with a more interesting negative camera, please look forward to it. About Chic VIP and subscription terms - Unlock all Chic's filter effects - We offer monthly and yearly subscriptions - Open Chic to experience Chic VIP service for free - The payment will be processed from your iTunes account after you confirm to become our VIP member. The subscription will automatically renew at the end of each subscription duration unless you choose to cancel the auto-renewable subscription at least 24 hours prior to the end of your current subscription. Otherwise, the auto-renewable subscription payment will be processed within the last 24 hours of your current subscription. You can go to your iTunes account to set up viewing, managing and canceling your subscriptions after your purchase is successful. If you purchase a subscription before the end of the free trial period, the unused trial period will be automatically cancelled. -All private data is handled in accordance with Chic's Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions, available at Service Agreement: https://pro.meitu.com/chic/legacy/services.html?lang=en Privacy Policy: https://pro.meitu.com/chic/legacy/privacy.html?lang=en

Screenshots

iSoftBox4 screens
Chic4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: iSoftBox at 4.6 against Chic's 3.8. iSoftBox also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 58%) and in-app purchases (none vs 10). Chic's advantage is update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (49 vs 8). On price, 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. Chic sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. iSoftBox asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

iSoftBox holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chic has 49 ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of iSoftBox's written reviews are positive against 58% of Chic's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iSoftBox ships an update every 2 months, Chic every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
iSoftBox versus Chic: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriSoftBoxChic
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (8 ratings) — better3.8 (49 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better58.5% of reviews
Number of ratings849 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 4 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS17.010.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB167 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHaoyuan XiaXiamen HongTianChuangShi Technology Co., Ltd.

Customer experience

iSoftBox

All ratings8 ratings
Positive87.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative12.5%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Chic

All ratings49 ratings
Positive69.4%
Neutral4.1%
Negative26.5%
Written reviews118 reviews
Positive58.5%
Neutral16.1%
Negative25.4%

In-app purchases

None

iSoftBox

No in-app purchases

10 purchases

Chic

Subscriptions4
  • Chic Cam VIP(1 Month)3 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Chic Cam VIP(1 Month)3 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Chic Cam VIP(1 Year)3 Days trial$21.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Chic Cam VIP(1 Year)7 Days trial$29.991 Year
One-time6
  • NIJI Flow$3.99
  • Satin Glow$3.99
  • Chic 3D Filter$3.99
Show 3 more
  • Portrait G$3.99
  • Chic Gemini$3.99
  • Lofi Live Photo$3.99

Questions

Is iSoftBox free?
iSoftBox is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Chic free?
Chic is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, iSoftBox or Chic?
iSoftBox is rated higher. iSoftBox averages 4.6 out of 5 from 8 ratings, while Chic averages 3.8 from 49 ratings.
Do iSoftBox or Chic have ads?
Neither iSoftBox nor Chic shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iSoftBox or Chic?
iSoftBox ships an update every 2 months, and Chic every 4 weeks. Most recently, iSoftBox was updated on September 27, 2026 and Chic on September 30, 2026.

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