Manual Camera vs TimeLapsed
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Manual Camera
Take full control of your mobile photography with manual adjustments for focus, ISO, shutter speed, and white balance. Achieve professional-looking shots with reduced noise and creative motion blur effects.
- Manual focus control
- Adjustable ISO sensitivity
- Variable shutter speed
- Customizable white balance
- Long exposure photography
- RAW photo capture
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With mcamera you can control parameters that are not available in the standard camera app: - Focus distance - ISO sensitivity - Shutter speed - White balance With manual control of shutter speed you can keep ISO as low as possible which will give you less noise on the photos. Long shutter speed would also give you opportunity to take photos with smeared elements such as car lights or smooth river water. Terms of service: https://vdugnist.com/mcamera_tos.html
TimeLapsed
Capture stunning time-lapse videos and explore creative photography techniques like light painting. Offers manual and auto camera controls for precise adjustments or effortless creation. Save and share your artistic creations directly from your device.
- Manual and auto camera controls
- Real-time image adjustments
- Light painting mode
- Tilt-shift photography effects
- Export individual frames
- Save and share creations
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Time. Under your control. Turn passing clouds, a city after dark, aircraft and traffic into motion you can shape. TimeLapsed brings a professional timelapse camera, programmable capture and a powerful frame-blending engine to iPhone and iPad. Start with a profile. Go deeper when the shot demands it. SEE THE TRAILS BUILD Create star trails, rolling trails and comet tails in the live camera preview. Tune trail length, blending, glow and color while you shoot. Use Horizon Mask to keep sky trails off the foreground and Anchor Lock to help correct mounted-camera bumps. CONTROL EVERY DETAIL Set shutter, ISO, focus, white balance, interval and zoom. Keep recording time, exposure and device status visible in the HUD. Save camera profiles and use position recall to guide your framing back to a saved reference. Updated for iOS 27, with aperture controls on supported iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max lenses and Camera Control integration on supported iPhones. PROGRAM HOW THE SHOT EVOLVES Build camera automations with timed changes and smooth ramps for exposure, interval, color and trail effects. Rehearse your timeline before recording. Scheduled capture requires the camera to stay open in the foreground. CAPTURE NOW. BLEND LATER. Save an effects-free companion movie alongside your processed capture. Open a video in the editor, preview and tune a new blend, then render star trails or comet effects with the same engine. Import still-image sequences from other cameras through Photos or Files and turn them into timelapses. MAKE EVERY TAKE COUNT Pause and resume video recording, flip or mirror the camera, split clips and build a trip into a film. Edit speed, framing, color, titles and audio. Shoot and edit widescreen 16:9 as well as portrait video. Mark Moments to keep the right part of a recording, and save still frames from videos. CREATE IN REAL LIFE Place a framed, translucent reference image over the live camera view while you draw on real paper. Record the artwork taking shape. Explore tilt shift, simulated night vision and simulated thermal effects. KNOW WHERE. KNOW WHEN. Plan with the Sun, Moon and stars in Sky Planner. Find Dark Hours, explore light-pollution maps and Bortle panels, and get directions toward darker skies. Check weather radar and forecast-based rain alerts during your shoot. Air Traffic Watch adds aircraft data and predicted paths using your own flight-provider keys. BUILD YOUR CAMERA SETUP Preview and control capture from Apple Watch or another TimeLapsed device. Remote control also supports compatible Canon cameras. Connect supported external displays, USB-C microphones, Power Delivery hubs and external storage for a mounted recording setup. YOUR TIME. YOUR PROGRESS. Review capture history with exposure, white balance, weather, battery, CPU, memory and thermal-state statistics. Keep personal records or join the optional leaderboard. Discover and share videos, images, camera profiles and automations in the Community. Add music from the integrated catalog. Analyze Scene offers optional AI camera recommendations for you to review and apply. START FREE. GO FURTHER WITH PRO. The core camera, built-in profiles and watermarked 1080p exports are free. Advanced workflows, clean exports and additional planning tools require Pro. Watch preview and record controls are free; advanced Watch controls require Pro. Existing full-version owners keep lifetime Pro through Restore Purchases. Features depend on compatible hardware, accessories and service availability. Aircraft providers may charge for your own keys. Production Display has a separate license. Companion video is effects-free video, not sensor RAW. Thermal and night-vision effects are simulated. EULA / Terms of Service: https://shutterspeedapps.com/timelapsed/tos?language=en Privacy Policy: https://shutterspeedapps.com/timelapsed/privacy?language=en AI Usage Policy: https://shutterspeedapps.com/timelapsed/aiusage?language=en
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: TimeLapsed at 5.0 against Manual Camera's 4.3. TimeLapsed also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 59%) and update cadence (every 9 days vs every 4 weeks). Manual Camera's advantage is ratings volume (456 vs 9) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Manual Camera sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per year and TimeLapsed sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
TimeLapsed holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Manual Camera has 456 ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 59% of Manual Camera's written reviews are positive against 100% of TimeLapsed's.
Manual Camera ships an update every 4 weeks, TimeLapsed every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Manual Camera | TimeLapsed |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (456 ratings) | 5.0 (9 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 58.7% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 456 — better | 9 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 weeks | Every 9 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 25 MB | 169 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Vladislav Dugnist | Shutter Speed Apps, LLC |
Customer experience
Manual Camera
TimeLapsed
Bugs and requests
Manual Camera
Reported bugs
8 issues- Unable to save photos
- Aspect ratio not saving correctly in free version
- Slow shutter not working as expected
- App crashes
- Cannot access selfie camera
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- EXIF data not displayed in native Photos app
- ISO value discrepancy between slider and display
- Cannot save photos due to photo access settings
Requested features
8 requests- Ability to turn on macro focus mode
- Option to switch to selfie camera
- Longer exposure times (e.g., 30 seconds)
- Support for ultra wide and telephoto cameras
- ND filter for daylight slow shutter speeds
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- Ability to change lenses on iPhone 12Pro
- More settings and controls
- Fix alignment issue with aperture symbol
TimeLapsed
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Manual Camera
- Manual Camera PRO7 Days trial$5.991 Year
- Manual Camera PRO7 Days trial$11.991 Year
TimeLapsed
- TimeLapsed Pro$7.991 Month
- TimeLapsed Pro$19.993 Months
- TimeLapsed Pro$49.991 Year
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- Production Display$399.001 Year
- 5 Scene Analyses$1.99
- 20 Scene Analyses$5.99
- TimeLapsed Pro Lifetime$49.99
Questions
Is Manual Camera free?
Is TimeLapsed free?
Which has better reviews, Manual Camera or TimeLapsed?
Do Manual Camera or TimeLapsed have ads?
Which is updated more often, Manual Camera or TimeLapsed?
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