Lightme vs Silver Lab
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Lightme
This app helps analog photographers meticulously track their film rolls, shots, and development processes. It allows for detailed logging of gear and consumables, with features for data visualization and export. Users can also manage film holders and add post-development notes with photos of final results.
- Log film rolls, shots, and development
- Track gear and consumables
- Data visualization with graphs/histograms
- Data export in JSON/CSV formats
- Manage large format film holders
- Post-development notes with photos
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Lightme - Logbook is a clean and powerful tool to record and keep track of your rolls, shots, developments, and all the gear that revolves around shooting film — from 35mm to medium and large format. The idea behind it is simple: logging a shot should take seconds, not steal time from actually shooting. Lightme pairs a beautiful, immediate interface with enough depth and flexibility to fit any workflow, whether you shoot a couple of rolls a year or fill several large format holders in an afternoon. LOGGING, EFFORTLESSLY • Log a shot in seconds: aperture, shutter speed, focal length, filters, bellows correction, measured EV, notes and more • Log straight from your wrist with the companion Apple Watch app, with Siri and Shortcuts, or from the home screen and lock screen widgets • Together with the Lightme Lightmeter app, your meter readings can prefill a new shot automatically • Every shot can carry a location and address, a preview photo, and later its final scan, plus a star rating ROLLS, SHEETS AND DEVELOPMENTS • Track rolls from loading to unloading, with film stocks from a growing database and a processing pipeline: waiting for development, off to the lab, back from the lab, to be scanned, scanned • Keep detailed development notes — developer, dilution, time, temperature, agitation — for rolls and single sheets alike, including push/pull (N+ / N-) development • Add post-development notes and a photo of the final result to rolls, sheets and individual shots YOUR GEAR, ORGANIZED • Cameras and lenses with nicknames, formats (including custom formats you define), pinhole and bellows flags, custom shutter speeds and selectable shutter step sizes • Roll film backs and lens filters with their exposure compensation • Film holders and backs can be marked as compatible with specific cameras, and everything is searchable from a single bar LARGE FORMAT, COVERED • Keep track of your film holders with three states — unloaded, loaded and exposed — always knowing which film is inside each one • Group holders together and follow every sheet from exposure through development INSIGHTS FROM YOUR DATA • Build and save custom queries, filtering by date (fixed or rolling windows), camera, lens, film stock, format, ISO, aperture, shutter speed, focal length and notes • Visualize results with histograms — by camera, lens, film stock, shutter speed, aperture, focal length, ISO, format, rating or hour of the day — alongside aggregate stats like mean aperture and average exposure • Save the queries you use most and re-run them anytime YOUR DATA, YOURS • Everything syncs privately through iCloud across your iPhone and iPad • Export any selection of data as CSV or JSON, or as a beautifully formatted PDF with customizable columns and a contact-sheet mode, bundled with your images in a single ZIP • Batch-write shooting metadata (EXIF) onto your scans — for a whole roll at once, or by matching files from the Files app • Viewing and exporting your data is free, forever; adding and editing is unlocked with a one-time purchase or a subscription AND MORE • Full-text search, favourites and an archive to keep things tidy • Available in English, Italian, Spanish, Japanese and Simplified Chinese • A roadmap of what's coming next lives right in the app — new very cool features are on the way :) If you have any suggestion or issue, write me at lightme.apps@gmail.com Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Silver Lab
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Developing film should feel like a craft, not a calculation. Silver Lab is a darkroom timer built for film photographers who want to focus on the process and not the math. Select your film stock and developer, dial in your temperature and push/pull, and Silver Lab handles the rest. Development times are pulled from an extensive B&W film chart and automatically adjusted for temperature compensation and push/pull processing. For C-41 color negative, the full standardized process is built in and ready to go. When the timer starts, Silver Lab guides you through every stage — agitation cycles, stop bath, fixer, and optional Permawash and Photo-Flo steps. The animated agitation timer tells you exactly when to agitate and when to let the film sit, so you can put the phone down between cycles and not think about it. Features - Automatic development time calculation across a large library of B&W film stocks and developers - Temperature compensation and push/pull adjustment - Configurable agitation timing — set your own initial agitation, rest interval, and cycle duration, independently for Developer and Fixer - Optional Permawash and Photo-Flo steps - C-41 color negative process with push/pull support - Screen stays on throughout development - Live Activity functionality for longer developments - No accounts. No ads. No data collection. Everything runs locally on your device.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Silver Lab at none against Lightme's 8. Lightme's advantage is update cadence (every 9 days vs every 4 weeks) and device support (4 vs 1). On price and ads 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. Lightme sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Silver Lab asks for nothing beyond the download.
Lightme ships an update every 9 days, Silver Lab every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and September 19, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Lightme | Silver Lab |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (101 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 75.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 101 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 9 days — better | Every 4 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 13 MB | 14 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Giuseppe Bertolini | GREGORY HARRISON SCHUCH |
In-app purchases
Lightme
- 1 Cappuccino7 Days trial$2.991 Month
- Focaccia Barese7 Days trial$12.991 Year
- Spaghetti Carbonara7 Days trial$29.991 Year
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- Homemade Pizza party7 Days trial$49.991 Year
- A smile :)Free
- Box of Prosecco$59.99
- Fuel for my '90s camper$119.99
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- Terme for two$239.99
Silver Lab
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Lightme free?
Is Silver Lab free?
Do Lightme or Silver Lab have ads?
Which is updated more often, Lightme or Silver Lab?
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