Comparison

Lightme vs Orbweft Star Trails

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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/

About

Orbweft Star Trails

Features
Read full description

Orbweft combines still photographs into star trails or light trails on your iPhone and iPad. BUILD A REAL TRAIL IMAGE Import a fixed-camera sequence from Files or Photos. Full mode keeps the brightest sRGB channel value from each included frame. Comet fades earlier frames toward the last frame; Javelin fades both ends around a brighter middle. Average combines frames equally without alignment. CHOOSE WHAT TO KEEP Review individual source frames and exclude unwanted exposures. Compare the selected frame with the actual stack. Optionally subtract one matching covered-lens dark image and adjust the subtraction amount. Keep the first included frame below a horizontal foreground boundary, with a short feather. Set exposure from -2 to +2 EV. TAKE THE RESULT WITH YOU Export 8-bit sRGB PNG and JPEG, Frames.csv, Session.json, a processing PDF and Readme.txt together in a ZIP. Share the PNG alone or the complete package through iOS. Images are downsampled only, never enlarged, to a chosen 1024, 2048 or 3072 pixel long-edge limit. Source EXIF is not copied into exported images. RETURN TO A SAVED SEQUENCE Source copies and processing settings stay in local saved sessions. Reopen, rename, duplicate and delete sessions. The library starts empty; an optional synthetic 48-frame example is clearly labeled and processed by the same compositor. One upfront purchase. No subscription, ads, account, analytics, tracking or developer-server upload. Use a stationary tripod and matching oriented image dimensions. Excluding frames may leave trail gaps. Orbweft does not capture photos, register or align stars, fill gaps, develop RAW, remove aircraft automatically or create timelapse video. Processing uses decoded 8-bit sRGB values rather than linear-light or HDR integration. Supports JPEG, PNG, HEIC and TIFF stills, up to 120 frames per session and 32 MB per file. Up to 512 MB of source files per session, 20 sessions and 1 GB total library storage. Export packages contain results and processing records, not original-source backups, and cannot restore an editable session. Keep originals separately.

Screenshots

Lightme4 screens
Orbweft Star Trails4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Lightme at Free against Orbweft Star Trails's $4.99. Lightme also leads on device support (4 vs 2) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 17.0). Orbweft Star Trails's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 8). On 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Lightme is free to download; Orbweft Star Trails costs $4.99 up front. Lightme sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Orbweft Star Trails asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Lightme versus Orbweft Star Trails: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLightmeOrbweft Star Trails
PriceFree — better$4.99
Rating4.8 (103 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews75.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings103 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.6 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size13 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGiuseppe BertoliniGobling Company

In-app purchases

8 purchases

Lightme

Subscriptions4
  • 1 Cappuccino7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Focaccia Barese7 Days trial$12.991 Year
  • Spaghetti Carbonara7 Days trial$29.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Homemade Pizza party7 Days trial$49.991 Year
One-time4
  • A smile :)Free
  • Box of Prosecco$59.99
  • Fuel for my '90s camper$119.99
Show 1 more
  • Terme for two$239.99
None

Orbweft Star Trails

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Lightme free?
Lightme is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Orbweft Star Trails free?
Orbweft Star Trails costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Lightme or Orbweft Star Trails have ads?
Neither Lightme nor Orbweft Star Trails shows ads.

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