ca vs rhodopsin
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ca
This app transforms your camera's live feed into unique, pixelated images and videos using cellular automata. Customize patterns with various color palettes, directions, rules, and resolutions for a retro aesthetic.
- Cellular automaton image interpretation
- Pixelated output with unique patterns
- Black and white or retro color palettes
- Selfie and split camera modes
- Video recording
- Customizable automaton parameters
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The successor of probably the nerdiest camera app ever made, ca-mera+ uses a cellular automaton to interpret the colors of your camera stream. The resulting images are pixelated and contain unique patterns created by cellular automata. The output can be black and white, or one of several retro color palettes (CGA 4 and 16 colors, 1-bit RGB, etc.). This app provides "selfie" and "split" modes, records video, and lets you change the appearance of the pictures by controlling the automaton application direction, its rules, the resolution, the input brightness, and the input fidelity (i.e. to which extent the cellular automaton is allowed to run freely).
rhodopsin
This app is a video synthesizer designed for live performances. It allows users to mix video sources and apply a series of three effects. Parameters for sources, mixers, and effects can be manipulated using LFOs, envelopes, and MIDI.
- Video source mixing
- Three sequential effects
- LFO and envelope control
- MIDI parameter control
- Live performance focused
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rhodopsin is a video synthesizer for live video performances. It feeds video sources into a mixer into three effects in series. Source, mixer and effect parameters can be controlled by LFOs, envelopes and MIDI.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: ca at $2.99 against rhodopsin's $9.99. ca also leads on iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.0). rhodopsin's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.8) and review sentiment (100% vs 89%). On ratings volume, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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
ca costs $2.99 and rhodopsin $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
rhodopsin holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 52 and 25 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 89% of ca's written reviews are positive against 100% of rhodopsin's.
ca ships an update monthly, rhodopsin every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ca | rhodopsin |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 — better | $9.99 |
| Rating | 4.8 (52 ratings) | 5.0 (25 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 88.9% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 52 — better | 25 |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 292 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Fritz Menzer | Christopher Barth |
Customer experience
ca
rhodopsin
In-app purchases
ca
No in-app purchases
rhodopsin
No in-app purchases
