FoCal Mobile vs CardBackup
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
FoCal Mobile
This app helps photographers calibrate and analyze their DSLR camera's autofocus system for sharper images. It offers automatic testing and tuning, with advanced features available through a subscription.
- Automatic DSLR autofocus analysis
- Camera and lens calibration
- Test setup verification
- One-tap autofocus testing
- Comparison database
- Historical data review
- Camera time synchronization
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FoCal Mobile brings Reikan FoCal's DSLR camera calibration and analysis tools to your mobile device! Connect your camera to your device* and FoCal takes control to analyse the performance of your autofocus system and tune it for better shots. The free FoCal Mobile app features: - Automatic control of all Canon and Nikon DSLRs and Mirrorless cameras which support AF tuning (AF Microadjustment/AF Fine Tune) - Automatic verification of test setup, including camera position, lighting, camera and lens settings and more - One-tap testing of autofocus system performance, with scores and crops to review - Camera time synchronisation With a FoCal Pro subscription or FoCal Pro (Desktop) license (within support), you can add: - Calibration of your lenses, tuning your autofocus for the best performance possible. Get the very best from your camera and lenses. - Check your autofocus with cameras that have already been calibrated. - FoCal Comparison Database: compare the performance of your kit with 1,000s of other users to find out how it compares to *real-world* use, NOT artificial lab tests! - Review historical data, recall tests and calibrations you've run to find out how your equipment is holding up. - Export data to FoCal Pro Desktop for more detailed analysis, charting, reports and more. - One-tap Time Sync - synchronise your camera time with one tap right from the first screen of FoCal. - Calibrate and analyse lenses with focal lengths over 400mm. * Connection is via USB or the Reikan Wireless Camera Control Module. - For iPhone and iPad with lightning connectors, you will require a Lightning to USB Adapter in order to connect a camera - further details are provided in the app help, but a standard Lightning to USB adapter will work in most cases. - For iPad with USB-C, you can directly connect to the camera with just an appropriate cable. FoCal requires the use of a FoCal Target, which you can download and print using links from within the app, or purchase from the FoCal store. You will need a FoCal account, which can be created for free from within the app. With a FoCal Pro (Desktop) license which is within the support period, you will have automatic access to all Mobile Pro features. FoCal can control the following cameras (a complete list and help with each camera is available at: https://reikanfocal.com/supported-cameras.html) Canon: - EOS-1D Mark III - EOS-1Ds Mark III - EOS-1D Mark IV - EOS-1D X - EOS-1D X Mark II - EOS-1D X Mark III - EOS 5D Mark II - EOS 5D Mark III - EOS 5D Mark IV - EOS 5DS - EOS 5DSr - EOS 6D - EOS 6D Mark II - EOS 7D - EOS 7D Mark II - EOS 50D - EOS 70D - EOS 80D - EOS 90D Nikon: - D3 - D3S - D3X - D4 - D4S - D5 - D6 - D300 - D300S - D500 - D600 - D610 - D700 - D750 - D780 - D800 - D800E - D810 - D810A - D850 - Df - D7000 - D7100 - D7200 - D7500 - Z30 - Z50 - Z50ii - Zfc - Z5 - Z5ii - Z6 - Z6ii - Z6iii - Z7 - Z7ii - Z8 - Z9 - Zf End User License Agreement available at: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
CardBackup
Effortlessly transfer photos and videos from your camera's memory card directly to your iPhone or iPad. This app ensures reliable, duplicate-free backups to a chosen folder, keeping your original files organized and ready for professional editing software.
- Incremental backups
- Duplicate file skipping
- Hash file verification
- Conflict handling
- Backup history log
- iCloud Drive support
- Local notifications
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CardBackup copies photos and videos from your camera's memory card to your iPhone - reliably, quickly, and without duplicates. CardBackup copies files to a folder of your choosing. It does not import into your Photos library - it's designed for photographers who want their original files intact and organised, ready for Lightroom, Capture One, PhotoCuller, or whichever app you process in. Connect a card reader or camera, choose a source and destination folder, and tap Back Up. CardBackup handles the rest: skipping files you've already copied, verifying each file as it goes, and keeping a log of your last 30 backup runs. Perfect for photographers who want a safety net while travelling. Back up to a local folder, an external drive, or iCloud Drive — and if you choose iCloud, your shots sync automatically overnight so they're waiting on your Mac when you get home. Works on iPhone, iPad, and natively on Mac. One purchase covers all three. No subscriptions. No ads. No cloud service required. Everything stays on your device. Features: - Incremental backups: skips files already copied, no duplicates - Hash verification: detects corruption on every copied file - Conflict handling: safely renames files when names clash - Backup history with run times and file statistics - iCloud Drive support - Local notifications on completion Visit cardbackup.app for more information.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: CardBackup at 100% against FoCal Mobile's 0%. CardBackup also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (every 3 days vs every 6 weeks). FoCal Mobile's advantage is ratings volume (17 vs 1) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.0). 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
Both are free to download. FoCal Mobile sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $19.99 per year. CardBackup asks for nothing beyond the download.
CardBackup holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: FoCal Mobile has 17 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 0% of FoCal Mobile's written reviews are positive against 100% of CardBackup's.
FoCal Mobile ships an update every 6 weeks, CardBackup every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | FoCal Mobile | CardBackup |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.8 (17 ratings) | 4.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 17 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Freemium — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 87 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Reikan Technology Ltd | Rory Sinclair |
Customer experience
FoCal Mobile
CardBackup
In-app purchases
FoCal Mobile
- FoCal Mobile Pro$19.991 Year
CardBackup
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is FoCal Mobile free?
Is CardBackup free?
Which has better reviews, FoCal Mobile or CardBackup?
Do FoCal Mobile or CardBackup have ads?
Which is updated more often, FoCal Mobile or CardBackup?
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