Comparison

Snappy vs Search Photos

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

Head to head
About

Snappy

This camera app automatically captures photos based on sound, motion, brightness, or specific objects appearing in the frame. Set custom triggers and thresholds to capture moments hands-free, perfect for when you're busy or want to be in the shot.

Highlights
  • Automatic capture by sound, motion, brightness, or object detection
  • Customizable trigger thresholds
  • Continuous and standby trigger modes
  • Max shot count and interval settings
  • Front and back camera support
  • Grid, inclinometer, and aspect ratio options
Features
Read full description

A camera that shoots without you pressing the shutter. Sound, movement, brightness, heading, what's in frame — Snappy watches the sensors and releases the shutter the moment the condition you set is met. Use it with the phone on a tripod or a table, from a distance, when your hands are busy, or when you want to be in the picture yourself. The shutter button still works, of course. It's an ordinary camera too. ■ Eight trigger conditions • Shake — shoots when you shake the phone • Sound — shoots when it hears a loud noise • Motion — shoots when something moves in frame, with a threshold you can set by performing the movement once • Brightness — shoots when it gets brighter • Distance — shoots when something comes closer than the distance you set, using LiDAR or TrueDepth • Compass — shoots when the phone faces a heading you choose • Object — shoots when something you picked appears in frame, from 77 kinds including people, cats, dogs, birds, animals and cars • Gesture — shoots on a peace sign held up to the camera, or on both arms raised, which reads from right across a room Most conditions can be flipped to shoot when the value *falls* instead. When it goes quiet, when it gets dark, when the movement stops — the reverse works too. ■ Set the threshold with your finger The indicator just above the preview shows what the sensor is feeling right now. Drag the white line and the threshold moves with it, while you watch the frame. No need to open Settings. ■ Two trigger modes • Continuous — keeps shooting for as long as the condition stays met • Standby — shoots once, then waits until the condition is no longer met before it will shoot again Choose Standby when the situation holds steady — someone standing still, a room that stays bright — so you don't end up with a hundred of the same photo. ■ Features • Shot count (1–10; 11–100 or unlimited with Pro) • Interval Time between shots, from 0.0 to 99.9 seconds • Delay Time before the shot, from 0.0 to 99.9 seconds, with a countdown ring around the shutter button • A sound when the condition is met, so you know it noticed even from behind the camera • Automatic capture lock — the sensors keep watching, but nothing is taken • Grid (thirds / center) • Inclinometer showing side-to-side and front-to-back tilt at once, turning with the way you hold the device • Aspect ratio (default / square) • Saved size (1/4; Full and 1/2 with Pro) • Save to Photos, or with Pro to a folder on this device or in iCloud Drive • Add location • Capture review • Disable Auto-Lock, so a long session isn't cut short by the screen turning off • Front and back camera Photos are saved to the iOS Photos library — or, with Pro, to a dated folder on this device or in iCloud Drive — with what triggered the shot written into the file's EXIF. ■ Some ways to use it • Leave it by the door or in the garden and catch whoever — or whatever — turns up • Clap your hands to take the shot from across the room • Raise both arms from across the room and be in the photo yourself • Catch fireworks and lightning on brightness • Put it beside a path and shoot whatever comes within a metre • Shake the phone to shoot • Shoot when the phone faces a particular direction Open the Quick Guide from Description in Settings. It includes recipes like these. This app shows ads. The Pro in-app purchase removes them, and unlocks the Full and 1/2 sizes, saving to this device or iCloud Drive, and shot counts of 11 or more and unlimited. Without Pro, photos are saved at 1/4 size to the Photos library, and Shot Count is 1 to 10.

About

Search Photos

Instantly find specific photos in your library by searching for text within them. This app uses advanced text recognition to extract and copy text, detect links, and even identify calendar events from your images. It also integrates with Maps to show photo locations.

Highlights
  • Search text within photos
  • Extract and copy text from images
  • Detect links and phone numbers
  • Integrates with Maps for photo location
  • Supports multiple languages
  • Mark photos as favorites
Features
Read full description

Search Photos can image process (or scan) the photos in your photos library for the purpose of finding a specific (lost) photo by using your search text. It uses Text Recognition software to find text in a photo. You can then search for text in your photos. You can also use Spotlight to search through your photos. You can scan a selected time period (7 days, 30 days, 6 months etc.) or scan all your photos. Once a photo has been processed, you will not have to scan it again, so after a while you will have processed your complete photos library and it will be ready to be searched instantaneously. Search Photos can extract the text from any photo and will allow you to copy the text. It will also detect links, phone numbers, calendar events etc. You can mark the found photo as a favourite, if you wish. An extensive User Guide is included. Most languages are supported : English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Russian. New languages that are supported : Thai, Vietnamese and Arabic. Search Photos integrates with Maps to show you the physical location where the photo has been taken. You can also use Search Photos to scan an individual photo, a photo of a paper document or a screen shot. The free edition is limited to five search results. After the In-App Purchase you will receive unlimited search results.

Screenshots

Snappy4 screens
Search Photos4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Search Photos at 100% against Snappy's 46%. Search Photos also leads on ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.6). Snappy's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). On price, monetization model 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Search Photos sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Snappy asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Snappy ships an update every 3 weeks, Search Photos every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Snappy versus Search Photos: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSnappySearch Photos
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews45.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings—4 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.613.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMasayuki AkamatsuAlco Blom

Customer experience

Snappy

Written reviews24 reviews
Positive45.8%
Neutral12.5%
Negative41.7%

Search Photos

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Snappy

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Search Photos

One-time1
  • Unlimited Search$4.99

Questions

Is Snappy free?
Snappy is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Search Photos free?
Search Photos is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Snappy or Search Photos have ads?
Snappy shows ads; Search Photos does not.
Which is updated more often, Snappy or Search Photos?
Snappy ships an update every 3 weeks, and Search Photos every 2 months. Most recently, Snappy was updated on October 10, 2026 and Search Photos on October 5, 2026.

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