Microscope vs Flipper
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Microscope
Transform your iPhone into a high-magnification microscope. Explore the intricate details of everyday objects like skin, eyes, and hair with impressive digital zoom. Amaze others by revealing hidden cellular structures and fine particles.
- High-magnification digital zoom
- Magnify skin and reveal cell structure
- View inner eye details
- Examine hair particles
- Impress friends with detailed views
Read full descriptionHide full description
Turn your iPhone into a powerful electron microscope! Amaze your friends and trick them into believing that your iPhone also acts as a microscope and is capable of magnifying objects by thousands of times. Point the iPhone camera at your hands, and show your friends how the digital zoom magnifies your skin, revealing the cell structure with the precision and detail offered only by an expensive microscope! Aim the iPhone camera at your eye, and cause amazement when your screen will begin showing the inner parts of your eye, amongst blood vessels and various other filaments and cell. Finally, point the iPhone to your hair, and dazzle your friends as the tiniest particles your hair is made of begin to reveal themselves on the iPhone's screen!
Flipper
Easily transform your photos with a variety of mirror effects. Select images from your library or camera, choose from dozens of unique reflection styles, and fine-tune the positioning and size with intuitive gestures. Save and share your creative mirror images to social media.
- Apply mirror effects to photos
- Choose from 36 unique mirroring styles
- Adjust mirror image position and size with gestures
- Save and share to social media
- Select photos from camera roll or take new ones
Read full descriptionHide full description
Choose photo from your camera roll or take a photo, and automatically turn it into a photo with mirror effects. Pick the effect you like best, then edit it to make it your own. Flipper's smooth, intuitive process gives you complete creative control. Tap to select style of mirror, scroll to positioning, pinch to zoom in or out. You're the editor, change the look of your regular photos to convey a mood or theme. FEATURES * Select photo from your albums or take a photo, and automatically turn it into a photo with mirror effects. * Pick one of the 36 unique mirroring effects. * Enlarge, Shrink, Move, and use gestures to make mirror images. * Save your layouts to your camera roll and share them seamlessly to Instagram or other networks. * Download and start creating mirror photo immediately.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Flipper at 52% against Microscope's 4%. Flipper also leads on rating (4.6 vs 2.0) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 10 months). Microscope's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ads (none vs shown). On price 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. Flipper sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Microscope asks for nothing beyond the download.
Flipper holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 2.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Flipper has 8.2K ratings behind it against 223, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 4% of Microscope's written reviews are positive against 52% of Flipper's.
Microscope ships an update every 10 months, Flipper every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Microscope | Flipper |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.0 (223 ratings) | 4.6 (8.2K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 4.3% of reviews | 51.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 223 | 8.2K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 10 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 3.1 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 8 MB | 19 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | LogSat LLC | Aleksandr Romanchev |
Customer experience
Microscope
Flipper
User reviews
Microscope
From 223 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 😄 Fun prank app to trick friends
- ✨ Crisp and beautifully magnified images
- 📱 Doesn't crash
- 🎯 Realistic camera integration at start
Room to improve
- 😞 Displays same pre-loaded images regardless of input
- 🚫 Misleading as fake microscope
- 💾 Wastes storage and data
- 🎬 Only shows pre-recorded videos
- 😤 Repetitive content after first use
Flipper
From 8.2K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use on the first try
- 🎨 Helps generate creative ideas
- 💡 Useful for mirroring images
Room to improve
- 🚫 Ads even after paying for ad-free
- 🚫 Watermark added to images
- 🐛 Freezing and crashing issues
- 🚫 Limited functionality
Bugs and requests
Microscope
Reported bugs
6 issues- Information screen goes black and unresponsive
- Cannot return to main screen from info screen
- Camera recognition fails for non-hand/eye/hair objects
- App shows same image even with camera covered
- Works only once then requires app restart
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Selection screen doesn't function as intended
Requested features
7 requests- Show actual magnified images of scanned objects
- Real microscope functionality
- Ability to take multiple different pictures
- Clearer description that app is a prank/gag
- Update for iPod Touch with camera compatibility
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- Remove pre-loaded limitation
- Working information/selection screen
Flipper
Reported bugs
3 issues- Inability to delete pictures after editing
- Incompatibility with iOS 13
- Ads still shown after purchasing premium
Requested features
4 requests- Add random mirror function
- Support more aspect ratios
- Improve image quality and resolution
- Allow landscape mode
In-app purchases
Microscope
No in-app purchases
Flipper
- Premium Version$1.99
