Refractive vs iPhasematch
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Refractive
This application calculates the refractive index of transparent materials based on wavelength. It assists optical design engineers and students by computing transmission properties, angles, and critical values. Users can also define custom materials for their calculations.
- Refractive index calculation by wavelength
- Light transmission angle calculation
- Reflection and transmission coefficients
- Critical angle and Brewster's angle calculation
- Recall of refraction formulas
- Custom material definition
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Refractive is a software that calculates the refractive index of the major transparent materials in accordance to wavelength. Refractive is conceived for Optical design engineers as well as students interested in optics. All that’s needed is to select two materials to calculate their transmission proprieties. Characteristics : - Calculation of the refractive index according to wavelength; - Calculation of light’s transmission angles; - Reflection and transmission coefficients for the two materials in accordance to the angle of incidence; - Calculation of the critical angle and Brewster’s angle,; - Recall of the major refraction formulas; - Possibility to define personalized materials.
iPhasematch
Calculate nonlinear optical effects like second-harmonic generation and spontaneous parametric down-conversion. This app provides phasematching orientations, nonlinear coefficients, and tolerance values for various crystals based on Sellmeier equations.
- Phasematching condition calculation
- Sellmeier equation integration
- Effective nonlinear optical coefficients
- Walk-off and angular tolerance
- Temperature tolerance
- Supported crystal list
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iPhasematch allows you to calculate the phasematching condition of nonlinear wavelength conversion such as SHG or SFM based on published Sellmeier equiations. Downconversion (OPO) can be figured out by the reverse of SFM. It is a subset of the 'Qmix' function of a famous Windows software SNLO by Dr. Arlee Smith. This App does some of what SNLO does on your iOS device. It takes the crystal, two input wavelengths, and temperature and gives the phasematching orientations, effective nonlinear optical coefficients, walk-off angles, angular tolerance and temperature tolerance. In case of SHG, it also gives spectral tolerance. In biaxial crystals, it gives only the phasematching orientations in the principal planes, i.e., either theta=90 deg. or phi=0 or 90deg. Currently supported crystals: BBO, BiBO, CBO, CLBO, LB4, LBO, KBBF, KDP, KD*P, KN, KTP, Mg:LN, Mg:sLN, RBBF, RTP, YAB. NOTE: dn/dT data for LB4 was picked up from discrete data points in the reference and linearly extrapolated. Interface should be intuitive, giving phasematching with a tap of "PM" button,refractive index with "index" button and group index with "Gp.Idx" button, for the given condition (crystal, wavelengths, and temperature). DISCLAIMER: I cannot be held responsible for the result of the calculation it gives. I make every effort to make it accurate, and bug-free, but there could be errors in code. Please just use this on your own discretion.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Refractive at 10 against iPhasematch's 15.6. On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Refractive against 5.0 for iPhasematch. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 2 respectively.
Refractive ships an update every 10 months, iPhasematch every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Refractive | iPhasematch |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (3 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 3 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 10 months | Every 7 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 10 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 20 MB | 6 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Xavier Daxhelet | Yushi Kaneda |
Customer experience
Refractive
iPhasematch
In-app purchases
Refractive
No in-app purchases
iPhasematch
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Refractive free?
Is iPhasematch free?
Which has better reviews, Refractive or iPhasematch?
Do Refractive or iPhasematch have ads?
Which is updated more often, Refractive or iPhasematch?
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