Comparison

ClockFire vs DPFrame

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

Head to head
About

ClockFire

Transform your device into a dynamic digital photo frame with realistic fire, smoke, or plasma clock effects. Customize transitions, zoom, and photo display order for a personalized viewing experience. Add atmospheric touches like snow or rain for an enhanced mood.

Highlights
  • Realistic fire, smoke, or plasma clock effects
  • 20 transition effects
  • Customizable transition duration and type
  • Zoom effect on photos
  • Random or ordered photo display
  • Optional snow or rain overlays
Features
Read full description

Turn your iPad, iPhone, Mac, or Apple TV into a living digital photo frame, with the time written in real fire. A beautiful desk, bedside, and night clock over your favorite photos, with cinematic transitions, Live Scenes, and atmospheres. ClockFire first lit up screens in 2010. ClockFire 2 is a complete rebirth: rebuilt from scratch with Metal and rendered in real time on iPad, iPhone, Mac, and Apple TV. YOUR PHOTOS, BEAUTIFULLY FRAMED • Show albums, Favorites, and On This Day memories from your photo library, or import your own photos • Start right away with more than 40 stunning sample photos • Smart framing keeps faces and subjects in view • Slow, cinematic Ken Burns pan and zoom • Two portrait photos side by side on landscape screens • Discreet captions with the date and place A CLOCK MADE OF FIRE • Real-time flames, embers, and heat haze • More effects to match your mood: Smoke, Plasma, Neon, Ice, Molten Gold, Liquid Glass, Aurora, Hologram, and Minimal • Several clock styles, from 7-segment to rounded, thin, and serif • Your favorite colors, plus the date • Local weather, with temperature and conditions • Time and date formats that follow your region settings CINEMATIC TRANSITIONS • The 20 ClockFire classics, reimagined in 3D: flips, page turn, tiles, waves, ripple, twirl… • Spectacular new ones: burning paper, page curl, glass shatter, cube, dust, ink, water drop… LIVE SCENES Animated paintings rendered in real time between your photos: a cozy fireplace, northern lights, an ocean sunset, a misty forest with fireflies, an underwater lagoon, a koi pond, a black hole, a nebula, a spiral galaxy, a lava lamp, synthwave, and more. ATMOSPHERES Snow, rain, rain on glass, fireflies, cherry blossoms, autumn leaves, embers, shooting stars, mist, bubbles, and light rays. Choose Seasons to follow the time of year, or Live Weather to bring the sky outside onto your frame: when it rains outside, it rains on your photos. MADE FOR DAY AND NIGHT • Night mode dims the frame, keeps only the clock, or turns the screen off on a schedule • HDR glow on XDR displays • Keeps the screen awake, like a screensaver for your desk, nightstand, or kitchen • Tap for controls, swipe for the next or previous photo, drag and pinch the clock, double-tap for settings • Menus and keyboard shortcuts on Mac, full remote support on Apple TV FREE, WITH AN OPTIONAL ONE-TIME UPGRADE ClockFire is free to download and includes unlimited photos, the Fire and Minimal clocks, 10 transitions, 2 Live Scenes, snow and rain, and night mode. ClockFire Pro is a one-time purchase, with no subscription. It unlocks every clock effect and color, all transitions, all Live Scenes, all atmospheres, and local weather on the clock. Not sure yet? Preview any Pro feature live for 30 seconds. Weather data provided by Apple Weather.

About

DPFrame

Transform your old iPad or iPhone into a high-quality digital photo frame. Enjoy customizable slideshows with various effects, time and date display, and even multimedia options like narration and music.

Highlights
  • Full-screen image slideshows
  • Configurable slide timing
  • Optional time and date display
  • Slideshow effects (zoom, filters, transitions)
  • Text and graphics overlay
  • Multimedia functions (narration, music)
  • AirPlay output
Features
Read full description

Quality digital photo frames with good functionality are getting harder to find. DPFrame can turn your older iPad into a superior digital photo frame. Features There are 2 versions of DPFrame: - FREE - PRO – available as an In App Purchase FREE version features: - A slideshow of full screen images in portrait or landscape orientation - Easy slideshow navigation and pausing - Configurable slide time - Optional display of current time and/or date - Optional night-time sleep mode - Compatible with all generations of iPad - and recent iPhones and iPod Touches PRO additional features: - Wide range of slideshow effects (ie zoom, filters and transition effects) - Configurable text and graphics overlay - Current date and time with choice of formats - Camera metadata (when and where shot) - Personalised image/logo with text - Multimedia functions - Configurable narration track or background music playlist - Slide changes synced to narration or music - Vision and sound output to external devices via AirPlay - Flexible selection of photos and music - Configurable sleep function

Screenshots

ClockFire4 screens
DPFrame4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: DPFrame at 100% against ClockFire's 33%. DPFrame also leads on update cadence (every 3 months vs every 100 months) and iOS requirement (5.1.1 vs 26.0). ClockFire's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. DPFrame sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. ClockFire asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ClockFire ships an update every 100 months, DPFrame every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
ClockFire versus DPFrame: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterClockFireDPFrame
PriceFreeFree
Rating—4.5 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews33.3% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings—4 — better
Update frequencyEvery 100 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS26.05.1.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size102 MB15 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperEric DegrangeLindsay Arnold

Customer experience

ClockFire

Written reviews6 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral33.3%
Negative33.3%

DPFrame

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

In-app purchases

None

ClockFire

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

DPFrame

One-time1
  • PRO Upgrade$0.99

Questions

Is ClockFire free?
ClockFire is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is DPFrame free?
DPFrame is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do ClockFire or DPFrame have ads?
Neither ClockFire nor DPFrame shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ClockFire or DPFrame?
ClockFire ships an update every 100 months, and DPFrame every 3 months. Most recently, ClockFire was updated on October 19, 2026 and DPFrame on October 14, 2026.

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