Pocket Light Meter vs Histograms Explained
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Pocket Light Meter
This app functions as a portable light meter, essential for film photographers using manual cameras. It accurately measures reflected light and provides reciprocity calculations for precise exposure control.
- Portable light meter
- Reflected light measurement
- Reciprocity calculations
- Indispensable for film photography
- Manual camera compatible
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A light meter that is always in your pocket. It is indispensable for film photography with all manual camera. Measures reflected light, and allows reciprocity calculations.
Histograms Explained
Learn to interpret your camera's histogram for better photography, both underwater and topside. This app de-mystifies histograms with narrated lessons, real-world examples, and quizzes from experienced professionals.
- De-mystifies camera histograms
- Narrated training material
- Real-world photo examples
- Chapter quizzes
- Tips from professional photographers
- Covers luminance and RGB histograms
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Whether you shoot with a Mirrorless, DSLR or a point-and-shoot camera, this easy to use, easy to understand App will quickly improve your underwater photography as your camera's histogram is de-mystified and becomes your new best friend. Information in this App is useful for topside photography as well. Every shooter can benefit greatly from Histograms Explained! Shoot like the pros! Histograms Explained is the second in the series of Underwater Photography Training Applications by David Fleetham & Marty Snyderman. With 80 years of combined professional experience in underwater photography, David and Marty share their tips to help you understand your camera's histogram for better images. This App contains eight sections of training material, fully narrated, with photos taken by David Fleetham and Marty Snyderman to illustrate examples of histograms with their accompanying images, plus other training slides. • Section 1: Your New Best Friend • Section 2: Two Kinds of Histograms • Section 3: Luminance Histograms • Section 4: The Bell Curve Myth • Section 5: Beware of the Goal Posts • Section 6: Making Adjustments • Section 7: RGB Histograms • Section 8: The Color Channels Other features: • Full narration • Easy menu navigation • Right-to-left, left-to-right swipe technology • Chapter quizzes to reinforce learning • One in a series of Underwater Photography Training Applications: Natural Light Images, Coordinating Natural Light and Strobes, Using Strobes Effectively, Silhouettes Underwater and Histograms Explained
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Pocket Light Meter at 4.5 against Histograms Explained's 3.3. Pocket Light Meter also leads on review sentiment (87% vs 50%) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 40 months). Histograms Explained's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and price ($4.99 vs $9.99). On 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
Pocket Light Meter costs $9.99 and Histograms Explained $4.99 up front. Pocket Light Meter sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Histograms Explained asks for nothing beyond the download.
Pocket Light Meter holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pocket Light Meter has 1K ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 87% of Pocket Light Meter's written reviews are positive against 50% of Histograms Explained's.
Pocket Light Meter ships an update fortnightly, Histograms Explained every 40 months. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Pocket Light Meter | Histograms Explained |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | $4.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.5 (1K ratings) — better | 3.3 (6 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 87.1% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1K — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 40 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #78 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 34 MB | 210 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Nuwaste studios | Newmediasoup, LLC |
Customer experience
Pocket Light Meter
Histograms Explained
Bugs and requests
Pocket Light Meter
Reported bugs
3 issues- Crashes or freezes with recent iOS updates
- Inconsistent metering in low light conditions
- Issues with saving metering data to photos
Requested features
6 requests- Add histogram display
- Implement manual mode to lock aperture/shutter
- Support for flash metering
- Improve low-light performance
- Provide more metering mode options (spot, center-weighted, etc.)
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- Add option to save metering data to photo metadata
Histograms Explained
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Pocket Light Meter
- ads remover$1.99
- pint for the developer and get rid of the ads$5.99
- donation to the developer$5.99
Histograms Explained
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Pocket Light Meter free?
Is Histograms Explained free?
Which has better reviews, Pocket Light Meter or Histograms Explained?
Do Pocket Light Meter or Histograms Explained have ads?
Which is updated more often, Pocket Light Meter or Histograms Explained?
Other comparisons
