Grungetastic vs Formulas
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Grungetastic
Apply a variety of aggressive and "unwell" textures and tones to your photos. This app offers seven distinct grunge styles with adjustable controls for color, textures, and borders, allowing for unique artistic creations.
- Seven grunge styles
- Adjustable color, textures, and borders
- Randomize button
- Texture and border library
- Customizable presets
- High-resolution output
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Rock your Photo with Unwell Textures and Tones Grungetastic cranks your photos to 11 with seven hot and heavy looks: Classic Grunge, Bleached Grunge, Worn Pop, Worn Grunge, Gritty Grunge, Distressed and Pop Grunge. These seven fun and aggressive styles let you get down and dirty with your photos. Faster than you can say "filthy," these styles and Grungetastic's easy, hands-on interface will have you smushing delightfully unwell textures and tones with deeply satisfying contrasts, and explosively pleasurable pops for dangerously-addictive ultra-Grungy art. Grungetastic is for the Photographer that loves everything grungy! Shadows, Rubbing, Scratching, Ripping, Shredding, Stressing, Distressing, Popping, Exploding, Splatters, Smudging, Glowing, Glaring, Smoking – just some of the wildness that Grungetastic hooks you up with. GRUNGETASTIC MAKES DIRTY PHOTOS - REALLY DIRTY PHOTOS! SO DIRTY THAT THEY HAVE THEIR OWN LITTLE DIRT STORMS SWIRLING AROUND THEM—the styles are creative madness—or clearer visions of reality, whatever it is, they go to an artistic place few ever get. You can't get a cooler, hotter photo anywhere! ULTRA-GRUNGE STYLES Classic Grunge, Bleached, Pop Grunge, Pop Worn, Worn, Gritty and Distressed Grunge FEATURES Adjustable control over all aspect of the process: Color, multiple textures and borders INCLUDES Seven grungy styles: Classic Grunge, Bleached, Pop Grunge, Pop Worn, Worn, Gritty and Distressed Grunge "Randomize" button to quickly show off the power of the app A full library of textures and borders Quick, efficient, and very user-friendly interface Support for full-size images Presets with the ability to create custom presets Preview mode for quick workflow (Larger image rendered on save or when emailed) UNIVERSAL FEATURES All JixiPix Apps come with: Superior Customer Service, Support for High-Resolution Images & Output, Undo, Randomize Button, Quick Presets, the ability to create Custom Presets and Quick Preview. Our mobile version can Email and post directly to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr. ‘Like us on facebook’ for tips & tricks, quick announcements and interaction with the Jixi team! https://www.facebook.com/pages/JixiPixcom/338304329530235?ref=hl *************** “JixiPix turns any photo into a masterpiece. The only requirement is art appreciation — we will take care of the rest!” JixiPix.com “Creative Tools for Creative Types” Photography | Artistic | Graphic Apps Mac • iPad • iPhone
Formulas
Apply unique, multilayered photo effects and custom frames to your images. Features include vintage emulations, artistic styles, and textured finishes. An intuitive interface and one-tap auto adjust make professional editing easy.
- Custom multilayered photo effects
- Vintage film emulations
- Textured and artistic styles
- Dozens of custom frames
- One-tap auto adjust tool
- Intuitive UI
- Photo editing extension
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*** App Store Best of 2015 *** MIAN FEATURES: Dozens of custom, multilayered photo effects unlike anything available on the App Store, ranging from basic color and tonal to authentic vintage film emulations, textured finishes, and painterly and artistic styles. Built with scientific precision by some of the most talented artists in the mobile photography community, these effects truly deserve the “Formula” accolade. Each is meticulously constructed from components that are expertly-crafted by renowned photographer Dirk Wuestenhagen and that themselves are fully-fledged effects in the traditional sense including textures, filters, gradients, adjustments, and much more. Each formula goes through a vigorous testing process to ensure compatibility with a wide range of scenes, subjects, and editing styles from landscapes and cityscapes to street photography and portraits. Dozens of custom frames expertly-crafted by renowned photographer Dirk Wuestenhagen, which include high quality scans of vintage paper, worn fabric, weathered stone, and a multitude of other materials and substrates that are then refined, blended, and fine-tuned to perfection in an arduous post-processing regimen aimed at exposing naturally occurring character lines, blemishes, and impurities. Moreover, a great deal of attention is given to specific color tones within an overall limited spectrum of earthy hues that are deemed to work best with images. One-tap Auto Adjust tool that automatically analyzes color and tonal levels in an image and makes adjustments accordingly, thereby producing professional results with no effort whatsoever. Beautifully designed and streamlined UI that is intuitive and easy to navigate. A lot of thought and effort went into making the UI appealing to and accessible by users of all skill levels. PHOTO EDITING EXTENSION: Edit your photos right from within your photo library with a fully-fledged photo editing extension that not only provides access to the full functionality of the main app, but also preserves your sessions, allowing you to pick up right where you left off the next time you edit the image. STACKABLES: Think you’ve got what it takes to create your own formulas? Download Stackables from the App Store and start experimenting today. TECHNICAL INFO: High resolution support up to 16MP (4,000 x 4,000 px) on newer devices (iPhone 5 and later, iPad 3 and later). Support for JPEG, lossless PNG, and lossless TIFF formats. URL Scheme "formulas://". SUPPORT: Experiencing issues? Have comments or suggestions for future updates? Please contact us at support@formulasapp.co.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Grungetastic at 4.8 against Formulas's 4.2. Grungetastic also leads on monetization model (free vs paid) and review sentiment (81% vs 72%). Formulas's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 6 months) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 14.0). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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
Grungetastic costs $2.99 and Formulas $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Grungetastic holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 188 and 114 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 81% of Grungetastic's written reviews are positive against 72% of Formulas's.
Grungetastic ships an update every 6 months, Formulas every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Grungetastic | Formulas |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | $2.99 |
| Rating | 4.8 (188 ratings) — better | 4.2 (114 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 81.4% of reviews — better | 72.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 188 — better | 114 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 | 8.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 56 MB | 262 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | JixiPix, LLC | Tinkerworks Apps |
Customer experience
Grungetastic
Formulas
User reviews
Grungetastic
From 188 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Lots of creative options
- 🎨 Customizable effects
- 🎲 Fun randomize feature
- 💡 Unique grunge styles
- 👍 Easy to use
Room to improve
- 🐛 Slow rendering/processing
- 💰 In-app purchases for more effects
- 🔒 Locked effects behind paywall
- 🔒 Lack of free access to all features
Formulas
From 114 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- ✨ Beautiful and professional-looking filters
- 🎨 Excellent artistic effects for photo editing
- 👍 Simple and intuitive user interface
- ⚡ Fast and efficient editing process
- 🖼️ High-quality results with vintage-style textures
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
- ⏱️ No updates in 9+ years
- 🚫 Regional restrictions not disclosed
- ❌ Non-functional in-app links and cart system
- 🔗 Broken connection to App Store
Bugs and requests
Grungetastic
Reported bugs
3 issues- Unable to upload/load photos
- Presets not applying correctly
- Crashes or freezes on certain devices
Requested features
6 requests- Undo button
- More color/hue options
- Color swapping
- Higher resolution exports
- Native iPad support
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Ability to stack multiple borders
Formulas
Reported bugs
11 issues- App crashes on iPhone iOS 26
- Crashes when tapping camera icon
- Cannot save to camera roll
- Crashes frequently during use
- Non-functional icons marked as forbidden
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- App won't run on iPad Pro despite optimization claim
- Photos extension not working properly
- Broken external links (App Store, Instagram, websites)
- In-app purchase system not connecting to App Store
- Lost access to previously purchased add-ons after update
- Stackables app crashes repeatedly
Requested features
11 requests- Update app for current iOS versions
- Add landscape mode support
- Increase number of filter options
- Separate color and texture controls
- Adjust opacity independently for colors and textures
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- Add more texture options (peeling paint, fresco, plaster)
- Improve Photos extension functionality
- Restore Stackables app availability
- Add layering/stacking capabilities
- Include tutorial videos
- Add brightness and contrast adjustment controls
In-app purchases
Grungetastic
No in-app purchases
Formulas
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Grungetastic free?
Is Formulas free?
Which has better reviews, Grungetastic or Formulas?
Do Grungetastic or Formulas have ads?
Which is updated more often, Grungetastic or Formulas?
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