Comparison

iPano vs Shot Designer

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

Head to head
About

iPano

Explore immersive 360° panoramas and QuickTime VR files with this advanced viewer. Rotate your device to look around and zoom in, with options to import and export your creations. Overlay your camera for an augmented reality experience.

Highlights
  • View 360° and QuickTime VR files
  • Device rotation for exploration
  • Zoom in and out
  • Import and export panos
  • Full resolution storage
  • Augmented reality camera overlay
Features
Read full description

"Like looking through a window into another world" -=- The premiere panorama viewer -=- • Designed to give you the best experience, resolution, and functionality possible. • View QuickTime VR files, including objects, and equirectangular 360° • By turning your device you can look anywhere in your image, and zoom in and out. • Import & export your panos from anywhere in iOS. • iPano lets you keep a collection of your panos in full resolution on your device. • Overlay the camera -=- Augmented reality meets panorama viewer. • Please note iPano is a viewer, and does not capture images.

About

Shot Designer

Create detailed camera diagrams and shot lists quickly. Animate characters and cameras in real-time to visualize scene rhythm. Import storyboards and sync projects with your team.

Highlights
  • Real-time camera and character animation
  • Integrated shot list generation
  • Director's viewfinder and storyboard import
  • Set and lighting design tools
  • Team sharing and syncing
  • Template creation and library
Features
Read full description

WHAT IS SHOT DESIGNER? • CAMERA DIAGRAM - Shot Designer dramatically speeds up the Director's process of making camera diagrams. Create full-blown diagrams in seconds. The software does most of the work. • ANIMATION - Animate your characters and cameras to move around your diagram in real-time. Previsualize the rhythm of a scene by seeing it play out. • SHOT LIST - The integrated Shot List is tied into the diagram and writes itself while you work. Edit shots intuitively in the diagram, not in a confusing spreadsheet. • DIRECTOR'S VIEWFINDER / STORYBOARDS - Bring in lens-accurate camera angles via the integrated Director's Viewfinder or Storyboard Import. • MAC/PC DESKTOP VERSION - An identical Mac/PC Desktop Version is included with the Pro Version (in-app upgrade). • SYNC & TEAM SHARING - Sync your scenes across all your devices. Share scene folders with teams. Control who owns which scene. (Pro Feature) Watch the feature-demo at https://www.hollywoodcamerawork.com/shot-designer-videos.html CAMERA-BLOCKING ON STEROIDS Shot Designer was developed by Per Holmes, the creator of the renowned Hollywood Camera Work training, and has been developed in conjunction with major TV and Film productions. Shot Designer is based on the realization that neither Camera Diagrams, Shot Lists, or Storyboards by themselves give you a satisfying understanding of camera-blocking -- you have to use them *together*. Shot Designer is FAST. The app knows how Directing works and automatically does most of the work for you. Cameras rearrange themselves when you move characters. Animate characters and cameras with simple Walk To and Track To commands. Create sophisticated tracking shots with multiple marks. Shot Designer is fast enough that you can rearrange the diagram with actors waiting. OTHER FEATURES • Integrated Set Designer for building floor plans. • Integrated Lighting Designer for DPs, with lighting symbols provided by Ari Golan of Atomic Imaging Studios Chicago. • Import production drawings as backgrounds and block on top of them. • Factory Templates of pre-made camera setups for any situation. • Make your own templates as starting points for new scenes. • Large and growing prop/furniture library. Email us requests, we'll build them. • Scene Freeze: Experiment easily by taking snapshots you can return to (Pro). • PDF/JPG/Excel export and emailing of Camera Diagrams and Shot Lists (Pro). • Unlimited Folder Structure for organizing scenes (Pro). The Free Version of Shot Designer is full-featured except for Save, Export and Sync/Team. Your current scene is always saved, and you can be fully productive working on one scene at a time. The Pro Version (in-app upgrade) adds File Management, identical Mac/PC Desktop Version, Sync and Team Sharing, PDF/JPG/Excel Export and more.

Screenshots

iPano4 screens
Shot Designer3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: iPano at every 2 weeks against Shot Designer's monthly. Shot Designer's advantage is review sentiment (68% vs 56%). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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. iPano sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Shot Designer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.8 for iPano against 3.8 for Shot Designer. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 21 and 10 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 56% of iPano's written reviews are positive against 68% of Shot Designer's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iPano ships an update every 2 weeks, Shot Designer monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
iPano versus Shot Designer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriPanoShot Designer
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.8 (21 ratings)3.8 (10 ratings)
Positive reviews56.1% of reviews68.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings21 — better10
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS11.0 — better12.0
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB82 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperWaterSoftHollywood Camera Work SRL

Customer experience

iPano

All ratings21 ratings
Positive71.4%
Neutral4.8%
Negative23.8%
Written reviews41 reviews
Positive56.1%
Neutral7.3%
Negative36.6%

Shot Designer

All ratings10 ratings
Positive60.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews175 reviews
Positive68.0%
Neutral9.1%
Negative22.9%

Bugs and requests

iPano

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Shot Designer

Reported bugs

17 issues
  • White screen of death on app launch
  • App crashes when adding image props
  • Login not working on iPhone devices
  • Cannot register due to UI form scrolling errors
  • Keyboard overlay blocking sign-in form
Show 12 more
  • Sync deletes user work unexpectedly
  • Pro version purchase not recognized after updates
  • Cannot save designs to phone
  • App doesn't fill entire screen on modern devices
  • Lag when renaming scenes
  • Keyboard doesn't appear when naming files
  • Difficulty selecting objects when grouped closely together
  • App crashes on iPhone 6s and newer devices
  • Incompatibility with iOS 10.2 and later
  • Director's viewfinder doesn't save metadata to photo gallery
  • Cross-device sync losing work
  • Account login issues between iOS and desktop versions

Requested features

25 requests
  • Apple Pencil integration for iPad
  • Import custom designs and elements
  • Drag-and-drop file import from Files app
  • More lighting instruments and props
  • PDF export functionality
Show 20 more
  • Ability to import background images from Files app (not just Photos)
  • Copy and paste functionality
  • Assignable character names for multiple scenes
  • Moveable background images
  • Scene metadata for automatic camera labeling
  • Ability to reorder shots in Mac version
  • Undo functionality
  • iCloud sync support
  • Google Drive integration
  • Full-screen mode for modern iPhones
  • French language support
  • Spanish language support
  • Scene duplication feature
  • More than 5 pages available
  • Storyboard animation export
  • Audio/soundtrack integration
  • Script import capability
  • Hide individual objects instead of entire categories
  • Retina Display support for Mac
  • Real-time sync between devices

In-app purchases

1 purchases

iPano

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$2.99
1 purchases

Shot Designer

One-time1
  • Pro Version Upgrade$19.99

Questions

Is iPano free?
iPano is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Shot Designer free?
Shot Designer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, iPano or Shot Designer?
iPano and Shot Designer are both rated 3.8 out of 5 on the App Store, from 21 and 10 ratings respectively.
Do iPano or Shot Designer have ads?
Neither iPano nor Shot Designer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iPano or Shot Designer?
iPano ships an update every 2 weeks, and Shot Designer monthly. Most recently, iPano was updated on September 29, 2026 and Shot Designer on October 6, 2026.

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