Dramatic Black & White vs Blackie
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Dramatic Black & White
Transform your photos into striking black and white images with adjustable light, contrast, and texture. Explore classic and modern styles, and use unique tools to create artistic compositions. Perfect for photographers seeking to enhance their monochrome vision.
- Black and white photo conversion
- Adjustable light and contrast
- Texture and shape controls
- Ellipse spotlight tool
- Classic, infrared, and HD styles
- Grain and vignette effects
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Make a Black and White Photo with Light Contrast Grit and Form --- MacWorld’s pick for the App Gems of the Year Award --- Everyone knows it doesn't get better than classic Black & White - it's the artistic soul of photography. Referencing one of our favorite Ansel Adams quotes: "Great Black & White photos aren't taken - they're made". Using Dramatic Black & White you can make your own black and white photographs, ones where light and contrast, grit and form come together to tell a story; ones where stone and sky, water and light transcend the material world and ascend to the Photographers’ Gallery. With Dramatic Black & White there are no mistakes you can't fix, no limits to your vision, no stopping until you're finished, nothing to hold you back from truly 'making your photos' and making them - Oh.My.Gosh. good! JixiPix's Dramatic Black & White app starts by leaving color in the rear view mirror, and enables you to make expert adjustments with easy-to-use, fully customizable controls to contrast and light, texture and shape. Before your eyes, watch your photo transform into the dramatic looks of the past and cutting-edge styles of the present. PHOTOGRAPHY STYLE • Black & White – Classic • Infrared Photo – Modern • Dramatic Black & White – High Definition FEATURES A one-of-a-kind ellipse spotlight tool will allow you to set up a light source on a subject in your composition. Fully customizable controls allow expert adjustments to contrast, light, texture and shape; and adjustments to spotlight size intensity. INCLUDES Spotlight, Black and White Filters, Grain and Vignette UNIVERSAL FEATURES All JixiPix Apps come with: Superior Customer Service, Support for High-Resolution Images & Output, Undo/Redo, Randomize Button, Quick Presets and the ability to create Custom Presets, Cropping with the ability to specify aspect ratio, Quick Preview, Email, Print, and the ability to post directly to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr. We also have an online art gallery and invite our user’s to display their artistic creations on it: http://www.flickr.com/groups/jixipixcreations/ *************** “JixiPix turns any photo into a masterpiece. All that is required of you is the appreciation — we’ll take care of the rest! ” JixiPix.com “Creative Tools for Creative People” Photography | Artistic | Graphic Apps MAC • iPad • iPhone
Blackie
This app is designed for black and white photography enthusiasts, offering a minimal interface and powerful tools for both beginners and professionals. It provides real-time effect previews, manual camera controls, and extensive editing options to achieve stunning monochrome images.
- Real-time effect previews
- Manual camera controls
- Extensive editing mods
- Customizable presets
- Minimalist design
- Fast camera access
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The perfect app for the Black & White photography. It doesn't matter if you've just started or you are a professional. The Blackie has something for everyone. Its minimal design and easy use with many features will make it your go-to app when you're in the mood for the Black & White. It will help you explore all the possibilities of the Black & White photography and achieve the best result. • Fast. Blackie opens in camera mode, so you can instantly capture moments around you and give them vintage feeling. • What you see is what you get. All effects are previewed in Real-time. • Shuffle your best. The smart shuffle works exceptionally. You only need to shuffle a couple of times and snap the best one. • Customize. If you have time, you can manage every effect in your photo with Mods by yourself. • Simple Minimal Design. The way that Blackie works is unique. The experience is clear and fast. No need for unnecessary buttons. • Just save it! Captured photo goes instantly to your photos library. It is up to you when you are ready to share it with the world. • No in-app purchases and no ads. Nothing to bother you while making memories. • Settings Save Original Photo On / Off. Save Photos with Compression (JPEG) On / (TIFF) Off. Modify UI to Lighting Conditions. (Black or White design). • Camera Manual Controls Manual Focus with Focus Peaking. Lenses. Manual Exposure. Shutter Speed and ISO. Manual White Balance. EV. • Grids 9x Grid Types with custom Opacity. Center Lines On / Off. Grid Color Black / White. • Presets 8x Slots for custom Presets. • Mods Crop and Rotate. Films. 5x Scanned Analog Films. 3x Digitally Created. Brightness. Contrast. Color Filters. 6x Types Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue and Infra. Vignette Overlay. 5x Types with rotations and inverted light. Fade. Low, Mid, High mods. Shadows. Highlights. Sharp. 2x Types Clarity and Bloom. Grain. Frame. Black & White frame with custom size. • Post processing Before / After function. Tags: #blackieapp #blackie Note: iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4/4S, iPod 4th generation, iPad2, iPad Mini 1st generation, iPad3 is Missing Sharp and Grain Mods. All iPads preview and capture is in Square Mode only.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Dramatic Black & White at 4.8 against Blackie's 3.1. Dramatic Black & White also leads on review sentiment (84% vs 58%) and ratings volume (345 vs 44). Blackie's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 4 months) and chart position (#184 vs unranked). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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
Dramatic Black & White costs $2.99 and Blackie $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Dramatic Black & White holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Dramatic Black & White has 345 ratings behind it against 44, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 84% of Dramatic Black & White's written reviews are positive against 58% of Blackie's.
Dramatic Black & White ships an update every 4 months, Blackie monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Dramatic Black & White | Blackie |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 — better | $3.99 |
| Rating | 4.8 (345 ratings) — better | 3.1 (44 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 84.3% of reviews — better | 58.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 345 — better | 44 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #184 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 10.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 15 MB | 26 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | JixiPix, LLC | Brutality Arts |
Customer experience
Dramatic Black & White
Blackie
User reviews
Dramatic Black & White
From 345 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Great for B&W photography
- 🎨 Lots of editing options
- 💻 Works well on desktop
- 🤩 Fantastic results
- 🙌 Easy to use
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes frequently
- 🔍 Clunky UI/UX
- 🔍 Annoying pop-ups
- 🔍 Slow saving process
- 🔍 Limited features
Blackie
From 44 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- ✨ Excellent B&W quality
- 🎨 Great filters and effects
- ⚙️ Powerful controls
- 📸 Good for street photography
- 💡 Customizable options
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes
- 🚫 App not usable (on some devices)
- 📉 Poor usability (for some)
- 🐞 Bugs and glitches
- 🫙 Difficult to save photos
Bugs and requests
Dramatic Black & White
Reported bugs
3 issues- Freezing on login screen
- Incompatibility with newer devices
- Inability to access camera
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to adjust individual color channels
- Layers and masking tools
- Remembering custom settings
- Improved performance and stability
Blackie
Reported bugs
53 issues- Severe crashes
- Photos not saving
- Editing not saving
- Upper side of pictures cut off
- Double assignments in UI (e.g., histogram)
Show 48 moreShow fewer
- Filter usage broken
- Setting a frame to black does not persist
- GUI not usable on iPad Pro
- Camera shuts down with manual focus on wide angle
- App crashes when using manual focus on wide angle lens
- App did not save any images
- Latest update crashes consistently
- App crashes on opening/shutter click
- Photo not recorded in Photos app
- Cannot take pictures after setup choice
- App no longer works, shutter circle does nothing
- App freezes on opening screen
- App crashing with iPhone Pro 15
- App freezes when opening photos
- App freezes and hangs
- Some shots lost and not saved
- App drains battery even in background
- App freezes on each section
- App crashes when trying to load/edit from library
- App crashes when importing photos
- App crops images
- App not responding
- App crashes frequently
- App not working on iPhone 7
- App not working on iPhone XR
- App not working on iPhone XS Max
- App not working on iPhone X, Xs, Xs Max
- App not working after last update (iPhone XS Plus)
- Icons too small
- Buttons too small
- Icons are tiny
- UI not optimized for screen size
- Interface not user-friendly
- Cropping to square is forced
- Random/shuffle FX is perfect but cannot be saved
- Clunky unintuitive UI
- Cannot access photos, freezes phone
- Uploads sporadically, then uploads wrong photo
- No icons show up, cannot take photos
- App still doesn't work on new iPhone, unable to take photos
- Controls not quite right for iPhone 14 Pro Max
- App doesn't work with iPad Pro 11
- App doesn't work with iPad Air 4
- Buttons cut off at screen edge and don't respond
- Live camera image visible, but UI buttons cut off
- App crashes
- Bug crashing again
- App not responding
Requested features
24 requests- Customizable default comment in metadata
- Home screen shortcut icon
- Masking function
- Retouch/correction function
- Support for 48MP max grid
Show 19 moreShow fewer
- Features for night photography
- Optimization for new iPhones
- Ability to turn off shuffle
- RAW capture support
- Zoom while shooting
- Ability to edit preset names
- Save favorite combinations from shuffle
- Support for second lens on iPhone 7 Plus
- Ability to pinch out to zoom in
- Tiff format support
- Color photo option with same interface
- More film simulations
- Smaller font size
- Support for larger photo databases
- Guidance on app usage
- Permanent settings after restart
- Ability to reset chosen preset
- Scroll through camera roll within the app
- Clear way to upload to computer/camera roll
In-app purchases
Dramatic Black & White
No in-app purchases
Blackie
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Dramatic Black & White free?
Is Blackie free?
Which has better reviews, Dramatic Black & White or Blackie?
Do Dramatic Black & White or Blackie have ads?
Which is updated more often, Dramatic Black & White or Blackie?
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