Comparison

Magnifying Glass w/ Light Pro vs Things 3

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

Head to head
About

Magnifying Glass w/ Light Pro

Transform your device into a powerful, lighted magnifying glass. Easily read menus in dim restaurants, fine print on labels, or anything requiring a closer look. Features include crystal clear viewing, image stabilization, and adjustable light.

Highlights
  • Crystal Clear Mode
  • Image Stabilizer
  • Light Level Control
  • High Contrast Mode
  • Enhanced Freeze
  • Pinch to Zoom
Features
Read full description

Might be the best-selling Restaurant Menu Reader: our analysis shows that most of people use this app to read menu in a dim light restaurant. "For a dollar, we have no doubt that Magnifier can save you a lot of time and heartache spent trying to peep hard-to-read menus. It’s quick, it’s functional, and it comes with more than enough features to keep us satisfied." -- theiphoneappreview.com Have you ever experienced the following scenarios: need to read menu in a dim light restaurant , need to read fine print on the medicine bottle, need to read book in bed after take reading glasses off, need to walk back to camp site in the dark night, need to check your makeup on your way to work, ... You may need Magnifying Glass With Light Pro:The Restaurant Menu Reader, might be the best FULL SCREEN Magnifier App in App Store which could transform your iPhone or iPad into a lighted magnifying glass! Simple yet powerful! --------------------------------------------------------- HIGHLIGHT FEATURES • Crystal Clear Mode --- Advanced video processing engine provide a crystal clear view. works best on iPhone 4s (screenshot available) • Image Stabilizer --- Provide a more stable Image on rear camera. • Light Level Control --- Control the light level when flash is on. • High Contrast Mode --- Invert color to provide a higher contrast and improved readability (screenshot available) • Enhanced Freeze --- Tap to freeze and be able to move,drag, photograph the frozen image. --------------------------------------------------------- Other Features List: • Image Capture • Auto-Focus Lock • Universal App • Save Photo to Exclusive Photo Album • Pinch to Zoom In/Out. • Support Both Portrait or Landscape Orientation. • Tap Screen to (Un)Freeze Image. • Auto turn on built-in light in low light condition when start-up • Shake to hide/show all control buttons. • Support Front Camera • Full Screen User Interface • supports magnify from 1.0X - 5.0X • Lighted View

About

Things 3

This app helps you organize your life by planning your day, managing projects, and tracking progress toward your goals. It offers a clean interface to manage tasks from daily routines to larger life ambitions.

Highlights
  • To-Do management
  • Project organization
  • Area categorization
  • Daily planning
  • Calendar integration
  • Reminders and repeaters
  • Share extension
Features
Read full description

Get things done! The award-winning Things app helps you plan your day, manage your projects, and make real progress toward your goals. Best of all, it’s easy to use. Within the hour, you’ll have everything off your mind and neatly organized—from routine tasks to your biggest life goals—and you can start focusing on what matters today. “Things offers the best combination of design and functionality of any app we tested, with nearly all the features of other power user applications and a delightful interface that never gets in the way of your work.” —Wirecutter, The New York Times KEY FEATURES • Your To-Dos Your basic building block is the almighty To-Do—each a small step toward a great accomplishment. You can add notes, tag it, schedule it, and break it down into smaller steps. • Your Projects Create a Project for any big goal, then add the to-dos to reach it. Use headings to structure your list as you outline your plan. There’s also a place to jot down your notes, and a deadline to keep you on schedule. • Your Areas Create an Area for each sphere of your life, such as Work, Family, Finance, and so on. This keeps everything neatly organized, and helps you see the big picture as you set your plans in motion. • Your Plan Everything on your schedule is neatly laid out in the Today and Upcoming lists, which show your to-dos and calendar events. Each morning, see what you planned for Today and decide what you want to do. The rest is down to you :) MORE THINGS TO LOVE As you dive deeper, you’ll find Things packed with helpful features. Here are just a few: • Reminders — set a time and Things will remind you. • Repeaters — automatically repeat to-dos on a schedule you set. • This Evening — a special place for your evening plans. • Calendar integration — see your events and to-dos together. • Tags — categorize your to-dos and quickly filter lists. • Quick Find — instantly find to-dos or switch between lists. • Magic Plus — drag the + button to insert to-dos anywhere in a list. • Share extension — create to-dos with content from other apps. • Widgets — see lists on your home/lock screens. • Mail to Things — forward an email to Things; now it’s a to-do. • Markdown — structure & style your notes. • And much more! MADE FOR IPHONE Things is tailored to the iPhone with deep system integrations as well. A great example is the Share extension, which allows you to create to-dos with content from other apps, such as a link to a website you want to get back to. You can also enjoy a beautiful dark mode at sunset, connect your calendars, add a variety of widgets, create to-dos via Siri, import from Reminders—Things can do it all! There’s even Shortcuts integration if you want to automate your workflows. MADE FOR APPLE WATCH Things comes with a great app for Apple Watch. Just raise your wrist to glance at your Today list, mark to-dos complete as you go, and dictate new ones on the fly—all synced instantly with your iPhone, iPad, and Mac. AWARD-WINNING DESIGN Made in Stuttgart, with two Apple Design Awards to its name, Things is a fine example of German engineering: designed not only to look fantastic, but to be perfectly functional as well. Every detail is thoughtfully considered, then polished to perfection. “It’s like the unicorn of productivity tools: deep enough for serious work, surprisingly easy to use, and gorgeous enough to enjoy staring at.” —Apple GET THINGS TODAY Whatever it is you want to accomplish in life, Things can help you get there. Install the app today and see what you can do! • Things is also available for Mac, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro (sold separately). • Sync is provided for free via our Things Cloud service. • A free trial is available for Mac: www.things.app If you have any questions, please get in touch. We provide professional support and will be glad to help you!

Screenshots

Magnifying Glass w/ Light Pro4 screens
Things 34 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Magnifying Glass w/ Light Pro at $1.99 against Things 3's $9.99. Magnifying Glass w/ Light Pro also leads on review sentiment (85% vs 77%) and iOS requirement (9.3 vs 16.4). Things 3's advantage is ratings volume (28K vs 281) and rating (4.8 vs 4.6). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

Magnifying Glass w/ Light Pro costs $1.99 and Things 3 $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Things 3 holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Things 3 has 28K ratings behind it against 281, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 85% of Magnifying Glass w/ Light Pro's written reviews are positive against 77% of Things 3's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Magnifying Glass w/ Light Pro ships an update every 2 weeks, Things 3 every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Magnifying Glass w/ Light Pro versus Things 3: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMagnifying Glass w/ Light ProThings 3
Price$1.99 — better$9.99
Rating4.6 (281 ratings)4.8 (28K ratings) — better
Positive reviews85.3% of reviews — better76.5% of reviews
Number of ratings28128K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 11 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank—#5 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, Apple Watch
Requires iOS9.3 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB120 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFalcon In Motion LLCCultured Code GmbH & Co. KG

Customer experience

Magnifying Glass w/ Light Pro

All ratings280 ratings
Positive90.7%
Neutral1.8%
Negative7.5%
Written reviews129 reviews
Positive85.3%
Neutral1.6%
Negative13.2%

Things 3

All ratings28,060 ratings
Positive96.1%
Neutral1.7%
Negative2.2%
Written reviews1,895 reviews
Positive76.5%
Neutral8.4%
Negative15.1%

User reviews

Magnifying Glass w/ Light Pro

From 281 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🔍 Excellent magnification and zoom
  • 🔦 Adjustable brightness and lighting
  • 📷 Ability to capture detailed photos
  • 👓 Helpful for vision impaired users
  • 🔍 Precise focus and stabilization

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional autofocus issues
  • 📲 Compatibility problems on newer devices
  • 💰 Paid version required for full features
  • 🤳 Difficult to use one-handed

Things 3

From 28K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Smooth and fast
  • 👍 Elegant and intuitive design
  • 🔒 Secure and private
  • 💡 Powerful organization features
  • 🗓️ Great calendar integration

Room to improve

  • 💰 Expensive for multiple devices
  • 🌐 Lack of web/Windows app
  • 🔀 Difficulty with task reordering
  • 🔔 Lacking persistent notifications
  • 📁 No file attachments

Bugs and requests

Magnifying Glass w/ Light Pro

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Light feature not working on some devices
  • Saved photos not appearing in Camera Roll

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add video recording capability
  • Improve one-handed usability
  • Expand compatibility to more devices
  • Provide better photo saving options

Things 3

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Sync issues between devices
  • Occasional crashes or freezes

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to collapse headings and projects
  • Location-based reminders
  • Two-way calendar sync
  • Shared task lists
  • Customizable alert sounds

In-app purchases

None

Magnifying Glass w/ Light Pro

No in-app purchases

None

Things 3

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Magnifying Glass w/ Light Pro free?
Magnifying Glass w/ Light Pro costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Things 3 free?
Things 3 costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Magnifying Glass w/ Light Pro or Things 3?
Things 3 is rated higher. Magnifying Glass w/ Light Pro averages 4.6 out of 5 from 281 ratings, while Things 3 averages 4.8 from 28K ratings.
Do Magnifying Glass w/ Light Pro or Things 3 have ads?
Neither Magnifying Glass w/ Light Pro nor Things 3 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Magnifying Glass w/ Light Pro or Things 3?
Magnifying Glass w/ Light Pro ships an update every 2 weeks, and Things 3 every 11 days. Most recently, Magnifying Glass w/ Light Pro was updated on November 6, 2026 and Things 3 on November 8, 2026.

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