Comparison

AfterFocus vs Phocus

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

Head to head
About

AfterFocus

Create professional-looking photos with DSLR-style background blur. Easily select focus areas and apply realistic filter effects for stunning images. Share your creations instantly on social media.

Highlights
  • Smart focus area selection
  • Realistic background blur effects
  • Motion blur effect
  • Professional filter effects
  • Bokeh effect
  • Double photo feature
  • Easy sharing
Features
Read full description

PC World: "5 essential iOS apps for photographers" AppAdvice: "AfterFocus Brings DSLR-Like Photography To Your iPhone" With AfterFocus, you can create DSLR-style background blurred photo by simply selecting focus area. Also, various filter effects offer you to create the most natural and realistic photo. Selecting a focus area more precisely, you can achieve more natural and professional image. Just mark the areas you want, AfterFocus automatically recognizes the focus area precisely even for an object with complex shapes. This auto function allows you to work faster on smart phones with small screen. Also, background blur effect of AfterFocus gives a photo the realistic look between the edge of the background and the focus area. With our realistic filter effects, you will enjoy photographing and photo editing even more, and share them on SNS easily. 1. Smart focus area selection Simply draw some lines inside a focus area and the background, then AfterFocus will automatically recognize the focus area. You can also select the area with traditional finger painting. 2. Background Blur effect You can create the most realistic blur effect with various aperture styles just like DSLR camera. To emphasize that certain things move, Motion blur effect is also available. 3. Filter effect AfterFocus offers from basic effects to professional effects like Cross Process without looking artificial. Also, you can emphasize the spot light on the background using Bokeh effect. 4. Double photo Take a picture of one object and move slightly to the right to take another picture of the same object, and it will analyze the images and recognize the nearest object, so there is no need to draw the focus area. (Make sure that the background and the distance of the object are far enough and have clear texture to get a great result.) 5. Easy share You can share through e-mails and SNS easily and simply. Please, visit and like https://www.facebook.com/AfterFocus Thank you!

About

Phocus

This advanced camera app offers DSLR-like portrait effects with live bokeh previews and extensive editing tools. It allows users to adjust focus, depth, and apply various lens styles to photos, even those not taken in portrait mode. Features include manual controls, RAW capture, and AI-powered suggestions.

Highlights
  • Live bokeh preview with 8 lens characters
  • AI depth editing for any photo
  • Manual camera controls (ISO, shutter, white balance)
  • RAW and ProRAW capture
  • 3D Relight and Scene Preview
  • Portrait video blur
  • Depth map and matte export
Features
Read full description

Featured by Apple in “Powered by Apple Intelligence” and “Great Apps Updated for iOS 27” around the world, and in “Best New Apps and Updates” in the US and Canada. Phocus is a portrait camera and depth editor for iPhone, iPad, and iPhone Duo. See each lens's bokeh live before you shoot, or bring any photo from your library, even one taken without Portrait mode, and reshape its focus and depth with tools that understand distance, not just outlines. SHOOT - Eight lens characters, from clean and modern to swirly vintage and black and white, each with its own bokeh rendered live in the viewfinder - The blur you see is the blur you get, in the photo and the editor - Live AI depth for real-time blur even where the camera can't measure depth on its own - Live aperture and focus control - Manual ISO, shutter speed, white balance, exposure, and focus - Histogram, zebra, focus peaking, level, and timer - RAW and ProRAW capture - Import your own .cube LUTs, or choose from Daily, Film Looks, Vintage, Signature, and Mono - Lens and color look suggestions with Apple Intelligence, generated on device - Siri, Shortcuts, Lock Screen, and Control Center to open the camera you need EDIT - Change aperture, focus, blur falloff, and bokeh shape after the shot - Edit any photo in your library: AI depth adds realistic blur even to photos taken without Portrait mode - Edit the depth map directly: every color is a distance, so you can pick a depth and brush it over any area - Select a subject with a tap on iOS 27, then refine it with Brush, Erase, and Hardness - Masks in Portrait, Depth, and Select modes - Curves, adjustments, tone, and film grain - 3D Relight and 3D Scene Preview for depth-aware lighting - Copy a photo's look onto other photos, with undo and redo for every change - Save as Portrait keeps the depth with your photo - Export depth maps and portrait mattes - Portrait video blur - Built-in tutorials and Mask Help MADE FOR EVERY SCREEN Phocus adapts to iPhone, iPad, and iPhone Duo. Open your Duo for more room to shoot and edit, or partially fold it with the preview and controls on either side of the fold. "Looking for an app that not only adds the Portrait mode effect to your photos but does a bit more? Then Phocus is the one you're looking for." — iMore "The app is a fine example of technical and artistic craftsmanship." — iGeeksBlog PHOCUS PRO Unlock every lens, look, and tool with Phocus Pro. Subscriptions are billed weekly, monthly or annually at the rate selected depending on the subscription plan. Terms of use: https://rayinformatics.com/terms Privacy policy: https://rayinformatics.com/privacy Contact: https://rayinformatics.com/contact

Screenshots

AfterFocus4 screens
Phocus4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Phocus at Free against AfterFocus's $0.99. Phocus also leads on rating (4.6 vs 3.1) and update cadence (every 11 days vs every 2 months). AfterFocus's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 7) and review sentiment (65% vs 50%). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Phocus is free to download; AfterFocus costs $0.99 up front. Phocus sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per 7 days. AfterFocus asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Phocus holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Phocus has 6.8K ratings behind it against 77, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 65% of AfterFocus's written reviews are positive against 50% of Phocus's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

AfterFocus ships an update every 2 months, Phocus every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
AfterFocus versus Phocus: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAfterFocusPhocus
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating3.1 (77 ratings)4.6 (6.8K ratings) — better
Positive reviews65.4% of reviews — better49.5% of reviews
Number of ratings776.8K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 11 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS8.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size22 MB322 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMotionOne Co.,Ltd.RAY INFORMATICS YAZILIM TEKNOLOJI MEDYA DANISMANLIK VE EGITIM TICARET LIMITED SIRKETI

Customer experience

AfterFocus

All ratings78 ratings
Positive48.7%
Neutral5.1%
Negative46.2%
Written reviews283 reviews
Positive65.4%
Neutral7.4%
Negative27.2%

Phocus

All ratings6,839 ratings
Positive88.8%
Neutral4.8%
Negative6.4%
Written reviews501 reviews
Positive49.5%
Neutral5.2%
Negative45.3%

User reviews

AfterFocus

From 77 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Produces professional-looking photos
  • 💡 Unique masking/selection method
  • 👍 Decent value for the price

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
  • 🔍 Limited precision in selecting focus areas
  • 🔍 Overly aggressive blurring/loss of image quality
  • 🔍 Inconsistent results

Phocus

From 6.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Good app
  • 👍 Best tool camera app
  • 👍 Easy editing, works great
  • 👍 Makes your phone current

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Hilariously terrible effects
  • 🔒 Can't limit access to personal stuff
  • 🐛 Awful, blurs everything
  • 🐛 Crashes too much
  • 🐛 Doesn't render, gets stuck

Bugs and requests

AfterFocus

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes when trying to save photos
  • Incompatibility with newer iOS versions
  • Blank screens when using the 'take photo' option

Requested features

4 requests
  • Full-resolution image output
  • More advanced blur controls and customization
  • Improved masking tools with zoom/pan functionality
  • iPad support

Phocus

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Can't save pictures
  • Photos don't download
  • Unable to save picture
  • Camera crashes when clicking portrait
  • App dies if you don't upgrade

Requested features

4 requests
  • Change bokeh shapes/effects
  • Add manual brush to control bokeh
  • Make it a photo extension in Photos app
  • Add more shadows and directional lighting

In-app purchases

None

AfterFocus

No in-app purchases

5 purchases

Phocus

Subscriptions4
  • Phocus AI Weekly2 variants$3.997 Days
  • Phocus AI Monthly2 variants$7.991 Month
  • Phocus AI Yearly7 Days trial$19.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Phocus AI Yearly$39.991 Year
One-time1
  • Phocus AI Unlimited Access$49.99

Questions

Is AfterFocus free?
AfterFocus costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Phocus free?
Phocus is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, AfterFocus or Phocus?
Phocus is rated higher. AfterFocus averages 3.1 out of 5 from 77 ratings, while Phocus averages 4.6 from 6.8K ratings.
Do AfterFocus or Phocus have ads?
Neither AfterFocus nor Phocus shows ads.
Which is updated more often, AfterFocus or Phocus?
AfterFocus ships an update every 2 months, and Phocus every 11 days. Most recently, AfterFocus was updated on November 10, 2026 and Phocus on November 13, 2026.

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