Comparison

Lighting Designer vs ObiPhone

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

Head to head
About

Lighting Designer

Create professional overhead lighting plots for film, TV, theater, and events. Quickly illustrate and communicate lighting setups with a vast library of equipment and intuitive tools. Sync your work across all Apple devices.

Highlights
  • Create overhead lighting plots
  • Extensive equipment library (2000+ items)
  • Organize setups into Shows
  • Custom fixture creation with own images
  • Detailed light specifications
  • Floor plan drawing tools
  • Email editable Plots
Features
Read full description

Never draw a lighting setup on a scrap of paper again. Lighting Designer is a quick and intuitive way to create overhead lighting plots for film, theater, television, concerts, and anything else you can light. The wide selection of equipment and simple yet powerful interface makes it easier than ever to illustrate and communicate your lighting setups, from most Apple devices. Your Silicon Mac is powerful and gives you the most screen to work with; your iPad is large and versatile; your iPhone will go with you anywhere. And if you like, your work can sync among all your Apple devices using iCloud, so you can start plotting on one and finish on another. LD is perfect for tech scouts, working while traveling, or just choosing the couch over your desk chair. While expensive drafting programs can take hours to use and years to master, Lighting Designer is an accessible way to plan your next show! Features: • Organize your setups into Shows, with details like shooting dates and crew members • Choose from over 2000 built-in types of lights, grip equipment, camera gear, actors, and objects like furniture and musical instruments • With a Crescit Premium account, you can have access to an additional 25,000+ pieces of lighting equipment, gels, and gobo templates • Use your own images to create custom fixtures on your Plots (read the User Guide for image specs) • For each light, specify wattage, beam spread, light output, DMX address, color, and many other details • Certain fixtures include info for exposure approximation; all can be user-configured and have their exposure reverse-calculated from real-world readings • Use Groups to create flexible collections of lights • Notes allow you to describe every detail of your setup • Pack your Truck to share gear among multiple Plots • Draw a Floor Plan using basic shapes, and images from your device • Lights can target other objects, and objects can rig onto each other for easy adjustments • Email editable Plots to the crew, with images, equipment, and crew lists • Undo/Redo functionality • Dark Mode presents a dark workspace to reduce eyestrain and minimize your device's light in a dark environment

About

ObiPhone

This app provides precise color and brightness control for cinematography, offering locked full-screen mode for on-set talent and remote DMX control. It's designed for professional production environments.

Highlights
  • CCT/Duv and CIE 1931 x,y color adjustment
  • Locked full-screen mode for on-set talent
  • Remote DMX control over sACN
  • 8-bit and 16-bit DMX modes
  • Single-zone and four-zone operation
  • HDR screen brightness control
Features
Read full description

Choose colors using CCT / Duv adjustment or CIE 1931 x,y coordinates, then enter a locked full-screen mode designed for use by talent on set. Brightness can be adjusted directly from the locked screen with a two-finger gesture. ObiPhone can also be controlled remotely using DMX over an sACN network. Choose 8-bit or 16-bit control and operate the display as either a single lighting zone or four independently controlled zones—especially useful on larger iPad screens. Features include: • HDR screen brightness • CCT and Duv color control • CIE 1931 x,y color control • Full-screen color output • sACN DMX control • 8-bit and 16-bit DMX modes • Single-zone and four-zone operation • Remote flashlight and haptic control on supported devices • Optional brightness, white-point, and primary calibration • Locked screen mode for use by on-camera talent ObiPhone is designed as a practical lighting tool for professional production environments.

Screenshots

Lighting Designer4 screens
ObiPhone4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: ObiPhone at 100% against Lighting Designer's 46%. ObiPhone also leads on price ($1.99 vs $24.99) and update cadence (every 3 days vs every 3 weeks). Lighting Designer's advantage is iOS requirement (14.0 vs 18). On ads, in-app purchases 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

Lighting Designer costs $24.99 and ObiPhone $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Lighting Designer ships an update every 3 weeks, ObiPhone every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Lighting Designer versus ObiPhone: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLighting DesignerObiPhone
Price$24.99$1.99 — better
Rating4.0 (145 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews46.3% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings145 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreemium — betterPaid
Best chart rank—#199 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS14.0 — better18
Further details — not scored
Size80 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperScenario Software LLCVendler Industries

Customer experience

Lighting Designer

All ratings145 ratings
Positive74.5%
Neutral6.2%
Negative19.3%
Written reviews80 reviews
Positive46.3%
Neutral18.8%
Negative35.0%

ObiPhone

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Lighting Designer

No in-app purchases

None

ObiPhone

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Lighting Designer free?
Lighting Designer costs $24.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is ObiPhone free?
ObiPhone costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Lighting Designer or ObiPhone have ads?
Neither Lighting Designer nor ObiPhone shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Lighting Designer or ObiPhone?
Lighting Designer ships an update every 3 weeks, and ObiPhone every 3 days. Most recently, Lighting Designer was updated on October 14, 2026 and ObiPhone on October 8, 2026.

Other comparisons