Comparison

Develop! Film Timer vs Viewfinder Preview

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

Head to head
About

Develop! Film Timer

This app provides a flexible and intuitive timer for film and darkroom development. Create custom development recipes with multiple steps and intervals, and utilize a special darkroom mode for low-light conditions. Easily share your recipes and import them from FilmDev.org.

Highlights
  • Customizable development recipes
  • Multiple steps and intervals per recipe
  • Darkroom Mode (red-on-black theme)
  • Integrated interval timer
  • Import recipes from FilmDev.org
  • Share recipes via social media
Features
Read full description

Develop your film with a smile! Develop! is a flexible, elegant timer for developing film and working in the darkroom. Build your own development recipes in a few taps: as many steps as you need, each with its own agitation intervals. It's entirely up to you; you're in full control. Notable features: - Voice Control: Hands wet? Just say "NEXT" to move on to the next step. Recognition runs on your iPhone, no internet connection needed. - Keeps time in the background: Leave the app or lock your phone and the timer keeps running. You'll get a notification when a step ends and at every agitation. - Intervals: A built-in interval timer handles things like "beep after the first minute, then every 30 seconds." You'll see at a glance how long until your next inversion. - Darkroom Mode: A strict red-on-black theme for darkroom use. - Flexible: As many recipes and steps as you like, steps of up to 90 minutes, named your way, with notes for every recipe. - Easy to read: A large timer you can see across the room, styled after a classic camera body, right down to the vulcanite. - Import: Bring in recipes straight from FilmDev.org. - Share: Send a recipe as a file with Mail, Messages, AirDrop or anything else on the share sheet. No more losing track of time or forgetting to agitate every 30 seconds. Concentrate on being the best photographer and alchemist you can be, and leave the timing to Develop! Now go out there and shoot a roll of film. Good luck! 100% free. Always.

About

Viewfinder Preview

Preview camera framing for any camera and lens combination. Select film/sensor size and focal length to visualize framing before setting up your main camera. Ideal for photographers and filmmakers for pre-visualization, location scouting, and storyboarding.

Highlights
  • Camera and lens framing preview
  • Customizable film/sensor formats
  • Configurable light meter
  • Photo capture with metadata
  • Photo gallery with data display
  • Album and PDF creation
  • Film stock emulation
Features
Read full description

Viewfinder Preview is an iPhone app for previewing camera framing for any combination of camera and lens. Instead of spending all that time setting up your big camera, just choose your desired film/sensor size and focal length in the app and point the iPhone camera at what you want to photo to verify framing. If you are happy with the framing then you can get the big camera out. The app has a large database of camera sensors details and film formats but if the format you desire isn’t there you can add your own custom format. The app is targeted at stills photographers or film makers working in either film or digital. If you don’t have your big camera with you, Viewfinder Preview is still great for photo sketching, location scouting or story boarding. The app includes - Customisable menus so you can include the film/sensor formats and focal lengths you care about. - A fully configurable light meter. - You can take photos with it, so you have a record of shots you were framing. - Photos taken with the app include additional data that describe the film format, focal length and lighting meter settings at the time the shot was taken - Add notes to your photos - A photo gallery for viewing photos taken with the app which also displays the additional data - Share images in emails, messages - Create albums of photos from the same project, trip etc - Create PDF documents of albums - Film stock emulation - Wide angle lens adapter support

Screenshots

Develop! Film Timer4 screens
Viewfinder Preview3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Develop! Film Timer at Free against Viewfinder Preview's $4.99. Develop! Film Timer also leads on update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 3 months). Viewfinder Preview's advantage is chart position (#82 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.0). On rating, review sentiment, 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

Develop! Film Timer is free to download; Viewfinder Preview costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Develop! Film Timer against 4.7 for Viewfinder Preview. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 416 and 301 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 89% of Develop! Film Timer's written reviews are positive against 86% of Viewfinder Preview's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Develop! Film Timer ships an update every 4 weeks, Viewfinder Preview every 3 months. Both last shipped on November 13, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Develop! Film Timer versus Viewfinder Preview: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDevelop! Film TimerViewfinder Preview
PriceFree — better$4.99
Rating4.8 (416 ratings) — better4.7 (301 ratings)
Positive reviews88.7% of reviews — better86.4% of reviews
Number of ratings416 — better301
Update frequencyEvery 4 weeks — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
Best chart rank—#82 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB18 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTodd BreslowAdam Fowler

Customer experience

Develop! Film Timer

All ratings374 ratings
Positive95.2%
Neutral1.9%
Negative2.9%
Written reviews115 reviews
Positive88.7%
Neutral6.1%
Negative5.2%

Viewfinder Preview

All ratings295 ratings
Positive94.2%
Neutral2.7%
Negative3.1%
Written reviews103 reviews
Positive86.4%
Neutral4.9%
Negative8.7%

User reviews

Develop! Film Timer

From 416 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Straightforward and useful
  • 👍 Customizable timers and recipes
  • 👍 Helpful voice prompts
  • 👍 Simple and easy to use
  • 👍 Excellent for film development

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes or bugs
  • 🔋 Cannot run in background
  • 👎 Quiet chime/alarm volume
  • 👎 Difficult to add/edit tasks
  • 👎 No darkroom mode or red light option

Viewfinder Preview

From 301 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 📸 Excellent film emulation and visualization
  • 💡 Comprehensive light meter functionality
  • 📝 Useful note-taking and shot logging features
  • 🎯 Customizable camera formats and focal lengths
  • 👍 Intuitive interface and easy to use

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App crashes and white screen issues
  • 🔋 High battery consumption
  • 📱 Poor image resolution and quality
  • ⚠️ Limited focal length range (35mm minimum)
  • 🎬 Focal length accuracy issues on newer iPhones

Bugs and requests

Develop! Film Timer

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes on startup for some users
  • Timer stops when switching apps or locking phone
  • Issues with saving and editing recipes

Requested features

7 requests
  • Ability to pause and resume timers
  • Option to clone/duplicate existing recipes
  • Integration with development charts or databases
  • More detailed task descriptions and notes
  • Ability to skip optional steps
Show 2 more
  • Larger font size for better visibility
  • Background music playback without interruption

Viewfinder Preview

Reported bugs

11 issues
  • White screen on startup
  • App crashes repeatedly
  • Exposure offset resets when app closes
  • Notes and shot data disappear after weeks
  • In-app purchase screen loops indefinitely
Show 6 more
  • Focal length inaccuracy on iPhone 14 Pro
  • Manual metering mode shows darker frame than preview
  • Tiny 1px border on cropped images
  • Battery drains excessively
  • App not loading on iOS 16
  • Glitches requiring app restart

Requested features

20 requests
  • Embed camera/lens metadata directly in saved images
  • Save custom film stock names
  • Persistent exposure offset settings
  • More film stock options (Kodak Gold 200, Fuji 400H, Catlabs 320 Pro, Ilford XP2, etc.)
  • Lower ISO settings (support for ISO 0.5 and below)
Show 15 more
  • Additional aspect ratios (6x17, 65x24)
  • Save images with exposure data as overlay or separate versions
  • Grid lines and level indicators
  • Focus distance display
  • Telephoto lens support (65mm-400mm)
  • Wider focal lengths (below 35mm)
  • Camera profile presets for quick switching
  • Custom aperture values (e.g., f/3.5)
  • Shift lens simulation for architectural photography
  • Watermark saved photos with camera data
  • Toggle HDR on/off for better film simulation
  • Video tutorial or in-app help guide
  • Ability to disable auto-display of config on images
  • Telephoto lens compatibility
  • Correct focal length rendering for newer iPhone models

In-app purchases

None

Develop! Film Timer

No in-app purchases

None

Viewfinder Preview

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Develop! Film Timer free?
Develop! Film Timer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Viewfinder Preview free?
Viewfinder Preview costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Develop! Film Timer or Viewfinder Preview?
Develop! Film Timer is rated higher. Develop! Film Timer averages 4.8 out of 5 from 416 ratings, while Viewfinder Preview averages 4.7 from 301 ratings.
Do Develop! Film Timer or Viewfinder Preview have ads?
Neither Develop! Film Timer nor Viewfinder Preview shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Develop! Film Timer or Viewfinder Preview?
Develop! Film Timer ships an update every 4 weeks, and Viewfinder Preview every 3 months. Most recently, Develop! Film Timer was updated on November 13, 2026 and Viewfinder Preview on November 13, 2026.

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