# Develop! vs Viewfinder Preview

The clearest difference is price: Develop! at Free against Viewfinder Preview's $4.99. Develop! also leads on update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 3 months). Viewfinder Preview's advantage is chart position (#69 vs unranked). On rating, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.

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

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Develop! against 4.7 for Viewfinder Preview. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 374 and 295 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 89% of Develop!'s written reviews are positive against 86% of Viewfinder Preview's.

Develop! ships an update every 4 weeks, Viewfinder Preview every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Develop! | Viewfinder Preview |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | **Free** | $4.99 |
| Rating | **[4.8 (374 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/develop/id568421864/reviews)** | [4.7 (295 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/viewfinder-preview/id1216484605/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **374** | 295 |
| Positive reviews | **88.7% of reviews** | 86.4% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 4 weeks** | Every 3 months |
| Monetization | **Free** | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | **#69** |
| Size | 101 MB | 18 MB |
| Requires iOS | **11.0** | 12.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Todd Breslow](https://appshunter.io/developer/568421867) | [Adam Fowler](https://appshunter.io/developer/1216484604) |

## What reviewers say

### Develop!

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/develop/id568421864)

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:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

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

**What reviewers complain about**

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

**Reported bugs**

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

**Requested features**

- 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


### Viewfinder Preview

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/viewfinder-preview/id1216484605)

**Currently charting:** #69 Top Paid · Photo & Video (US App Store)

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:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 📸 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

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 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

**Reported bugs**

- 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

**Requested features**

- 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)


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Develop! free?

Develop! 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! or Viewfinder Preview?

Develop! is rated higher. Develop! averages 4.8 out of 5 from 374 ratings, while Viewfinder Preview averages 4.7 from 295 ratings.

### Do Develop! or Viewfinder Preview have ads?

Neither Develop! nor Viewfinder Preview shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Develop! or Viewfinder Preview?

Develop! ships an update every 4 weeks, and Viewfinder Preview every 3 months. Most recently, Develop! was updated on September 30, 2026 and Viewfinder Preview on October 1, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*