# Develop! Film Timer vs Film Development Assistant

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Develop! Film Timer at none against Film Development Assistant's 2. Develop! Film Timer also leads on update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 10 months) and ratings volume (416 vs 4). Film Development Assistant's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.8). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Film Development Assistant sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Develop! Film Timer asks for nothing beyond the download.

Film Development Assistant holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Develop! Film Timer has 416 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two.

Develop! Film Timer ships an update every 4 weeks, Film Development Assistant every 10 months. The most recent releases landed on November 13, 2026 and November 12, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Develop! Film Timer | Film Development Assistant |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.8 (416 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/develop-film-timer/id568421864/reviews) | **[5.0 (4 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/film-development-assistant/id6751124070/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **416** | 4 |
| Positive reviews | 88.7% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 4 weeks** | Every 10 months |
| Monetization | **Free** | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 7 MB | 6 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPod** | iPhone |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Todd Breslow](https://appshunter.io/developer/568421867) | [Zachary Burns](https://appshunter.io/developer/1833524304) |

## What reviewers say

### Develop! Film Timer

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/develop-film-timer/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


### Film Development Assistant

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/film-development-assistant/id6751124070)

This app helps amateur photographers track their film development chemicals and sessions. It monitors chemical batch expiration, usage, and provides multi-stage timers for development processes. Users can also record notes on session quality for future reference.

**Highlights:** Chemical batch tracking, Expiration date monitoring, Session tracking, Multi-stage development timers, Chemical usage calculation, Session notes and quality tracking

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 7 Day Free Trial | Free | one-time |
| Film Development Assistant Pro | $4.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Develop! Film Timer free?

Develop! Film Timer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Film Development Assistant free?

Film Development Assistant is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Develop! Film Timer or Film Development Assistant?

Film Development Assistant is rated higher. Develop! Film Timer averages 4.8 out of 5 from 416 ratings, while Film Development Assistant averages 5.0 from 4 ratings.

### Do Develop! Film Timer or Film Development Assistant have ads?

Neither Develop! Film Timer nor Film Development Assistant shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Develop! Film Timer or Film Development Assistant?

Develop! Film Timer ships an update every 4 weeks, and Film Development Assistant every 10 months. Most recently, Develop! Film Timer was updated on November 13, 2026 and Film Development Assistant on November 12, 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.*