Aquarella vs Circular Tiny Planet Editor
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Aquarella
Transform your photos into luminous watercolor paintings with realistic "blooms" and "wet edges." Offers professional-quality artistic styles, customizable presets, and easy-to-use controls for detailed adjustments. Share your creations directly to social media.
- Professional aquamedia styles
- Randomize Color button
- Customizable presets
- Adjustable color details
- Hi-res image support
- Direct social media posting
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Watercolor, or Aquarella is a wonderful transparent and luminous artistic media. Watch as Aquarella transforms your image into one with liquid pools of color blended fluidly on paper to create a watercolor with all the delicate details found in a traditional watercolor media. Look closely as you render your aquamedia to discover light delicate “blooms” of wet color running throughout your creation and brush strokes of overlapping pigment dried dark along the edges. You will be thrilled when you see your newly rendered watercolor - Auquarella is a professional artistic app and will deliver a high-end watercolor result true to the original media. HIGHLIGHTS •Two professional-quality aquamedia styles: A traditional one applies fluid brush strokes and colorful washes; and a two toned one washes your image with soft color combinations •One-of-a-kind "Randomize Color" button •Loads of ‘Styles’ to get you started fast •The ability to create and save custom presets styles •Thousands of watercolor styles by simply adjusting the settings and combining color, washes and blooms. •Easy-to-use slider controls to adjust color details, wet edges, paper styles, and water colors. •The ability to use hi-res images for top-quality results •Undo •Direct posting to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & Tumbrl from mobile devices •Superior customer support and updates – we're committed to your long-term satisfaction UNIVERSAL FEATURES All JixiPix Apps come with: Superior Customer Service, Support for High-Resolution Images & Output, Undo/Redo, Randomize Button, Quick Presets and the ability to create Custom Presets, Cropping with the ability to specify aspect ratio, Quick Preview, Email, Print, and the ability to post directly to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr. We also have an online art gallery and invite our user’s to display their artistic creations on it: http://www.flickr.com/groups/jixipixcreations/ *************** “JixiPix turns any photo into a masterpiece. The only requirement is art appreciation — we’ll take care of the rest!” JixiPix.com “Creative Tools for Creative People” Photography | Artistic | Graphic Apps MAC • iPad • iPhone
Circular Tiny Planet Editor
Transform your photos into unique circular images with advanced editing tools. Add professional effects like lens flares, celestial bodies, and customizable center objects to create miniature worlds. Supports 360-degree photos for immersive edits.
- Circular image creation
- 360-degree photo support
- Adjustable zoom, rotation, and invert-mode
- Professional effects (lens flares, sky objects, centers)
- Filters and lens textures
- Center object placement
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Now supports 360 degree photos! - A new twist on photo editing. Turn your photos into amazing circular images with Circular+. Circular+ is a fun app with powerful new features never seen before in this type of app. You can easily zoom in and out of your circular image to get it just right. Once you're happy with your image, add professional effects such as lens flares and sky objects like the sun, moon, planets, and birds. REVIEWS "My favorite iPhone app for this purpose is Circular+" - Joanna Stern, Wall Street Journal "I've tried them all and Circular is by far the best "tiny planet" app. You get more controls and fun effects like lens flares and moons. Having a blast with this app!" - Customer Review "I tried different Tiny planet apps, but this is really the best. Love that I can put different things inside the picture ... Thanks for the great work." - Customer Review This app does so much more than just turn your image into a tiny planet. It has all kinds of effects you can add and you have a lot of control over how it twists your image. - Customer Review VIDEO: http://vimeo.com/brainfevermedia/circular Another really cool feature is a collection of "center" objects. These include spheres, planets, and geometric shapes to place at the center of your image circle. This turns your image into a mini world. FEATURES - Super fast and responsive editing - Adjust image zoom, rotation, invert-mode, and repeats - Professional effects: lens flares, sky objects, and centers. The lens flares are the same as the pro desktop app, LensFlare Studio - Filters and Lens Textures - Fun sample images to get your started Tag your photos with #CircularApp for a chance to be featured!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: Circular Tiny Planet Editor at free against Aquarella's paid. Circular Tiny Planet Editor also leads on ratings volume (650 vs 116) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 14.0). Aquarella's advantage is review sentiment (85% vs 73%). On price, rating, update cadence 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
Aquarella costs $4.99 and Circular Tiny Planet Editor $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 — 4.7 for Aquarella against 4.7 for Circular Tiny Planet Editor. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Circular Tiny Planet Editor has 650 ratings behind it against 116, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 85% of Aquarella's written reviews are positive against 73% of Circular Tiny Planet Editor's.
Aquarella ships an update every 4 months, Circular Tiny Planet Editor every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Aquarella | Circular Tiny Planet Editor |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | $4.99 |
| Rating | 4.7 (116 ratings) | 4.7 (650 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 85.4% of reviews — better | 73.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 116 | 650 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 3 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 62 MB | 106 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | JixiPix, LLC | James Grote |
Customer experience
Aquarella
Circular Tiny Planet Editor
In-app purchases
Aquarella
No in-app purchases
Circular Tiny Planet Editor
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Aquarella free?
Is Circular Tiny Planet Editor free?
Which has better reviews, Aquarella or Circular Tiny Planet Editor?
Do Aquarella or Circular Tiny Planet Editor have ads?
Which is updated more often, Aquarella or Circular Tiny Planet Editor?
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