Sci vs Lazy Lighting
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Sci
Personalize your device with a vast collection of sci-fi and space-themed wallpapers for your home and lock screens. Enhance your experience with customizable Home Screen Image Widgets, allowing you to display your favorite images.
- 250+ widget backgrounds
- Variety of home/lock screen wallpapers
- Customizable Home Screen Image Widget
- Add your own images to widgets
- Parody sci-fi display styles
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Customize your iPhone or iPad with Sci-Fi and Space wallpapers, Home Screen Image Widgets, and Clock/Date Widgets. INCLUDES: - 260+ square and rectangle Image Widget Backgrounds in many styles (or add your own images) - 130+ backgrounds or use a color gradient for the Clock/Date Widget - Icon packs in 13 styles with 2,000+ icons to set with the Shortcuts app - A large variety of wallpaper for Home / Lock screens to perfectly fit every size iPhone / iPad (Always adding more wallpaper, so check periodically) WIDGET DIRECTIONS Add a widget to your home screen in the usual way (long press the home screen and when in jiggly mode press the '+' on top. Scroll down to Sci-Fi Themes and select the size you want [do this for each size you want]). Long press the widget to change the theme from the images you set in the app. Some of the Sci-Fi styles are modeled after popular sci-fi shows and movies. The look like they should work, even with indecipherable meaning or function. And just like the props, iOS gives them the same functionality - NONE. It's parody how the sci-fi designers thought future displays would look while being impossible to use. *These are generic images. Please do not ask me in reviews or by mail to include any trademarked names, logos, images or other properties. I respect copyrights and will not include them. If used in tandem with my calculator widget, icon maker, widget maker, keyboard, and ringtones apps, you can really create a fuller theme.
Lazy Lighting
Transform your iPhone or iPad into a powerful projection mapping studio. Warp videos, photos, and live feeds onto any surface without a laptop. Create intricate visual shows with advanced layering, effects, and real-time control.
- Map any surface with custom shapes and precise corner adjustments
- Create live visuals with built-in effects and generative shaders
- Import videos, photos, and use live camera feeds
- Draw and animate original visuals by hand
- Build complete shows with scenes, timelines, and transitions
- Export shows in up to 4K resolution
- Control visuals with audio reactivity and MIDI
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Turn your iPhone or iPad into a touch-first projection mapping and video mapping studio. Lazy Lighting lets you warp videos, photos, live camera feeds, animated drawings, and generative VJ visuals onto walls, stages, sculptures, windows, objects, and multi-surface installations—without a laptop. MAP ANY SURFACE Create squares, circles, custom text, cubes, boxes, image silhouettes, and hand-drawn outlines. Drag corners directly on screen to align each projection, bend edges around curved forms, then use masks and cutouts to control exactly where every visual appears. Map several surfaces at once. Assign different content to individual shapes, layer visuals with independent opacity and ordering, and save projects to continue later. CREATE LIVE VISUALS • Explore built-in visualizers, VJ loops, generative shaders, gradients, tunnels, neon effects, and shape-aware animations • Import videos and photos from your device • Use a live camera feed as projection content • Draw and animate original visuals by hand • Crop, fit, mask, layer, and apply real-time effects including kaleidoscope, tile, slide, rotate, zoom, blur, monochrome, invert, and color cycle • Make visuals react to audio or control parameters with MIDI • Animate controls with BPM-synced LFO and envelope modulation • Use hand and face tracking for expressive control BUILD A COMPLETE SHOW Create scenes and switch between them live, or arrange them on a timeline. Add an audio track, trim and duplicate clips, automate visual parameters, and move between looks with fade or dissolve transitions. Export the finished projection-mapped show in 720p, 1080p, or 4K with audio. Save it to Photos or send it to a compatible receiver running Lazy Lighting Link. EXPORT ONCE. PLAY WITHOUT YOUR PHONE. Once the transfer is complete, Lazy Lighting Link saves and loops the show on the receiver. Close the app and free your iPhone or iPad—the projection keeps playing without your device remaining connected. CONNECT YOUR WAY Connect by HDMI with a compatible USB-C or Lightning adapter, use AirPlay, or connect through Lazy Lighting Link. External display output keeps the controls on your device while the visual output fills the projector. Lazy Lighting is made for projection artists, VJs, DJs, musicians, performers, stage and event designers, galleries, installations, window displays, parties, home ambience, and Halloween, Christmas, or holiday projections. Create the map. Build the visuals. Perform live—or export once and let Lazy Lighting Link keep it playing. A compatible projector or display and a wired or wireless connection are required for external output. Lazy Lighting Link export requires a compatible receiver on the same network. Some features require a subscription. Terms of Use: https://lazylighting.com/ios-terms Privacy Policy: https://lazylighting.com/ios-privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Lazy Lighting at Free against Sci's $3.99. Lazy Lighting also leads on rating (4.6 vs 3.3) and update cadence (every 11 days vs every 6 months). Sci's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 6) and review sentiment (54% vs 45%). On ads, device support and iOS requirement 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
Lazy Lighting is free to download; Sci costs $3.99 up front. Lazy Lighting sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Sci asks for nothing beyond the download.
Lazy Lighting holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Lazy Lighting has 465 ratings behind it against 55, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 54% of Sci's written reviews are positive against 45% of Lazy Lighting's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Sci ships an update every 6 months, Lazy Lighting every 11 days. Both last shipped on October 30, 2026.
| Parameter | Sci | Lazy Lighting |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.3 (55 ratings) | 4.6 (465 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 53.7% of reviews — better | 44.9% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 55 | 465 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Every 11 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Freemium |
| Best chart rank | #11 — better | #65 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 44 MB | 94 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | NSTE, LLC | AUDITY APPS LLC |
Customer experience
Sci
Lazy Lighting
Bugs and requests
Sci
Reported bugs
10 issues- Unknown error when downloading wallpapers
- Widgets not showing as an option to add
- Wallpapers slightly off on iPhone 16 Pro Max
- Widgets don't refresh quickly
- Cannot add photo widget / Photo widget not working well
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- App doesn't work on iPad / Cannot use arrow button to download
- Error message when trying to download photos
- Lock screen widgets go over desired parts of wallpaper
- Widget doesn't show as an option in adding widgets
- When pinned on iPhone, says 'sc fi themes' under each widget
Requested features
10 requests- Update for newer iPhone models (iPhone 17)
- More animated wallpapers/live wallpaper options
- More variety in sci-fi themes (e.g., Star Wars)
- Ability to have multiple different widgets
- Widgets that don't display app name
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- More customization for widgets (e.g., colors, animation)
- Fix alignment issues for specific phone models (iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 13 Pro Max)
- More wallpaper options per size
- Option to have same wallpaper in both horizontal and vertical
- More comprehensive theme packages (including icons)
Lazy Lighting
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Sci
No in-app purchases
Lazy Lighting
- Lazy Lighting Pro$9.991 Month
- Lazy Lighting Pro7 Days trial$9.991 Month
- Lazy Lighting Pro1 Month trial$9.991 Month
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- Lazy Lighting Pro$59.991 Year
- Lazy Lighting Pro7 Days trial$59.991 Year
- Lazy Lighting Pro$129.99
Questions
Is Sci free?
Is Lazy Lighting free?
Which has better reviews, Sci or Lazy Lighting?
Do Sci or Lazy Lighting have ads?
Which is updated more often, Sci or Lazy Lighting?
Which is more popular, Sci or Lazy Lighting?
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