Macro Lens vs MacroShader
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Macro Lens
This camera app offers a streamlined workflow for macro photography, providing real-time controls for focus, zoom, and flash intensity. It allows for quick switching between photo and video modes, and optionally tags captures with location data for better organization.
- Streamlined interface for fast shooting
- Manual focus and zoom sliders
- Adjustable flash intensity
- Quick photo/video mode switching
- Location-aware capture tagging
- Clear permission onboarding
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Simple yet powerful, Macro Lens is an all-in-one camera app designed for macro photography enthusiasts. Macro Lens gives iPhone creators a focused macro workflow with real-time controls for focus, zoom, flash intensity, and brightness, plus quick switching between photo and video. • Streamlined Interface: Keep your attention on the subject with dedicated adjustment panels and convenient shortcuts. Touch and hold a control to access its options. • Easy Setup: Get started with guided camera and photo library permissions. Location access is optional, and no account is required. • Manual and Auto Focus: Fine-tune focus with a dedicated slider, or enable continuous autofocus to let the camera adjust as you compose your shot. • Zoom and Pinch Control: Frame tiny subjects using the Zoom slider or a familiar pinch gesture directly on the camera preview. • Adjustable Lighting: Control continuous torch intensity to illuminate small subjects and balance light on dark or reflective surfaces. • Brightness Control: Adjust exposure to brighten or darken your image before capturing. • Photo and Video Modes: Switch directly on the camera screen to capture still images or motion. Record video at 60 fps when supported by your iPhone’s camera configuration. • Photo Viewfinder: Enable an optional overview with a framing guide to help you compose shots while zoomed in. Drag it to either upper corner—the app remembers your preferred position. • Camera Control Support: Take photos and start or stop video recording using the physical Camera Control button on compatible iPhones. • Lock Screen and Control Center Access: Add the Macro Lens control to quickly open the camera from your Lock Screen or Control Center. • Keep the Screen Awake: Take your time composing and capturing without interruptions from Auto-Lock while the app is active. • Save to Photos: Captured photos and videos are saved directly to your photo library. • Optional Location Tags: Add location information to your photos and videos to help you remember where each shot was taken. Have an idea for Macro Lens? Submit a feature request directly from Settings or contact us by email for support. Requires iOS 26 or later. Close-focus capability, torch availability, and video frame rates depend on your iPhone’s camera hardware.
MacroShader
Capture stunning close-up images with advanced manual camera controls and specialized processing. Features include focus peaking, RAW saving, and a unique focus shutter for precise macro shots.
- Focus shutter
- Focus peaking
- Manual camera controls
- Save in RAW
- Customized image processing
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A macro photography app for iPhone. Features include: - Focus shutter: Tap, hold, focus and release to shoot a photo. Also just tap to shoot - Focus peaking - Manual camera controls - Save in RAW - Customised image processing for macro photography to preserve details Future releases will add more camera controls, editing tools and more
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: MacroShader at Free against Macro Lens's $4.99. MacroShader also leads on rating (5.0 vs 3.6) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). Macro Lens's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 4 months) and ratings volume (5 vs 1). On ads and device support 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
MacroShader is free to download; Macro Lens costs $4.99 up front. Macro Lens sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. MacroShader asks for nothing beyond the download.
MacroShader holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Macro Lens has 5 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 73% of Macro Lens's written reviews are positive against 100% of MacroShader's.
Macro Lens ships an update monthly, MacroShader every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Macro Lens | MacroShader |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.6 (5 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 72.7% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 5 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 18.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 16 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Eduardo Callado | AstroShader Limited |
Customer experience
Macro Lens
MacroShader
In-app purchases
Macro Lens
- Tip the develop$0.99
MacroShader
No in-app purchases









