Comparison

CardRunner vs Half Frame

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

CardRunner

This app helps photographers quickly transfer selected images from memory cards. It identifies protected or star-rated photos for easy saving or sharing directly from the field, with options for full-size or optimized exports.

Highlights
  • Smart scanning by star rating or lock status
  • RAW file import/export (Pro)
  • Full-size or optimized image export
  • Real-time photo streaming to editors
  • Geotagging for imported images (Pro)
  • EXIF data viewer
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For photographers who need a fast field workflow, CardRunner helps you get the right images off your camera or memory card quickly so you can stay focused on the action. CardRunner detects connected cameras and cards, searches for photos in the background, and lets you import everything for free! You can upgrade to Pro to pull only protected (locked) or star-rated shots. Once selected photos are copied locally, CardRunner clearly confirms that it’s safe to remove your card and get back to shooting. Your imported collections stay available after relaunch, can be archived for later review, and prevent accidental duplicate imports. Save to your camera roll, share with an editor, client, or friend, or send photos straight to your editor with Photostream. -- KEY FEATURES -- • Automatic Camera Detection — Connect a camera or memory card and CardRunner prepares new photos for import • Free Unlimited Import — Import as many images as you want, free forever • Fast Field Ingest — See how many new images are ready and know when it’s safe to remove your card • Persistent Collections — Review imports later, archive older collections, and avoid duplicate imports • Smart Filtering — Import only protected (locked) or star-rated images (Pro) • RAW Support — Import, save, and share ARW, CR2, CR3, NEF, ORF, PEF, RW2, and more (Pro) • Full Size or Optimized — Save originals or compress for faster transfers on slow connections • Photostream — Stream photos to your editor’s gallery with a simple join code, automatically or when you choose • Pro via Photostream — Photostream-connected users unlock Pro features automatically • Geotagging — Tag imports with your current location so every shot knows where it was delivered (Pro) • Favorites — Mark your best shots and see them on a home screen widget • EXIF Viewer — Camera, lens, ISO, aperture, shutter speed, and more at a glance • iPad Support — Works natively on iPhone and iPad -- BUILT FOR THE FIELD -- Shooting on location with limited connectivity? CardRunner keeps the card workflow focused: connect, import the photos you need, remove the card, and get back to shooting. Save full-size originals or optimized copies for faster sharing over cellular or limited connectivity while keeping your originals intact. With Photostream, your editor can see photos as soon as you import them. Prefer more control? Turn off automatic uploads and send individual photos when you’re ready. -- FREE + PRO -- Import unlimited images for free. Upgrade to CardRunner Pro for rated-only and protected-only imports, RAW support, geotagging, and additional optimization controls. If you work with Photostream, Pro features unlock automatically while connected. CardRunner is built by an independent developer and college football photographer (Go Tigers!) Feedback is always welcome — find me in Settings > Send Feedback.

About

Half Frame

Features
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Half Frame — Shoot Like It's a Roll of Film Half the frame. Twice the story. You've seen those retro digital half-frame cameras everywhere. You've watched the reviews, added one to your cart, hovered over "buy" — and winced at the price of what is, let's be honest, a small sensor in a nostalgic shell. Put your wallet away. That camera you've been dreaming about? It's already in your pocket. Half Frame turns your iPhone into a true half-frame film camera experience — the anticipation, the discipline, the happy accidents — without the overpriced hardware and without ever pretending your photos need to look worse to feel analog. Shoot a roll, not a feed Pick your roll length — 6, 12, 24, 36, 48, or 72 exposures — and commit. There's no gallery to obsess over mid-roll. You frame, you shoot, you move on. Only when the roll is finished (or you cut it early, like rewinding mid-roll) do you get to review your shots, pick the keepers, and develop them to your photo library. If you like, every finished roll becomes its own numbered album — Roll 001, Roll 002, …. One frame, two frames, three True to the half-frame spirit, you don't have to shoot alone: Single — one full frame, all yours. Diptych — two shots, side by side, one story, the half-frame classic. Triptych — a big frame plus two stacked companions. Sequences, contrasts, before-and-after. Choose your format: 3:2, 4:3, cinematic 16:9, or square 1:1. Twelve films in your pocket Swap "film stock" with one tap: Natural — No makeup, just your sensor at its honest best. Vivid — Slide film: punchy, saturated colors that pop off the screen. Classic — 90s negative film with green-shifted foliage and punchy contrast. Gold — Warm everyday film with golden, sun-soaked highlights. Sepia — Warm, faded film for photos that feel like memories. Magenta — The unmistakable color shift of expired film. Faded — Matte retro with softly lifted, blue-tinted blacks. Chrome — Muted, documentary color: cool and restrained, staying out of the way. Cool — A crisp teal-and-orange cinema look for daylight scenes. Tungsten — Night film: glowing lights, teal shadows, bold grain. Silver — Soft monochrome with gentle, quiet tones — the calm counterpart to Black & White. Black & White — Classic monochrome with real film contrast and grain. Star your favorites and they stay at the front of the shelf. Dial in the look Every film brings its own character — you get the knobs anyway. Vignette, halation, and grain, each in three strengths or off. Or leave any of them on Auto and let the film decide. Vignette — darkened corners, from subtle to full retro tunnel. Halation — the red-orange glow film casts around bright lights. Grain — the speckled texture of film, from barely-there to heavy and gritty. Manual soul, modern brain Shutter control — cap your shutter at 1/30 up to 1/2000, or leave it on smart Auto that speeds up as you zoom in. No blurry shots, no exposure homework. Real photographic metadata — every developed picture carries its lens, ISO, shutter speed, aperture, exposure bias, and focal length in EXIF. Full-quality captures — computational photography stays on. You get the film workflow, not the film-era image quality. Tap to focus, pinch to zoom — with a zoom badge that snaps back to 1x on tap. Flash included — one tap, clearly badged when armed. Your dividers, your rules — white or black frame dividers in diptychs and triptychs, from none to extra bold. Keep the originals — optionally save every full exposure alongside the finished diptych or triptych. Available in English, German, Spanish, and French. Who this is for For everyone who fell in love with the idea of half-frame photography — the thrift, the rhythm, the diptychs — but couldn't justify spending premium money on a fashion-forward point-and-shoot with yesterday's internals. Scratch the itch. Keep the money. Shoot the roll. Half Frame. Load a roll. See what develops.

Screenshots

CardRunner4 screens
Half Frame4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Half Frame at none against CardRunner's 2. On price, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. CardRunner sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Half Frame asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard1 real difference · 8 level
CardRunner versus Half Frame: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCardRunnerHalf Frame
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (4 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings4 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 9 days—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.0 — better18.4
Further details — not scored
Size37 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDavid PlattHarald Schubert

In-app purchases

2 purchases

CardRunner

Subscriptions2
  • All Access7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • All Access7 Days trial$49.991 Year
None

Half Frame

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is CardRunner free?
CardRunner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Half Frame free?
Half Frame is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do CardRunner or Half Frame have ads?
Neither CardRunner nor Half Frame shows ads.

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