Comparison

Photo Finish vs CycleHUD

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

Head to head
About

Photo Finish

This app offers an automatic timing system for athletic performance measurement in various sports. It uses advanced camera detection to precisely track athletes, surpassing traditional light barrier systems. Unlock advanced features like multi-phone connectivity and hands-free training management with a Pro subscription.

Highlights
  • Automatic chest detection for precise timing
  • Eliminates inaccuracies of light barrier systems
  • Multi-phone connectivity for extended measurement
  • Sound and touch-based start triggers
  • Hands-free Series Mode for training sessions
  • CSV time export
  • Remote management with an additional phone
Read full description

Photo Finish introduces an innovative automatic timing system right to your smartphone, designed to precisely measure athletic performance across a range of sports including track and field, soccer, football, basketball, hockey, and many more! As athletes pass your phone’s camera, the app automatically detects their chests with high precision. By eliminating timing inaccuracies found in light barrier systems triggered by hands or thighs, this innovative technology surpasses these light barriers in accuracy. Learn more about the accuracy of Photo Finish in our paper: https://photofinish-app.com/AssessingTheAccuracyOfThePhotoFinishTimingApp.pdf Unlock powerful features with a Photo Finish Pro subscription: - Connect multiple phones to measure at multiple locations with limitless transmission range - Sound Detection Start: Trigger starts with a loud external noise, like a starting gun - Touch Start: Start the run by releasing your thumb from the touchscreen of the phone at the start line - Ready, Set, Go Start: Let your phone provide the starting signal - Series Mode: Predefine your training sessions and athletes. With no need to interact with the phones during training, voice commands announce the next athlete, and all performances are recorded hands-free! - As a coach: Connect an additional phone to oversee and manage training from any spot on the field - Export your times as CSV With the free version, you can use a single phone to automatically measure lap times with high precision. For optimal performance, we strongly recommend mounting your phones on a tripod. Visit our website for more details: https://photofinish-app.com/ For feedback and inquiries, reach out to us at support@photofinish-app.com Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

CycleHUD

Features
Read full description

CycleHUD turns your rear radar into a clear, glanceable heads-up display — and now a quiet-roads navigator and a racing partner too. Always know what's coming up behind you, where you're going, and how you compare with your best, without taking your eyes off the road. EYES BEHIND YOU Vehicles approaching from behind appear on a clean perspective lane, nearest at the top, and the whole panel glows amber to red as a car closes in. A green "Clear" shows when the road behind is empty. Pair an Apple Watch and you'll feel it too: a tap for each new vehicle, faster as it nears, and a distinct buzz if the radar ever drops out. After the ride, every vehicle that passed you is pinned on your route map with its distance and speed. ROUTES ON QUIET ROADS Plan a ride by tapping a start and waypoints on a map — the path snaps to quiet roads and cycle paths, looping back to the start or finishing wherever you choose. While the road behind is clear, the radar panel becomes a live street map: your route ahead, live traffic and closures, the whole ride's elevation profile with the gradient coming up, and the next junction's real layout counting down — with the turn your route takes glowing green. Spoken turn alerts and wrist taps call each bend. Pick a route from across town and CycleHUD plots a lead-in to the start. The moment a vehicle appears behind you, the radar takes the screen back. Routes share as plain GPX and import from anywhere — Strava, Komoot, RideWithGPS, a friend's export. RACE YOUR GHOST Complete a route once and that run becomes its best. Every ride after is a race: a live ahead/behind readout and a ghost marker riding the map beside you. Beat it and the new run takes over. Ghosts travel inside shared GPX files, so you can race a friend's best — or import any recorded ride and chase it. BUILT FOR THE RIDE - Live metrics on customisable, swipeable tile pages: speed, cadence, heart rate, ascent, live gradient, wind (as headwind or tailwind), compass, rain nowcast and more - Every ride saved as an Apple Health workout, with a post-ride effort rating for Health's training load (iOS 18+) - Ride summaries with graphs you can scrub, laps, and your previous bests over the same stretches of road - Optional crash detection: a hard impact followed by a stop starts an SOS countdown on the phone AND your watch — dismiss it or call your emergency contact straight from the wrist - Heart-rate warning that flashes the display and buzzes your wrist - iCloud sync: rides, routes and ghosts back up to your own iCloud and follow you to a new phone - Light, dark and Cyberpunk themes, a digital-dash font, and a fixed-landscape layout for your handlebars WORKS WITH YOUR SENSORS Built around the Coospo TR70 rear radar, and also works with Garmin Varia-compatible radars, standard Bluetooth speed and cadence sensors and heart-rate straps. Speed falls back to GPS when no sensor is connected. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No accounts. No servers. No tracking, ads or analytics. Your data lives on your device, in Apple Health and in your own iCloud — all under your control. The optional routing and junction features fetch open road data (OpenStreetMap, BRouter) and say so plainly in Settings. CycleHUD is a focused, no-nonsense tool made by a rider who wanted exactly this, and nothing more.

Screenshots

Photo Finish4 screens
CycleHUD4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: CycleHUD at none against Photo Finish's 5. Photo Finish's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). On price, update cadence, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Photo Finish sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $8.99 per month. CycleHUD asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Photo Finish ships an update every 2 weeks, CycleHUD every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Photo Finish versus CycleHUD: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPhoto FinishCycleHUD
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (25 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews75.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings25 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, Apple Watch
Requires iOS13.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size70 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperVoigt, Plewnia & Leite Photo Finish GbRCarly Robinson

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Photo Finish

Subscriptions5
  • Photo Finish PRO7 Days trial$8.991 Month
  • Photo Finish PRO7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Photo Finish PRO7 Days trial$53.991 Year
Show 2 more
  • Photo Finish PRO7 Days trial$59.991 Year
  • Photo Finish PRO$59.991 Year
None

CycleHUD

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Photo Finish free?
Photo Finish is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is CycleHUD free?
CycleHUD is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Photo Finish or CycleHUD have ads?
Neither Photo Finish nor CycleHUD shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Photo Finish or CycleHUD?
Photo Finish ships an update every 2 weeks, and CycleHUD every 10 days. Most recently, Photo Finish was updated on November 4, 2026 and CycleHUD on October 31, 2026.

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