Comparison

Chronodev vs Film Development Assistant

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

Head to head
About

Chronodev

This app transforms your iPhone or iPad into a darkroom enlarger timer. It uses HomeKit-enabled devices to control your enlarger and safelights, offering features like manual control, metronome for dodging/burning, and automatic test strip creation.

Highlights
  • iPhone/iPad enlarger timer
  • HomeKit device control
  • Manual enlarger focusing
  • Metronome for dodging/burning
  • EV stop time adjustments
  • Automatic test strip creation
  • Voice control support
Read full description

Transform your iPhone into an enlarger timer using Chronodev. Chronodev uses HomeKit-enabled wall plugs and lightbulbs to control your enlarger and safelights. Secondhand enlarger timers can be expensive and hard to find. This one costs the price of a wi-fi wall plug. - Control your enlarger and safelight with your iPhone or iPad - Expose prints accurately using the HomeKit-enabled timer - Manual enlarger control for focusing - Use the metronome for dodging and burning - Adjust times using EV stops - Automatically create test strips with incremental exposures, and keep track of exposure times using a handy graph - Automatically turn your safelight off when exposing/focusing - Voice control support for hands-free development - Safe to use in black and white darkrooms when using iOS's built-in red color filter A HomeKit-enabled wall plug and/or lightbulb is required to use all features of this app. Some features (like a basic timer and EV stop calculations) are available without a HomeKit-enabled device.

About

Film Development Assistant

This app helps amateur photographers track their film development chemicals and sessions. It monitors chemical batch expiration, usage, and provides multi-stage timers for development processes. Users can also record notes on session quality for future reference.

Highlights
  • Chemical batch tracking
  • Expiration date monitoring
  • Session tracking
  • Multi-stage development timers
  • Chemical usage calculation
  • Session notes and quality tracking
Features
Read full description

Film Development Assistant provides advanced features for every at-home photographic film developer! Reduce your risk of development issues by keeping track of your chemical batches and development sessions in the app. Our ever-evolving database of home development chemicals makes it easy to track the expiration dates of your mixed chemical batches based on the suggested shelf life from the manufacturer. Once you have your chemicals mixed, you can create sessions to track how many rolls/sheets of film you are developing, and the app will track the chemical usage for you so that you don't forget how much chemical capacity you have remaining! The visual progress indicators for your chemical batch freshness are a very useful tool for keeping track of your chemicals and making sure you either use them before expiration, or prevent yourself from using already expired or depleted chemicals. With each session, you can open a multi-stage timer to track the time for each stage of development. No more creating different timers by hand with the default timer app on your phone! And if you associate an existing chemical batch with each stage, the app will automatically adjust the development times of those stages based on the previous usage of your chemicals (or you can adjust the times manually). When you finish your sessions, you can take notes about how your session went so that you can learn from your home development process over time. You can keep track of the quality of the session and add your own notes to reference later.

Screenshots

Chronodev3 screens
Film Development Assistant3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Film Development Assistant at 5.0 against Chronodev's 4.5. Chronodev's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and update cadence (monthly vs every 10 months). On price, ratings volume, 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. Film Development Assistant sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Chronodev asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Film Development Assistant holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 3 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chronodev ships an update monthly, Film Development Assistant every 10 months. The most recent releases landed on June 7, 2026 and August 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Chronodev versus Film Development Assistant: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChronodevFilm Development Assistant
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (2 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings23 — better
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 10 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKevin OlmatsZachary Burns

Customer experience

Chronodev

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Film Development Assistant

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Chronodev

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Film Development Assistant

One-time2
  • 7 Day Free TrialFree
  • Film Development Assistant Pro$4.99

Questions

Is Chronodev free?
Chronodev is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Film Development Assistant free?
Film Development Assistant is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Chronodev or Film Development Assistant?
Film Development Assistant is rated higher. Chronodev averages 4.5 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Film Development Assistant averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Chronodev or Film Development Assistant have ads?
Neither Chronodev nor Film Development Assistant shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Chronodev or Film Development Assistant?
Chronodev ships an update monthly, and Film Development Assistant every 10 months. Most recently, Chronodev was updated on June 7, 2026 and Film Development Assistant on August 9, 2026.

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