Comparison

f/ Tools vs phNotes Pro

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

Head to head
About

f/ Tools

This photography tool offers a suite of calculators for concepts like depth of field, print resolution, and flash exposure. It helps users visually grasp complex photographic principles with integrated help and a glossary. The app also includes a camera bag feature with lens limits.

Highlights
  • Graphic depth of field calculator
  • Graphic Airy disc calculator
  • Graphic format calculator
  • Motion freeze calculator
  • Graphic blur size calculator
  • Graphic flash exposure calculator
  • Camera bag with lens limits
Features
Read full description

f/Tools is a set of tools for digital and analog photography. Explore sensor sharpness, depth of field, print resolution, bokeh size, flash exposure, and more — all in one place. Designed to help you visually understand complex photographic concepts, with built-in help and a glossary. Features: • Graphic depth of field calculator • Graphic Airy disc calculator • Graphic format (scene/print) calculator • Motion freeze calculator • Graphic blur size calculator • Graphic flash exposure calculator • Camera bag with lens limits • Quick setup with popular camera brands included

About

phNotes Pro

Features
Read full description

*** If you like this app please take the time and leave a feedback, this will help me a lot in maintaining it and add additional features. Thank you! *** This simple but powerful app allows photographers who use manual lenses, technical/view cameras, adapted gears with digital or even analog film photography to take note of the most important parameters of each shot taken on the field. Additionally, with the Pro version all annotations can be easily exported through email or into your cloud storage. When back home/studio, the freely downloadable desktop companion application "PhotoAnnotator" can read the exported data and automatically write all annotations as EXIF/IPTC metadata into the corresponding image files (RAW, TIFF, JPEG, etc...). This is particularly useful in all cases where the shooting parameters are not automatically written by the camera into the image files. Your image and shooting annotations can then live together in one single file. FEATURES (PRO VERSION): - Supported annotations: image counter, shoot date, camera make and model, lens make and model, filter, shutter speed, aperture value, focus distance, shift and tilt movements, film, GPS location, additional notes. - GPS location automatically read from the iPhone's GPS system. - Ability to swipe-clone an existing image for fast editing in the field. - Ability to swipe-delete single photos. - Ability to manage a list of cameras. - Ability to manage a list of lenses. - Ability to manage a list of filters. - Ability to manage a list of films. - Ability to clear the whole session after having exported it. - Contextual help available. - Ability to save unlimited image entries (the LITE version is limited to 12 max). - Ability to export all data via the standard iOS sharing machanism. - The companion desktop app PhotoAnnotator can be freely downloaded at https://www.marcoristuccia.com/it/photoannotator - The companion desktop app PhotoAnnotator supports all the major RAW and image types (see the application description at the indicated web page for more details).

Screenshots

f/ Tools4 screens
phNotes Pro4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is chart position: f/ Tools at #198 against phNotes Pro's unranked. f/ Tools also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 6 weeks) and price ($3.99 vs $5.99). phNotes Pro's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.5). On ads, in-app purchases 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

f/ Tools costs $3.99 and phNotes Pro $5.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

f/ Tools ships an update every 2 weeks, phNotes Pro every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
f/ Tools versus phNotes Pro: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameterf/ ToolsphNotes Pro
Price$3.99 — better$5.99
Rating3.7 (6 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews93.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings6 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaid—
Best chart rank#198 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.512.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size12 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDavid QuilesMarco Ristuccia

In-app purchases

None

f/ Tools

No in-app purchases

None

phNotes Pro

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is f/ Tools free?
f/ Tools costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is phNotes Pro free?
phNotes Pro costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do f/ Tools or phNotes Pro have ads?
Neither f/ Tools nor phNotes Pro shows ads.
Which is updated more often, f/ Tools or phNotes Pro?
f/ Tools ships an update every 2 weeks, and phNotes Pro every 6 weeks. Most recently, f/ Tools was updated on September 23, 2026 and phNotes Pro on September 17, 2026.

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