Comparison

Dual vs Light Paint

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

Head to head
About

Dual

Capture both landscape and portrait photos with a single tap, eliminating the need for cropping. Record videos with the ability to pause, resume, and swap cameras mid-recording for dynamic content. Enhance your photos and videos in real-time with beauty filters.

Highlights
  • One-tap dual landscape/portrait capture
  • Pause and resume video recording
  • Swap cameras during video recording
  • Real-time beauty filters for photos and videos
  • Front and back camera simultaneous recording
  • Curated filters and self-timer
Features
Read full description

Dual-Mode Camera: Smart Capture, One Tap Away Dual Capture, Multi-Screen Ready No need to switch modes — tap once to instantly get both landscape and portrait photos. Perfect for phones, desktops, TVs, and any screen ratio. No more cropping. New Video Mode · Pause and resume recording anytime · Swap front and back cameras while paused — one video, multiple angles Beauty Camera · Real-time beauty for both photos and videos · Natural enhancement for your best look Front + Back Simultaneous Capture · Record from front and rear cameras at once, split-screen · Your perspective and your expression, together in one frame One-Time Purchase, No Subscription Beauty filters and simultaneous capture are unlocked with a single purchase — forever. No recurring fees. More Features · 3 curated filters turning everyday moments into a starry diary · 2s / 5s / 10s self-timer · Pinch-to-zoom · Optional location tagging off — your privacy stays yours · Shutter sound plays even in silent mode · Delightful animation: aperture closes and flies away on save Languages 简体中文 · 繁體中文 · English · Português · Español Compatibility iPhone 12 and later.

About

Light Paint

Create stunning light art and timelapses with professional camera controls and real-time previews. Capture city lights, fire spinning, star trails, and more with intuitive tools and creative effects.

Highlights
  • Manual camera controls (ISO, shutter, focus)
  • Live light trail preview
  • Advanced frame blending
  • Timelapse and video creation
  • Multiple light painting profiles
  • Real-time color grading
Features
Read full description

Paint with light. Watch it happen. Turn a flashlight, LED wand, or light whip into glowing trails. Light Paint's real-time camera shows your painting as you make it, so you can shape the effect while capturing photos, videos, or timelapses on iPhone and iPad. Pick a camera profile, dim the lights, and start moving. PAINT SOLO OR DIRECT A PERFORMANCE Start with a simple light and a phone on a tripod. Use the front camera to see yourself while you paint, or the rear camera to film friends, dancers, and performers. Watch the trails build live, adjust the look, and capture your creation. PUT THE CAMERA UNDER YOUR CONTROL Fine-tune exposure, trail length, frame blending, color, and effects. Use camera profiles or save your own setup. Updated for iOS 27, with Camera Control button integration on supported iPhones and aperture controls for iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max. PERFORM TO YOUR SOUNDTRACK Explore 500+ royalty-free tracks in the integrated music library. Choose a song, play it while you record, and include the music in your saved video. Connect a Bluetooth speaker to bring the soundtrack to your performance. Use the same library to mix music into edited videos or generate performances in Studio. TAKE YOUR LIGHT PAINTING TO THE BIG SCREEN Send your live light painting to a TV, backyard projector, or external monitor through a compatible USB-C HDMI connection. Your audience sees the painting while you keep the camera controls on your device. Build a connected setup with a compatible USB-C hub and Power Delivery: power your iPhone or iPad, output to an external screen, use a USB-C microphone for audio input, and connect external storage. Save recordings and projects to a supported external drive to free up device space and take your work with you. BUILD AND EXPLORE IN STUDIO Step into a full light-painting camera simulation studio. Build scenes, position cameras and performers, choose lights, and experiment with trails and effects. Rehearse a real performance or create a complete video inside Studio. Generate performances from tracks in the music library. Bring real movement into your scenes with motion capture, combine performers, and develop your own choreography. Build a show, refine the camera view, and export an immersive performance video. EDIT THE WHOLE SHOW Bring your footage into the video editor, trim and arrange clips, and mix in music. Create vertical 9:16 videos or widescreen 16:9 projects, with 4K and 1080p export options. With Pro, the Blender plugin turns ordinary video into light trails. Create a fresh look from footage you already have. KEEP YOUR CREATIONS TOGETHER Browse photos and videos in the media gallery, revisit recordings, and continue working on saved video projects. Customize your home screen with color themes and keep favorite camera setups ready for your next session. CONTROL IT FROM YOUR WRIST OR WITH YOUR VOICE Use Apple Watch to preview the camera, capture photos, start and stop recording, and adjust supported settings. Use Siri for camera actions and Now Playing for music playback controls. CREATE WITH THE COMMUNITY Share photos, videos, camera profiles, Studio scenes, and performances with other Light Paint users. Discover ideas, try shared setups, and build on what other creators are making. Start with one light. See what you can create. Some features require Pro or a Production license. Camera controls, export options, motion capture, and external connections depend on your device and compatible accessories. EULA: https://shutterspeedapps.com/lightpainted/tos/ Privacy: https://shutterspeedapps.com/lightpainted/privacy/ AI Usage Policy: https://shutterspeedapps.com/lightpainted/aiusage?lang=en

Screenshots

Dual3 screens
Light Paint4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Light Paint at every 5 days against Dual's monthly. Light Paint also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 75%) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). On price, 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

Both are free to download. Dual sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Light Paint sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Dual ships an update monthly, Light Paint every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Dual versus Light Paint: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDualLight Paint
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews75.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings—6 — better
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS18.218.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB136 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer丽 杨Shutter Speed Apps, LLC

Customer experience

Dual

Written reviews4 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%

Light Paint

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Dual

One-time1
  • Premium Features Unlocked$1.99
7 purchases

Light Paint

Subscriptions4
  • LightPaint Pro — Monthly$0.991 Month
  • LightPaint Pro — 3 Months$2.493 Months
  • LightPaint Pro — 1 Year$9.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Production Display$99.991 Year
One-time3
  • 5 AI Scene Analyses$1.99
  • 20 AI Scene Analyses$5.99
  • LightPaint Pro — Lifetime$19.99

Questions

Is Dual free?
Dual is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Light Paint free?
Light Paint is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Dual or Light Paint have ads?
Neither Dual nor Light Paint shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Dual or Light Paint?
Dual ships an update monthly, and Light Paint every 5 days. Most recently, Dual was updated on November 4, 2026 and Light Paint on October 30, 2026.

Other comparisons