Comparison

ShotSmarts 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

ShotSmarts

This app assists photographers by intelligently calculating essential camera parameters for various shooting scenarios. It offers tools for time-lapse, focal length conversion, depth of field, and flash calculations, making it suitable for both beginners and experienced professionals.

Highlights
  • Intelligent parameter assistant
  • Full-scenario shooting support
  • Time-lapse calculator
  • Equivalent focal length conversion
  • Depth of field calculation
  • Safe shutter calculations
  • Flash calculator
Features
Read full description

ShotSmarts — intelligent parameter assistant exclusively for photographers. It serves as a fast shot-setup tool for seasoned shooters and an all-scene photography tutor for beginners. Compatible with all types of camera gear. Clean, ad-free interface, assembling multiple practical photography tools in one place. Supports shooting scenarios including night, motion, macro and more. Freely set ISO, and get professional parameters including aperture, shutter speed and exposure compensation intelligently. Built-in practical tools: Sun Tracking Timetable: View sunrise, sunset, morning glow, sunset glow, golden hour and blue hour on a single timeline to plan your best shooting time in advance. ND Filter Exposure Calculation: Quickly calculate exposure parameters when using an ND filter. Time-lapse Calculator: No manual formulas required. Easily calculate shots for light trails, cloudscapes, star trails and day-to-night time-lapse. Equivalent Focal Length Conversion: Precisely control viewing angle across different sensor formats for portrait, landscape and documentary photography. Depth of Field & Hyperfocal Distance Calculator: Adjust background blur freely for landscape, street documentary and commercial shooting. Safe Shutter Speed Calculator: Avoid blurry handheld shots for sharp images in low-light and dynamic scenes. Flash Calculator: Auto / manual dual modes, compatible with mainstream flashes. Quickly compute aperture, distance and flash brightness. 【User Testimonials】 ◆ National Geographic Contract Photographer: "Saves 40% of my parameter tuning time on location." ◆ Xiaohongshu Photography Blogger: "An essential exposure reference tool for beginners." ◆ Film Photographer: "Helps me quickly pick the right lens." --- If you have any needs or suggestions, please contact us: austinc@juzicy.com

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

ShotSmarts4 screens
Light Paint4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Light Paint at Free against ShotSmarts's $1.99. ShotSmarts's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 7) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 18.0). On rating, review sentiment, ratings volume and update cadence 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

Light Paint is free to download; ShotSmarts costs $1.99 up front. Light Paint sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. ShotSmarts asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for ShotSmarts against 5.0 for Light Paint. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 6 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ShotSmarts ships an update every 6 days, Light Paint every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
ShotSmarts versus Light Paint: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShotSmartsLight Paint
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating5.0 (3 ratings)5.0 (6 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings36 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 daysEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS15.6 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB136 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer奥 陈Shutter Speed Apps, LLC

Customer experience

ShotSmarts

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Light Paint

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

In-app purchases

None

ShotSmarts

No in-app purchases

7 purchases

Light Paint

Subscriptions4
  • LightPaint Pro — Monthly$3.991 Month
  • LightPaint Pro — 3 Months$9.993 Months
  • LightPaint Pro — 1 Year$24.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Production Display$399.001 Year
One-time3
  • 5 AI Scene Analyses$1.99
  • 20 AI Scene Analyses$5.99
  • LightPaint Pro — Lifetime$79.99

Questions

Is ShotSmarts free?
ShotSmarts costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Light Paint free?
Light Paint is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, ShotSmarts or Light Paint?
ShotSmarts and Light Paint are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 3 and 6 ratings respectively.
Do ShotSmarts or Light Paint have ads?
Neither ShotSmarts nor Light Paint shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ShotSmarts or Light Paint?
ShotSmarts ships an update every 6 days, and Light Paint every 5 days. Most recently, ShotSmarts was updated on October 7, 2026 and Light Paint on October 24, 2026.

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