Comparison

DisparaTimer 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

DisparaTimer

Features
Read full description

DisparaTimer is a mobile app that, when connected to a Raspberry Pico W/WH, can control the exposure time of a photographic enlarger using a power relay. The physical setup is inexpensive and easy to assemble. DisparaTimer has two operation modes. The first is a traditional timer mode, where you set a specific time for each exposure. The second is designed for creating test strips with constant fractional step increments over a base time. On iPad (iPadOS 17 and later), DisparaTimer includes a landscape-only notes panel that lets you add photos or images of your test strips and make handwritten or visual annotations directly on them.

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

DisparaTimer4 screens
Film Development Assistant3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: DisparaTimer at none against Film Development Assistant's 2. DisparaTimer also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 10 months) and device support (3 vs 1). On price and ads 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. DisparaTimer asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

DisparaTimer ships an update monthly, Film Development Assistant every 10 months. The most recent releases landed on June 5, 2026 and August 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 5 level
DisparaTimer versus Film Development Assistant: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDisparaTimerFilm Development Assistant
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—3 — better
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 10 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
Monetization—Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.5 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAngel David RodriguezZachary Burns

In-app purchases

None

DisparaTimer

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Film Development Assistant

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

Questions

Is DisparaTimer free?
DisparaTimer 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.
Do DisparaTimer or Film Development Assistant have ads?
Neither DisparaTimer nor Film Development Assistant shows ads.
Which is updated more often, DisparaTimer or Film Development Assistant?
DisparaTimer ships an update monthly, and Film Development Assistant every 10 months. Most recently, DisparaTimer was updated on June 5, 2026 and Film Development Assistant on August 9, 2026.

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