Comparison

MacroShader vs Brightroom

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

Head to head
About

MacroShader

Capture stunning close-up images with advanced manual camera controls and specialized processing. Features include focus peaking, RAW saving, and a unique focus shutter for precise macro shots.

Highlights
  • Focus shutter
  • Focus peaking
  • Manual camera controls
  • Save in RAW
  • Customized image processing
Features
Read full description

A macro photography app for iPhone. Features include: - Focus shutter: Tap, hold, focus and release to shoot a photo. Also just tap to shoot - Focus peaking - Manual camera controls - Save in RAW - Customised image processing for macro photography to preserve details Future releases will add more camera controls, editing tools and more

About

Brightroom

Transform your iPhone into a high-quality film scanner. Easily digitize color negatives, black-and-white negatives, and color slides with advanced editing tools for perfect results. Save your scanned memories directly to your device or cloud storage.

Highlights
  • Film negative and slide scanning
  • Color and B&W negative conversion
  • Live editing controls
  • DNG and ProRAW import support
  • Save to Photos or Files
  • IPTC caption embedding
  • Workflow optimization
Features
Read full description

Brightroom turns your iPhone into a precision film scanner. Photograph color negatives, black-and-white negatives, or color slides — on a lightbox, iPad screen, or bright window — and Brightroom instantly converts them into sharp, accurate digital photos you can crop, adjust, caption, and save. FILM CONVERSION • Color Negative (C-41) — removes the orange film base cast with per-channel auto-levels and white balance correction, plus an S-curve for shadow richness and highlight pop • Black & White Negative — desaturates before inversion with a classic film contrast curve • Slide / Positive (E-6) — gentle levels correction preserving the film's inherent color balance ADJUSTMENTS • 10 live controls in a scrollable toolbar: Crop, Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Black Point, Saturation, Vibrance, Warmth, Sharpen, Vignette • Every slider updates the image instantly as you drag — no tap to apply • Changed controls highlighted in orange; one-tap reset per control IMAGE QUALITY • Supports DNG and Apple ProRAW imports alongside JPEG and HEIC • Single-pass Core Image pipeline — no intermediate resampling steps, maximum sharpness at full sensor resolution • Captures full pixel density from both 1x and 2x lenses CROP & SAVE • Manual crop with corner handles and rule-of-thirds grid • Save to Photos Library or directly to any Files location — iCloud Drive, network shares, NAS, cloud services • Save location remembered: pick a folder once, Brightroom saves there automatically • Save with optional 90° rotation — corrects sideways negatives at save time CAPTION • Type or dictate an IPTC caption before saving — embedded permanently in the JPEG, readable in Lightroom, Photos, and any IPTC-aware app • Voice dictation uses on-device speech recognition — nothing leaves your iPhone WORKFLOW • Scan → camera direct; Convert → camera or library (supports DNG/RAW) • After saving, immediately prompts for the next negative — no extra navigation between frames • Before/after toggle: tap Converted badge to compare with the original capture • Full-resolution JPEG output with EXIF orientation and IPTC metadata embedded

Screenshots

MacroShader4 screens
Brightroom4 screens

Verdict

The call

MacroShader and Brightroom both sit at 5.0 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of MacroShader's written reviews are positive against 0% of Brightroom's. MacroShader also leads on price (Free vs $0.99). Brightroom's advantage is update cadence (every 6 days vs every 4 months) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.0). On rating, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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

MacroShader is free to download; Brightroom costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for MacroShader against 5.0 for Brightroom. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 100% of MacroShader's written reviews are positive against 0% of Brightroom's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MacroShader ships an update every 4 months, Brightroom every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
MacroShader versus Brightroom: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMacroShaderBrightroom
PriceFree — better$0.99
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 6 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS18.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAstroShader LimitedGreg Anderson

Customer experience

MacroShader

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Brightroom

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

In-app purchases

None

MacroShader

No in-app purchases

None

Brightroom

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is MacroShader free?
MacroShader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Brightroom free?
Brightroom costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, MacroShader or Brightroom?
MacroShader and Brightroom are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do MacroShader or Brightroom have ads?
Neither MacroShader nor Brightroom shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MacroShader or Brightroom?
MacroShader ships an update every 4 months, and Brightroom every 6 days. Most recently, MacroShader was updated on October 1, 2026 and Brightroom on October 11, 2026.

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