FilmMeter vs Wanderby
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
FilmMeter
This app transforms your iPhone into a professional light meter for film photography. It offers real-time metering, LiDAR ranging for accurate focus, and comprehensive film roll management. Features include reciprocity calculation, ND filter compensation, and an exposure log to streamline your shooting workflow.
- Real-time light metering
- LiDAR ranging and depth of field
- Film roll and camera management
- Reciprocity and ND filter compensation
- Long exposure timer
- Exposure logging
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FilmMeter turns your iPhone into a professional light meter for film cameras. Real-time metering, LiDAR ranging, reciprocity calculation, and exposure logging — one app covers your entire shooting workflow from loading film to the final frame. Metering Measure exposure in real-time using your iPhone camera. Spot metering reads any point precisely, while average metering balances the whole scene. Full control over aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. iPhone 16 users can meter and adjust EV directly with the Camera Control button. Ranging & Depth of Field Get accurate focus distance with LiDAR-enabled devices. The depth of field scale shows your sharp range and hyperfocal distance, supporting 35mm (full frame) and medium format calculations. Camera Management Create profiles for your cameras and lenses. Set focal length and aperture range for each lens, then link a camera when loading film — aperture selection is automatically constrained to your lens's actual range. Manage your digital film bag the way you manage your real gear. Film Roll Management Create a roll, select your film stock, start shooting. Push/pull processing support lets you set development stops and automatically converts to effective ISO. Each metering links to your current roll automatically. The frame counter tracks remaining shots. Mark rolls as in progress, finished, or developed. ND Filters Built-in support for ND2 through ND10000. Select a filter and exposure is compensated automatically — no manual stop conversion needed. Pair with the long exposure timer to master daytime slow shutter work. Reciprocity Compensation Film loses sensitivity during long exposures. FilmMeter includes reciprocity data for popular film stocks and calculates the corrected shutter time automatically. Long Exposure Timer Long-press the metering button to start a countdown. The timer integrates with Dynamic Island — visible even when locked. Get notified when your exposure completes. No more counting seconds for star trails or light painting. Smart Exposure Suggestions Built-in scene recognition analyzes your frame. In tricky lighting like snow, backlight, or night scenes, it tells you "add one stop" instead of leaving you to figure it out. Exposure Log Every metering saves full parameters and location. Export to CSV. Review your decisions, build your film notes. More Features • ND filter auto exposure compensation • Film LUT live preview • Aspect ratio overlays (135/120 formats) • Focal length frame lines (28-200mm) • Darkroom-friendly red-on-black interface • Metric and imperial units Free to Use • No subscription, no account required • Fully offline, no ads • English and Chinese Designed for film photography. Professional enough for experienced shooters, simple enough for beginners.
Wanderby
Discover hidden visual stories within your photos and develop them into unique AI-generated variants. Organize your creations in a private collection, compare interpretations, and receive guidance to improve your photography.
- Find visual stories in photos
- Develop AI-generated variants
- Organize originals and variants
- Mark favorite variants
- Receive photography guidance
- Share via unlisted links
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Wanderby helps you see more in the photographs you make. Choose a photograph, discover the visual stories already present in it, and develop one into an AI-generated interpretation informed by another photographer’s way of seeing. A "museum card" names that photographer and connects visible details with what makes the resulting picture interesting. Take a new photograph or choose one from your Photos. Wanderby finds several visual stories already present in the image. Choose the story that interests you, then develop it into a new variant. Use Wanderby’s tips for improving how you see what to photograph next. Each original and its variants stay together as a group in your private Collection. Compare interpretations, mark favorites, revisit a story, and develop another variant without repeating story discovery. Wanderby includes four free variants. Additional variants are available as one-time Packs. A variant is used only when development begins and is returned automatically if Wanderby cannot finish. Features: • Find potential stories in your photographs • Choose a story and develop an AI-generated variant • Keep each original and its variants together • Mark favorite variants for quick access • Read practical museum-card guidance for what to try next • Share an original, variant, and card through an unlisted link Wanderby does not require an account sign-in. Sign in with Apple is optional and lets your variant balance follow you to another device.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: FilmMeter at free against Wanderby's free with in-app purchases. FilmMeter also leads on ratings volume (64 vs 2) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, rating, update cadence 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
Both are free to download. FilmMeter sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and Wanderby sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Wanderby holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: FilmMeter has 64 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | FilmMeter | Wanderby |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (64 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 96.2% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 64 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 days | Every 2 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 143 MB | 47 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | 宗 侯 | Paul Henry Smith |
Customer experience
FilmMeter
Wanderby
In-app purchases
FilmMeter
- Buy me a coffee$0.99
- Buy me lunch$2.99
- 请我吃块蛋糕$9.99
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- 赞助开发$19.99
Wanderby
- Single Variant$0.79
- 12 Pack$8.99
- 36 Pack$26.99
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- 128 Pack$94.99









