Comparison

Retro Pixel Camera vs Smolcam

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

Head to head
About

Retro Pixel Camera

Features
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PIXELADO Dither the world, live in the viewfinder. Pixelado is a camera that renders every frame through a real-time dither shader. Pick an effect, pick a palette, and the viewfinder is already the photo. Nothing to apply afterwards. FOURTEEN LIVE EFFECTS Floyd-Steinberg and Atkinson error diffusion, Bayer 4x4 and 2x2 ordered dither, blue-noise stipple, per-channel RGB dither, ordered halftone, posterize, CRT scanlines, and a Sobel ink edge pass. Plus four retro hardware palettes that clamp every frame to a classic 4-color or 8-bit color set. THIRTY-EIGHT COLOR PALETTES Hand-graded palettes, from clean monochrome and graphite to neon, sunset, and deep contrast. Every one of them is free. DIAL IT IN Pixel scale, contrast, shadows, highlights, and sharpness, all live on the preview. Five effects take a tint color, so you can push a dither into any two-tone you want. Your settings are stored per effect, so switching back never loses your numbers. A CAMERA THAT STAYS OUT OF THE WAY Volume button shutter, rule-of-thirds grid, tap to focus, flash, zoom, front camera, and your last shot one tap from the editor. BRING YOUR OWN PHOTOS Import anything from your library and run it through the same shader, with the same sliders. BUILT FOR IPAD Split View and Slide Over are supported, and the camera preview keeps the right aspect ratio at every window size. COMPLETELY FREE Every effect, every palette, every slider. No subscription, no unlocks, no ads. STAYS ON YOUR DEVICE Every frame is processed on your device with Metal. Nothing is uploaded. Shoot in pixels. PRIVACY POLICY AND TERMS OF USE: Apple App Store User Agreement - Terms of Use (EULA) https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy https://tahatuna.com/pixeladoprivacy For more information, please visit https://tahatuna.com For support, send an email to: ios@tahatuna.com

About

Smolcam

This app offers a customizable retro camera experience with a variety of color palettes and dithering options. It provides a simple, distraction-free interface for capturing and saving photos instantly to your library.

Highlights
  • Customizable retro aesthetic
  • Multiple color palettes (3-bit to 24-bit)
  • Bayer ordered dithering option
  • Zoom support for all device cameras
  • Instant save to photo library
  • Distraction-free interface
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Smolcam transforms your iPhone into a small, lightweight camera with a customizable retro aesthetic. Features: - Completely free: no ads or in-app purchases - Choose from 8 colors (3-bit) to 16 million (24-bit) color palettes - Enable Bayer ordered dithering, or blue noise dithering for increased detail at low bit depths - Supports zooming through all the cameras your phone has - Instant save to photo library - Simple distraction-free interface that runs smoothly on any device and won't kill your battery

Screenshots

Retro Pixel Camera4 screens
Smolcam3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Smolcam at none against Retro Pixel Camera's 2. Smolcam also leads on iOS requirement (16.0 vs 26.0). Retro Pixel Camera's advantage is update cadence (every 9 days vs every 8 months). On price, ads 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. Retro Pixel Camera sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days. Smolcam asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Retro Pixel Camera ships an update every 9 days, Smolcam every 8 months. The most recent releases landed on September 15, 2026 and September 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 6 level
Retro Pixel Camera versus Smolcam: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRetro Pixel CameraSmolcam
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Number of ratings1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterEvery 8 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS26.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size22 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAli Taha TunaJasper Morgal

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Retro Pixel Camera

Subscriptions1
  • Pixelado Pro Weekly3 Days trial$2.997 Days
One-time1
  • Pixelado Pro Lifetime$4.99
None

Smolcam

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Retro Pixel Camera free?
Retro Pixel Camera is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Smolcam free?
Smolcam is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Retro Pixel Camera or Smolcam have ads?
Neither Retro Pixel Camera nor Smolcam shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Retro Pixel Camera or Smolcam?
Retro Pixel Camera ships an update every 9 days, and Smolcam every 8 months. Most recently, Retro Pixel Camera was updated on September 15, 2026 and Smolcam on September 6, 2026.

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