Comparison

Onyx Magic vs TheStrangerX

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

Head to head
About

Onyx Magic

This utility uses AI to remotely alter captured photos in real-time. It allows for seamless modifications to images moments after they are taken, directly on a spectator's device. Create impossible effects like changing playing cards, revealing hidden messages, or altering clock times within photos.

Highlights
  • Real-time AI photo modification
  • Remote image alteration
  • Spectator's camera integration
  • Physical photo printing (Onyx Print)
  • Third-party app integrations
  • Variable delayed input
Read full description

Onyx is a revolutionary utility that allows you to modify a captured image in real-time using variable input data. Using cutting edge AI, Onyx lets you remotely create seamless alterations to photos moments after they've been taken - all with your spectator's camera. For example: — Make a playing card appear in your spectator's wallet. — Morph your spectator's shadow to look like their thought of animal. — Take a photo of your spectator holding a signed card. They name *any* other card. The signed card in the photo transforms to match their thought. — Supplement your Gypsy Queen routine with Onyx: zoom in on a photo of your spectator holding the Queen of Hearts for the reveal. — Reveal a thought-of word, name, or initials hidden naturally in the light reflections of a spectator's eye. — Change the time on a photo of a clock. — Remove your spectator's wristwatch in a photo, making it sbeem that it was removed earlier. ...and more! If you can describe it, Onyx can likely create it. Onyx is particularly great for revealing something ephemeral. Photograph a shadow, clouds, a TV screen or more, and Onyx will realistically insert their free choice. * Variable Delayed Input Inspired by the popular variable trigger system featured in DFB X, Onyx pauses and automatically waits for input, letting you remotely modify a photo *after* it's been taken. * Cutting Edge Technology Take a photo, then have your spectator make a free choice. Onyx's advanced technology seamlessly transforms the photo remotely. * Create Unlimited Effects Change signed playing cards, reveal initials and names, or modify writing. Reveal *anything you can imagine* within a genuine photo you just took. * Your Integrations. Their Camera The effect happens entirely with the spectator's camera. With Onyx's powerful integrations, your phone never needs to leave your pocket. * Invisible, Advanced Technology As only the spectator's device is in play, Onyx remains hidden and inconspicuous. * Third Party Integrations Use your favourite magic apps' input methods, including: — Earworm's covert typing Web Search & Notes input — Native voice input — Native clock swipe input — WebFX's Wrist Gestures — WikiTest — PeekSmith — Bridge ...and any compatible third-party app. # Introducing: Onyx Print Onyx Print brings Onyx’s digital effect into the real world. # Produce Physical Photographs Instead of revealing information only on a screen, Onyx Print can generate and automatically print images on a pocket printer, allowing you to produce a real photograph from your wallet, pocket, or envelope for a powerful ending. # Dynamic Prompting Onyx Print uses the same dynamic prompting and covert input system that powers Onyx. Use any of Onyx’s input methods, and Onyx Print will automatically generate and print an image to match. # Use Your Own Photos You can even modify existing photos. For example: have Onyx Print set up with a photo of yourself and have a spectator name any place in the world. Onyx Print will then create and automatically print a realistic photo of you in that exact location, ready to reveal. # Works With Other Apps Onyx Print can even monitor your photo library and automatically print images saved by other apps. When an app saves a photo, Onyx Print can print it. Onyx Print is an in-app purchase within Onyx, and currently supports the Instax mini Link+, with plans for additional printers in the future. Onyx is a tool specifically designed for entertainment purposes. It uses purchaseable in-app credits or a funded OpenRouter account for best-in-class automatic edits. Onyx supports: Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Chinese simplified and traditional, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese

About

TheStrangerX

Features
Read full description

The Stranger, reborn. Same impossible impact. Streamlined, expanded, and finally as easy as it should have been. Stranger X is a performance tool for magicians and mentalists. A spectator picks up a phone, dials a number nobody could have known, and hears a stranger tell them the thing they only just thought of. NEW IN X Conversation Recordings, made in the app. Record directly in Stranger X. No separate studio, no importing files, no workaround. The single largest ease-of-use gain in the release. The Marketplace Publish your recordings for other performers to find, and download theirs. Search by title, author, region or tag. A library that grows without you. AI transcripts Generate a transcript of any recording automatically, using your own API key. Community, from inside the app Regional groups, announcements and support without leaving Stranger X. Borrowed Phone Place the call from a spectator's own phone. EVERYTHING THE STRANGER ALWAYS DID Live Stranger Calls. A real person, on a real call, anywhere in the world. Conversation Recordings. The same impact with nobody else awake. Auto Advance and Fallback. The call cycles through your list until someone answers. Convincers. Voicemail and auto-disconnect passes that make the dial feel ordinary. Smart region awareness. Correct numbers and formats wherever you are, in thirty languages. BUILT FOR PERFORMERS Drag to reorder your Strangers. Tap one to make it default. Switch anyone off for the night. Choose your reveal mode, your call type and your convincers from a single screen, then perform. Practice and Tutorials are built in. Rehearse against a recording before you ever do it for a person, and every lesson sits one tap from the screen it explains. Seven years. Thousands of performers. Regional communities across four continents. The Stranger, reborn.

Screenshots

Onyx Magic4 screens
TheStrangerX4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: TheStrangerX at Free against Onyx Magic's $64.99. TheStrangerX also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs fortnightly). On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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

TheStrangerX is free to download; Onyx Magic costs $64.99 up front. Onyx Magic sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and TheStrangerX sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Onyx Magic ships an update fortnightly, TheStrangerX every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Onyx Magic versus TheStrangerX: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOnyx MagicTheStrangerX
Price$64.99Free — better
Rating5.0 (13 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings13 — better—
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS18.2 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size36 MB80 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperMarc KersteinJonathan Levit Consulting

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Onyx Magic

One-time2
  • 100 Onyx Credits$19.99
  • Onyx Print$49.99
2 purchases

TheStrangerX

One-time2
  • Borrowed Phone$99.00
  • StrangerX Full Unlock$299.00

Questions

Is Onyx Magic free?
Onyx Magic costs $64.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is TheStrangerX free?
TheStrangerX is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Onyx Magic or TheStrangerX have ads?
Neither Onyx Magic nor TheStrangerX shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Onyx Magic or TheStrangerX?
Onyx Magic ships an update fortnightly, and TheStrangerX every 3 days. Most recently, Onyx Magic was updated on October 22, 2026 and TheStrangerX on October 6, 2026.

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