Comparison

Onyx Magic vs AC Matrix

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

AC Matrix

Features
Read full description

AC Matrix turns your phone into a magic instrument. Everything an audience sees looks like an ordinary phone doing ordinary things. Everything you do to control it is invisible. SLIDE EFFECTS Flash through your own screenshots and clips, full-screen. Because the media is yours, the effect can be anything a phone screen can show — a home screen where the icons gather into one corner, a photo that changes when you turn the phone around, a lock screen that shouldn't exist yet. • Cut instantly, or cross-dissolve over a length you choose • Hold a slide for a set delay before it changes • Let a slide advance itself, so a beat lands on time and not a moment late • Name your slides so a long routine stays readable while you build it TRIGGER IT HOWEVER YOU LIKE Every slide chooses its own way in: a tap anywhere on the screen, a shake of the phone, or a hand gesture seen by the camera. Mix them inside one routine — tap, tap, shake, pinch — so no single tell repeats. AI CLEANUP, ON DEVICE Box out a clock, a notification, a status bar, anything that gives the game away. An inpainting model rebuilds the area from its surroundings, on your phone, and stores the cleaned copy alongside the original. One toggle switches between them. Works on stills and on video, either as a single patch or frame by frame. Cleanup runs in the background with a Live Activity, so you can watch a long job finish from the Lock Screen instead of holding the app open. BUILT FOR PERFORMING • Two-finger swipe down to leave — there is no visible quit button, and that is the point • Swipe right to step back a slide if you need to • The screen stays awake and the status bar stays hidden • Open the app straight into a performance, so nothing is ever seen but the effect LEARN IT BY WATCHING IT Every setting that describes a behaviour over time is shown as a small looping animation, not a paragraph. A "?" next to any control opens the tutorial already scrolled to the right topic. There is a filmed clip of one routine being performed, start to finish, if you would rather just watch one first. PRIVATE BY CONSTRUCTION AC Matrix has no network code functionality. Nothing is uploaded, nothing is analysed, no account is required. Camera frames are read for hand detection and discarded — never recorded, never saved, never sent. The AI cleanup model runs entirely on your device. Requires iOS 17 or later. Camera gesture triggers need a physical iPhone.

Screenshots

Onyx Magic4 screens
AC Matrix4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: AC Matrix at Free against Onyx Magic's $64.99. AC Matrix also leads on update cadence (every 4 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

AC Matrix is free to download; Onyx Magic costs $64.99 up front. Onyx Magic sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and AC Matrix sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Onyx Magic ships an update fortnightly, AC Matrix every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Onyx Magic versus AC Matrix: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOnyx MagicAC Matrix
Price$64.99Free — better
Rating5.0 (13 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings13 — better—
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS18.217.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size36 MB261 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMarc KersteinFeiyu Chang

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Onyx Magic

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

AC Matrix

One-time1
  • AC Matrix Pro$4.99

Questions

Is Onyx Magic free?
Onyx Magic costs $64.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is AC Matrix free?
AC Matrix is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Onyx Magic or AC Matrix have ads?
Neither Onyx Magic nor AC Matrix shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Onyx Magic or AC Matrix?
Onyx Magic ships an update fortnightly, and AC Matrix every 4 days. Most recently, Onyx Magic was updated on October 22, 2026 and AC Matrix on October 26, 2026.

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