Comparison

Illuminance Meter vs PDFlow

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

Head to head
About

Illuminance Meter

Transform your iPhone into a professional light meter to measure illuminance in lux or foot-candles. Ideal for photographers, plant enthusiasts, and workplace safety, it provides instant, accurate light readings with various specialized modes and data export options.

Highlights
  • Real-time lux measurement with live gauge
  • Photography mode for exposure value (EV) calculation
  • Plant light mode with recommendations
  • Workplace standards verification
  • Measurement history with export options
  • Spectrum analysis for color temperature and CRI
  • Multiple illuminance unit switching
Features
Read full description

PREMIUM — PURCHASE REQUIRED: All features described below are part of Pro and require a purchase: a weekly or yearly auto-renewing subscription, or a one-time lifetime purchase. Point your iPhone camera at any light and read it in seconds: illuminance in lux and foot-candles, color temperature in Kelvin, photographic EV, and PPFD for your plants. One meter, already in your pocket. Most light meter apps do one thing. Pocket Lux Meter is the whole bench: a live illuminance meter you can calibrate against a trusted reference, plus a spectrum view, film-photography exposure tables, grow-light conversion, a room uniformity grid, and PDF/CSV reports you can hand to someone. Readings are honest estimates from your camera — the app tells you so, and calibration keeps them close. WHAT YOU GET • Know in seconds whether your desk hits the 500 lux an office task needs — a live reading with min, max and average that settles as you sweep the room • See any bulb's color temperature in Kelvin, so the "warm white" you just bought actually matches the 2700K lamps already in the ceiling • Walk into a scene with your film camera and leave with a usable exposure — EV turned into ISO, shutter and aperture pairs you can dial straight in • Find out if your monstera is starving: lux converted to PPFD and DLI for the exact light source, matched against ranges for common houseplants from succulents to ZZ plants • Prove a room is evenly lit with the grid uniformity test — measure point by point instead of guessing • Hand a client or facilities team a PDF or CSV report of saved readings, complete with notes, tags and history comparisons PERFECT FOR • Film photographers metering scenes without a handheld exposure meter • Plant owners and growers dialing in LED, HPS, metal halide or fluorescent lights • Facility managers and office planners checking workspace lighting against reference ranges • Anyone comparing bulbs, fixing a dim desk or testing a new lamp WHY NOT JUST BUY A HARDWARE LUX METER? A decent standalone meter costs real money and lives in a drawer. Your phone is already with you. Calibrate this app once against a reference and it stays useful — and it does what a basic lux meter can't: Kelvin readings, exposure tables, PPFD and DLI conversion, uniformity grids and shareable reports. For regulated or safety-critical work, use certified equipment; for everything else, this is the meter you'll actually have on hand. PRIVATE BY DEFAULT Measurements, notes, tags and calibration settings stay in local storage on your device. Camera frames are processed on-device and never saved. No account, no sign-up. PREMIUM (PURCHASE REQUIRED) Pocket Lux Meter requires an active plan. Full access unlocks every tool: the live lux/foot-candle/EV meter, spectrum and color temperature view, photography exposure tables, plant PPFD and DLI mode, grid uniformity, lighting standards, quick test, screen brightness test, smart analysis, history comparison, and CSV/PDF export. Choose a weekly subscription, a yearly subscription, or a lifetime one-time purchase. Localized prices are shown in the app before you pay. Point your camera at the nearest lamp and get your first reading in under ten seconds. Terms of Use: https://leanstudio.asia/terms-of-use Privacy Policy: https://leanstudio.asia/privacy-policy Support: support@leanstudio.asia

About

PDFlow

This app offers a suite of 9 tools to manage PDF files directly on your device. It allows you to merge, split, compress, reorder, remove, rotate, unlock, protect, and convert PDFs to images without needing an account or internet connection.

Highlights
  • Merge multiple PDFs
  • Split PDFs into ranges or specific pages
  • Compress PDF file size
  • Reorder and remove pages
  • Rotate pages within the file
  • Unlock password-protected PDFs
  • Protect PDFs with encryption
  • Convert PDFs to JPG/PNG images
Features
Read full description

PDFlow gives your iPhone and iPad 9 PDF tools in one clean app. Merge, split, compress, reorder, remove pages, rotate, unlock, protect, and convert to images — every file is processed on your device, and no account is required to use the tools. BUY ONCE. OWN IT FOREVER. PDFlow Pro is a one-time purchase of $19.99. One payment, full access, no renewal. Prefer to spend less up front? One month costs $2.99 and does not auto-renew. Try every tool first with the free trial. WHAT PDFLOW DOES MERGE — Combine several PDFs into one document. Import from Files, Google Drive, email attachments, or any app. Drag to reorder before merging. SPLIT — Pull out a page range or a set of specific pages from any PDF. Visual thumbnail grid, several output files in one session. COMPRESS — Reduce PDF file size at three levels: Small, Medium, High. The estimated output size is shown before you export, so you know what you are getting. REORDER — A full thumbnail grid. Drag any page to any position and fix a scrambled document in seconds. REMOVE PAGES — Tap to select one page or many, then delete them all in a single action. ROTATE — Rotate pages into the file itself, not just the view, so the fix survives when you send the PDF on. Right, left, or 180°. UNLOCK — Remove password protection from a PDF you own. Nothing is uploaded, nothing leaves your device. PROTECT — Add AES password encryption to any PDF, including files that came from iCloud Drive or Google Drive. TO IMAGES — Convert every page of a PDF to JPG or PNG. All pages at once. Save to Photos or Files, or export the set as a ZIP. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Every tool runs entirely on your iPhone or iPad. Your files are never uploaded to a server, and the tools keep working with no connection at all. Google Drive sign-in exists only as an optional import source — one way in among several, never a requirement. CLEAN INTERFACE One tool per screen. No buried menus, no upsell in the middle of a task, no ads. Open the app, do the job, done. WORKS WITH · Files (iCloud Drive, On My iPhone) · Google Drive · Email attachments · Any app that supports the iOS Share Sheet PRICING · Free trial — try all 9 tools · PDFlow One Month: $2.99 — 30 days, no auto-renewal · PDFlow Lifetime: $19.99 — buy once, own forever Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase.

Screenshots

Illuminance Meter4 screens
PDFlow4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: PDFlow at 100% against Illuminance Meter's 0%. PDFlow also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Illuminance Meter sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per 7 days and PDFlow sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Illuminance Meter ships an update every 3 months, PDFlow weekly. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Illuminance Meter versus PDFlow: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterIlluminance MeterPDFlow
PriceFreeFree
Rating—4.5 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size13 MB10 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLEAN ASIA CO., LTDTrivialware

Customer experience

Illuminance Meter

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

PDFlow

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Illuminance Meter

Subscriptions2
  • Premium Weekly Plan$3.997 Days
  • Premium Yearly$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$39.99
2 purchases

PDFlow

One-time2
  • PDFlow One Month$2.99
  • PDFlow Lifetime$19.99

Questions

Is Illuminance Meter free?
Illuminance Meter is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PDFlow free?
PDFlow is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Illuminance Meter or PDFlow have ads?
Neither Illuminance Meter nor PDFlow shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Illuminance Meter or PDFlow?
Illuminance Meter ships an update every 3 months, and PDFlow weekly. Most recently, Illuminance Meter was updated on October 31, 2026 and PDFlow on October 31, 2026.

Other comparisons