Ephemeral Trace vs Camora App
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side ā with what reviewers say about each.
Ephemeral Trace
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Photos that delete themselves. Ephemeral Trace is a private camera for photos and videos that only need to exist for a while. Choose an expiry before you shoot. Each capture counts down, then deletes itself when time runs out. No cloud. No account. No tracking. FOR PHOTOS THAT HAD ONE JOB A receipt you need until tonight. A whiteboard after the meeting. A parking spot. A document you are sending once. A serial number. The Wi-Fi password at a rental. Take the photo. Use it. Let it go. SET THE TIMER BEFORE YOU SHOOT Choose 30 seconds, 5 minutes, 1 hour, or 24 hours. Pro adds custom timers up to one year and Keep Forever when a photo really should stay. TIME, MADE VISIBLE Every capture has a live countdown and a decay ring that empties as time runs out. Short timers burn hot. Long ones run cool. If a capture expires while you are looking at it, it flares once and dissolves. PRIVATE BY DESIGN ⢠No accounts ⢠No analytics or tracking ⢠No advertising identifiers ⢠No cloud storage or servers ⢠No crash reporting ⢠Photo Library access is Add Only. The app can save a photo when you ask, but it cannot read your existing library. Your media stays on your iPhone. ENCRYPTED, THEN GONE Captures live in the app's private storage, protected by iOS Data Protection. When a timer ends, the file and its encryption key are removed together. Captures are excluded from iCloud and iTunes backups, so a capture does not outlive its timer inside a backup. There is no trash, Recently Deleted folder, or undo path. A LIBRARY THAT EMPTIES ITSELF See what is still alive at a glance. Long-press any item to extend its timer, change its expiry, move it, share it, save it to Photos, or delete it early. FOLDERS WITHOUT THE PILE-UP Organize captures into folders with identity colors and custom covers. Choose a default folder and shoot straight into it. The free version includes up to two folders. ONE-TIME PRO Pro unlocks: ⢠Keep Forever ⢠Custom timer presets up to one year ⢠Unlimited folders ⢠Biometric gallery lock with Face ID, Touch ID, or Optic ID ⢠All future Pro features One purchase. No subscription. Ever. Free includes unlimited photo and video capture, all four standard timers, automatic deletion, decay rings and countdowns, long-press actions, up to two folders, gallery filters, statistics, and export to Photos. Available in English, German, Spanish, French, Japanese, Portuguese, and Ukrainian. Your privacy is not a feature. It is the foundation.
Camora App
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Camora is a private camera and vault for the photos, videos, documents, and notes you don't want stored anywhere but your own devices. THE CAMORA PROMISE We don't have your data. We can't have your data. There are no Camora servers holding your memories. No accounts, no analytics, no third-party SDKs scraping your usage. HOW IT WORKS Camora captures directly into an encrypted vault on your device. Every file is sealed with AES-GCM encryption using keys protected by your passcode and the device-only Keychain. Nothing leaves your device unless you explicitly share it. WHAT YOU GET ⢠Encrypted camera that captures photos and videos straight into the vault, never the camera roll ⢠Document scanner with the same end-to-end encryption ⢠Encrypted notes, organized by collection ⢠Face ID and passcode unlock with configurable lockout backoff ⢠Local-only sync between your iPhone and Mac over Wi-Fi (no cloud relay) ⢠Export to your photo library only when you choose ⢠Vault backup that works without iCloud ABOUT DURESS MODE (PRO) A second passcode that opens an empty decoy vault while leaving your real vault sealed. Designed for situations where you may be compelled to unlock your phone. The decoy vault and the real vault are cryptographically separated: neither can decrypt the other. ABOUT PRO Camora is free for up to 100 items. Pro removes the limit and unlocks duress mode, vault backup, and the macOS companion app. ABOUT YOUR PRIVACY Camora has no servers, no telemetry, and no advertising integrations. The only network calls happen when you explicitly initiate a local sync between your devices. Your purchase receipt is the only thing that touches Apple's servers, and that's between you and Apple. Privacy Policy: https://www.mycamora.app/privacy Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Ephemeral Trace at every 2 weeks against Camora App's every 2 months. Ephemeral Trace also leads on iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Ephemeral Trace sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Camora App sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Ephemeral Trace ships an update every 2 weeks, Camora App every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 18, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Ephemeral Trace | Camora App |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks ā better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, Mac ā better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 ā better | 26.0 |
| Further details ā not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ephemeral Trace LDA | Camora |
In-app purchases
Ephemeral Trace
- Ephemeral Trace Pro$9.99
Camora App
- Camora Pro (Monthly)$4.991 Month
- Camora Pro (Yearly)$39.991 Year
- Camora Lifetime$99.99









