Comparison

PhotoEditor vs Tether

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

Head to head
About

PhotoEditor

Features
Read full description

Photo Editor is a feature-rich image processing tool combining professional editing and a practical toolbox to meet all your daily photo needs. [Photo Editor] 18 curated filters: Natural, Warm, Cool, Japanese, HK Style and more Drawing brush: Free drawing with adjustable colors and thickness Mosaic tool: Easy pixelation for privacy protection Smart erase: Remove unwanted objects by painting over them Text overlay: Add custom text with adjustable font colors Stickers: Emoji, animals, food, trendy and more categories Free crop: Multiple aspect ratios and freeform cropping Digital signature: Handwrite and insert signatures with history management [Watermark Camera] 11 professional watermark templates: Attendance, Engineering, Classic Time, Digital Clock, Coordinates, Minimal, Location, Travel, Film, Daily, Mood 3 categories: Work, General, Life for quick template selection Real-time GPS positioning with automatic address detection Custom titles for company or project names [Smart Cutout] Person extraction: One-tap portrait cutout with hair-level precision Animal/object extraction: Intelligent foreground subject detection Multiple backgrounds: Transparent, white, black, blue, red, green [OCR Text Extraction] Accurate text recognition from photos Long-press to select and copy text freely [More Handy Tools] Long image stitching with adjustable spacing Image compression with quality control Format conversion: JPEG, PNG, HEIC and more ID photo: Generate 1-inch, 2-inch standard sizes Text watermark: Center, tile, or corner placement Color picker: Pick any color value from images QR code: Generate and scan QR codes GIF maker: Create animated GIFs with adjustable frame rate Clean design, smooth experience. Photo Editor helps you create stunning images effortlessly.

About

Tether

Seamlessly integrate your mobile device with your Linux desktop. Share clipboards, transfer files, and discover your desktop locally over Wi-Fi. All communication is secured with end-to-end encryption, with no cloud servers or accounts needed.

Highlights
  • Shared Clipboard Sync
  • Bi-directional File Transfers
  • Local Network Discovery
  • End-to-End Encryption
  • No Cloud Services Required
Features
Read full description

Tether is an app designed for Linux users running custom desktop environments (Wayland). It provides essential ecosystem integration between your mobile device and your workstation, operating entirely over your local Wi-Fi. There are no cloud servers, third-party services, or accounts required. All data is routed strictly on your local network and secured with end-to-end mTLS encryption. Features: • Shared Clipboard: Sync clipboard text bi-directionally between your iPhone and your Linux machine. • File Transfers: Send documents, photos, and archives directly to your desktop, or receive files from it. • Local Discovery: Uses mDNS/Bonjour to automatically find your desktop - no static IP configuration needed. • Encrypted Connections: Device pairing and all network traffic are secured via mutual TLS certificates. Note: Tether is the iOS client app. To use it, simply run the free, open-source Tether desktop application (available as a CLI or GTK app) on your Linux machine. Visit the project's repository to download it and get started.

Screenshots

PhotoEditor4 screens
Tether3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Tether at none against PhotoEditor's shown. PhotoEditor's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.1). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PhotoEditor ships an update every 2 weeks, Tether weekly. The most recent releases landed on July 8, 2026 and September 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
PhotoEditor versus Tether: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPhotoEditorTether
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksWeekly — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 — better26.1
Further details — not scored
Size17 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZhumadian Yicheng District Huatuo Internet Information Service Co., Ltd.Zack Bartel

In-app purchases

None

PhotoEditor

No in-app purchases

None

Tether

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is PhotoEditor free?
PhotoEditor is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Tether free?
Tether is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do PhotoEditor or Tether have ads?
PhotoEditor shows ads; Tether does not.
Which is updated more often, PhotoEditor or Tether?
PhotoEditor ships an update every 2 weeks, and Tether weekly. Most recently, PhotoEditor was updated on July 8, 2026 and Tether on September 14, 2026.

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