Comparison

Flashback vs Benshi

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

Head to head
About

Flashback

Features
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Flashback turns your iPhone into an instant film camera. Point, shoot, and watch your photo develop right before your eyes — complete with the satisfying eject animation and a classic print frame. Every shot gets stamped with the date and your city, just like the real thing. FEATURES • Instant print animation with a developing effect • Classic film frame with date and location stamp • 8-photo film roll — just like a real camera • Front and back camera support • Save prints to your camera roll • Customize your print style — handwritten or classic font, light or dark ink • Simple gallery to browse, share, and delete your shots No filters. No feeds. Just photos that feel like memories.

About

Benshi

This app transforms your photos into vintage film prints with a sophisticated darkroom engine. Explore a vast array of looks, film stocks, and lens profiles to create unique images. It also offers video editing with a cinematic feel and a special mode for creating short silent films.

Highlights
  • Advanced photo darkroom engine
  • 90,000+ photo combinations
  • Deep Japanese cultural effects
  • RAW capture and re-development
  • Cinematic video editing
  • Silent film creation mode
  • AI-generated captions
Features
Read full description

A retro film camera for the iPhone era. Benshi turns every photo into a piece of film. Portrait mode is the heart of the app — your darkroom in your pocket. Landscape mode turns into a small cinema for video, when you want it. Benshi (弁士) is named after the silent-film narrators of 1920s Japan, who gave voice to silent movies. The app gives that same voice to your photos. THE PHOTO ENGINE A real darkroom recreated at the pixel level. Five Metal shaders simulate silver-halide grain, the H&D characteristic curve, wavelength-separated halation, reciprocity failure, and 16-bit half-float color. Not a filter chain — actual physical simulation. Choose from 70 looks across 7 categories (Mood · People · Nature · City · Digital · Japan · Masters), then dial in 32 film stocks, 5 developers, and 8 lens profiles. About 90,000 combinations — every photo can become something different. LENS SIMULATION (rare beyond film-only apps) Most film apps stop at the film. Benshi also simulates the lens. Body × Lens × Film × Developer — swirly Helios bokeh, dreamy Summilux glow, thoriated amber cast, flat cine glass. 8 profiles from 28mm to 85mm, each with its own optical character, plus two cinema lenses for video. MANUAL CONTROLS & PRESETS Shoot like a rangefinder: continuous AF, spot metering, MF punch-in focus, AEB exposure bracketing, an intervalometer, and 7 white-balance presets. Save any setup as a camera preset and recall it in one tap, or build and name your own film × developer × look as a custom recipe (Pro). DEEP JAPANESE CULTURE (no other app does this) • Half-frame mode — two shutter presses become one diptych, like the 1963 Olympus Pen • Postcard (絵葉書) export — horizontal 1.48:1 with 罫線 lines and a vermilion 印鑑 date stamp • Ghost photo (心霊写真) — 1970s Japanese summer ghost-story-book mood • Slow-develop mode — recreates the "wait for develop" feeling of disposable cameras • 7 era presets (Showa 1965-74 / 1975-84 / 1985-88 / Heisei early / mid / late / Reiwa) • 3 Japanese era date stamps (和暦 / 印鑑 / typewriter / LED90s) • 12 camera skins (5 base + 7 Japanese era cameras: Half-Frame 63 · Bubble 88 · Showa Disposable 27 · Expo 70 · Heisei Digicam 01 · etc) RAW + RE-DEVELOP Automatic DNG capture on supported devices. Re-develop the same negative with different film, developer, lens, and effects — without losing the original. EXIF data preserved. LANDSCAPE FOR VIDEO Turn your iPhone sideways and Benshi becomes a small cinema. 16 video looks at 1080p (8 base + 4 Showa retro + 4 Japanese cinema), manual dial and grip, stop trick, ghost mode, iris transitions, film leader countdown, intertitle cards, procedural piano BGM. Cinema-style lens profiles (cineVintage50 / cineDreamy50) for that anamorphic feeling. STORY MODE Record 3 short clips and Benshi assembles a vertical 9:16 silent film with AI benshi captions in 4 title styles — ready to share. Free to use; only the watermark differs. PRICING • Lifetime $14.99 — pay once, no subscription drama • Monthly $4.99 with 7-day free trial • Family Sharing supported The free tier includes 22 of 70 looks, 4 video looks, RAW capture, and Story Mode (with watermark). Try Pro free for 7 days. AUTO-RENEWING SUBSCRIPTION INFO • Benshi Pro Monthly — $4.99/month with a 7-day free trial. Payment charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. • Subscription auto-renews at the same price unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the period. • Manage or cancel: Settings → Apple ID → Subscriptions. • Any unused portion of a free trial is forfeited when purchasing a subscription. TERMS Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://windgksh.github.io/ibouCamera-policy/ CONTACT admin@ibou.ai

Screenshots

Flashback4 screens
Benshi4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Flashback at none against Benshi's 2. On price, ads, 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

Both are free to download. Benshi sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Flashback asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard1 real difference · 8 level
Flashback versus Benshi: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFlashbackBenshi
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequency—Fortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
Monetization—Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB33 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJapmanpreet SinghIbouAI

In-app purchases

None

Flashback

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Benshi

Subscriptions1
  • Benshi Pro Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
One-time1
  • Benshi Pro Lifetime$14.99

Questions

Is Flashback free?
Flashback is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Benshi free?
Benshi is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Flashback or Benshi have ads?
Neither Flashback nor Benshi shows ads.

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