Prop Screen vs Shadow Planner
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Prop Screen
This app simulates realistic phone screens for film and television production, offering custom call screens, messaging, video calls, and social media feeds. It helps filmmakers avoid post-production fixes and streamline on-set operations with features like director mode and green screen capabilities.
- Customizable call screens and messaging
- Simulated video calls
- Prop notifications and home screen designer
- Green screen mode with tracking markers
- Director Mode for remote control
- Exportable conversations for editing
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PropScreen is the professional prop device simulator built for film and television production. Stop fighting with personal phones, paper green screens, or post-production fixes. Prop Screen turns an iPhone or iPad into a fully custom screen prop that adapts to your script. Every tool was designed by working filmmakers to solve real problems on set. WHAT'S INSIDE • Prop Call Screens — custom contact name, photo, ringtone, era-specific layouts, outgoing and unknown-number calls, lose-signal effects, volume-button trigger for hands-free cueing • Prop Video Calls — pre-recorded video for the remote caller, live front camera framing your actor • Prop Messaging — full blue- and green-bubble threads with photos and locations, played live or staged for actor delivery • Prop Notifications — bundled and custom app icons, banner or lock-screen layouts, stackable to tell a story • Prop Screen Playback — lockable fullscreen playback for any screen recording your production needs • Green Screen Mode — chroma screen with built-in tracking markers for VFX compositing • Prop Home Screen Designer — build any home screen layout, export as a transparent PNG • Project folders to keep a show organized Recent Update: • Director Mode — Pair a second device and run the performance phone remotely. Cue scripts beat by beat, watch typing mirrored live, trigger prop calls and notifications, and drive every prop app while your actor performs on a script-locked keyboard. Bluetooth clicker remotes supported. • Prop Security — A simulated camera wall with tap-in live views, event lists, and running timestamps. • Prop Maps — Repeatable navigation and driving directions with custom markers. Stop swapping screens between takes in a picture car. • Prop Social Messages — Chat props in five social platform styles. • Prop Live — A simulated livestream with an auto-generated, scene-reactive audience you can cue from Director Mode. • Prop Social Feeds — Scrollable photo, video, and story feeds built from your own posts. • Prop Mail - Create incoming and outgoing mail messages. • Prop Tube — Customize popular online video hosting services. • Prop Dating — Swipe left, swipe right, mock a dating experience for your scene. • Clean Mode — One switch loads an original app set with custom per-project names and icons. • 12 on-camera languages — Set each project's phone language independently, including Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Hindi, and Russian, each with its real keyboard. App interface now in 11 languages (beta). • Export for edit — Send prop message and social conversations to After Effects or DaVinci Resolve as transparent video, every bubble editable, typing animated. Import scripts from spreadsheets. • Backups you own — Automatic backup to your own iCloud Drive, Dropbox, or Google Drive. Three named versions per device, one-file project export, nothing on our servers. • Built for iPad — A native iPad layout, not an upscaled iPhone build. • Adds cross platform support in Director Mode. BUILT FOR PRODUCTION Everything stays local to your device. Prop Screen does not place calls, send messages, or transmit any content. It is a self-contained visual prop tool, designed exclusively for staged content creation in film, television, theater, and photography. PROPSCREEN PRO • Every prop screen in the app • Unlimited saved projects across every tool • Custom imports — contact photos, ringtones, app icons, posters, screen recordings • Director Mode and volume-button trigger control • Works fully offline once installed • No ads, no accounts, no data collection WHAT'S NEXT Prop Screen ships regular updates driven by crew feedback. Need something for your next production? Tap the info icon in the app to email us directly. Designed for use on professional film and television productions. Built by Game Night Films & Film Swag. By downloading PropScreen, you agree to Apple's standard EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Shadow Planner
Visualize sun and shadow placement on real-world maps before filming. Scout locations by dropping virtual objects, simulating light movement throughout the day, and measuring distances for precise rigging. Export scenes for planning and collaboration.
- Real sun and shadow simulation on maps
- 3D terrain and buildings for accurate shadows
- Place and manipulate virtual frames and objects
- Simulate light movement from sunrise to sunset
- Measure distances and gear ranges
- Export scenes and share links
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Scout the light before you get there. Shadow Planner puts a real sun on a real map. Drop your overheads on the actual location, scrub the day from sunrise to sunset, and watch true cast shadows fall across the ground in 3D — so you know what you're walking into before the truck rolls, and so does everyone you hand the page to. SCOUT ANY LOCATION • Search an address or drop straight onto your GPS position • Satellite, street and dark map styles • Real 3D buildings and terrain, so shadows fall off the geometry that's actually there • Live sun compass with azimuth and altitude KNOW WHEN YOU LOSE THE LIGHT • Sunrise, solar noon, sunset, golden hour and civil dusk for any date and any location, with the day's length • Tap any spot for a shade timeline: when it holds direct sun and when it goes into shade, across the whole day • See the sun's path arced over the map — amber where your spot has sun, blue-grey where something blocks it, so you can watch the moment the sun clears a roofline • Reads the buildings and terrain actually around it, plus your own overheads BLOCK THE SHOT TO SCALE • Drop 12x12, 20x20 and 40x40 frames, or set your own custom size • Dial height above ground, spin and tilt on every frame • Add vehicles and human stand-ins for scale • Stack as many objects as the day needs — each one colour-coded, with its own cast shadow and the area it covers SEE THE WHOLE DAY MOVE • Scrub sunrise to sunset and watch every shadow track with the sun • Pick any date and check the light for a shoot weeks out • Stand-ins and vehicles dim when they fall inside a frame's shadow MEASURE THE RIG IN 3D • Tap two points for a true diagonal distance — overhead down to ground • Know exactly where the base, the truck and the crew gear have to land • Measurements stay locked to a frame, so they update as you raise or move it • Matching gear ranges for the distance you measured, from a PeeWee dolly to a 120' Condor FEET OR METRES • One switch converts every height, span, distance and shadow area, and the gear ranges with them • Gear and frame names stay as the industry says them — a 12x12 is still a 12x12, a Condor 40' is still a Condor 40' • Your choice is remembered between sessions TAKE IT BACK TO THE OFFICE • Save a location by name with its camera angle, date, time, every frame, the measurement and the shade you picked — long-press to rename • Six stops in a day, all still there tomorrow • Export a letter-size page carrying the location, date, time, sun position, sunrise and sunset, the rig you had up, and the lift sizes that reach — so the gaffer, the AD and the office are all reading the same sheet • Same page on every device, straight to Photos, Files or Messages • On iPad, drag the menu panels into the order you work in • Full undo and redo Built by a working cinematographer for tech scouts, gaffers, grips, DPs, location managers and anyone who has ever guessed where the shadow would be. No account. No subscription. No tracking.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Prop Screen at Free against Shadow Planner's $29.99. Prop Screen also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.0). Shadow Planner's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and update cadence (every 6 days vs fortnightly). On review sentiment, ratings volume, ads 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
Prop Screen is free to download; Shadow Planner costs $29.99 up front. Prop Screen sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Shadow Planner asks for nothing beyond the download.
Prop Screen holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 7 and 3 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 38% of Prop Screen's written reviews are positive against 40% of Shadow Planner's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Prop Screen ships an update fortnightly, Shadow Planner every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and November 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Prop Screen | Shadow Planner |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $29.99 |
| Rating | 4.9 (7 ratings) — better | 4.0 (3 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 37.5% of reviews | 40.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 7 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Freemium — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 129 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Game Night Films | Christopher Fenner |
Customer experience
Prop Screen
Shadow Planner
In-app purchases
Prop Screen
- Monthly7 Days trial$9.991 Month
- Yearly7 Days trial$89.991 Year
- Lifetime$999.99
Shadow Planner
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Prop Screen free?
Is Shadow Planner free?
Which has better reviews, Prop Screen or Shadow Planner?
Do Prop Screen or Shadow Planner have ads?
Which is updated more often, Prop Screen or Shadow Planner?
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