Comparison

Sakura! vs Photon Player

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

Head to head
About

Sakura!

This app allows you to play your favorite PlayStation One games on your iPhone or iPad. It offers extensive customization for controls, graphics, and performance, providing a console-like experience.

Highlights
  • PlayStation One emulation on iOS
  • Customizable on-screen controls
  • Physical gamepad support
  • Extensive graphics and performance tuning
  • Support for various game disc formats
  • Recursive folder scanning for games
Features
Read full description

Sakura is a PlayStation One & PSP emulator frontend built on top of the Beetle PSX and PPSSPP cores for iPhone and iPad. Add your own system BIOS and disc backups & customize your library then play with on-screen controls or a physical gamepad/controller for a console-like experience! • Add your own PS1 BIOS (.bin) file(s) and choose a default in Settings; PSP games boot without one. • Add games under the app’s Documents folder in Files, or use in-app import. Sakura scans folders recursively, including multi-disc setups and M3U playlists. • Supported formats CUE/BIN, CHD, PBP, M3U, ISO/IMG, MDS/MDF, NRG, CDI, ECM, CSO/ZSO • One library for both systems, with a system switch in the library bar that picks which settings you get and which system Boot System starts. CONTROLS • Full touch overlay with layout editor: move, scale, and theme controls to fit your hands. • Digital and DualShock-style modes, with optional per-game auto-switching. • MFi and Bluetooth gamepads with remappable buttons; haptics and rumble where supported. • Analog deadzone, axis scale, and gate compensation on both systems. GRAPHICS & PERFORMANCE • Internal resolution scaling, fit vs fill framing, and multiple texture filtering paths from crisp pixel modes through sharpened upscalers. • FXAA, CAS, optional PGXP-style geometry options, widescreen-related tweaks, color and dither controls, and frame blending where you want a softer or more authentic look. • Libretro Shaders: load your own slang presets, pick a built-in CRT or TV preset, or pull the shared pack from inside the app. • Fast Boot and host-side run speed for slow-mo or fast-forward-style pacing alongside core tuning for CPU, GPU, and disc access. QUALITY OF LIFE • In-game menu for graphics, performance HUD, save slots (when enabled in Settings), controller remapping, and stopping a session. • Optional performance overlay, notification cards, and extensive UI customization: accents, backgrounds, typography, accessibility options, and optional background music including your own tracks. LEGAL Sakura does not include games, a PlayStation or PSP BIOS, firmware, or other copyrighted material you don’t have rights to use. You are responsible for complying with the laws that apply to you. “PlayStation”, “PSP” and related names are trademarks of Sony; this app is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sony Interactive Entertainment.

About

Photon Player

Features
Read full description

Photon is a native player for the library you already own. Connect your media servers, your cloud and network storage, and your Live TV subscription, and everything you can watch appears in one place — on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and Mac, from a single purchase. YOUR OWN LIBRARY, TOGETHER • Works with Jellyfin, Emby, Plex and Silo • Connect a server free, or as many as you like with Pro. Home and Search bring them all together; the Library tab keeps each source's own shelves separate, so you can still ask what is on one server. • Play straight from an SMB, NFS, FTP or WebDAV share, a UPnP server on your network, or Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive, with no media server at all • Live TV from an Xtream Codes subscription: a full program guide, favorites, and a channel list built for thousands of channels • Open a video from Files or the Finder and it becomes a title like any other — with a resume point, artwork and a name you can match against your servers AS IT WAS MADE • Dolby Vision and HDR, with AVPlayer driving the display for real HDR output • MKV and 4K play as they are. Nothing is quietly downscaled or re-encoded behind your back. • Dolby Digital Plus with Atmos passed through untouched; TrueHD and DTS-HD decoded losslessly rather than folded to stereo, and with Pro, TrueHD Atmos rendered with its height • Subtitles drawn as overlays, never burned into the picture • Standing choices for audio language, subtitle language, and when subtitles should come on at all • Skip intros and credits, and go straight into the next episode EVERYWHERE YOU WATCH • Download for offline with Pro. Transfers carry on while you are elsewhere, with a Live Activity on the Lock Screen and a notice when a title lands. • Handoff picks a film up on the next device at the frame you left it • Spotlight opens a title directly • Top Shelf on Apple TV, a real menu bar on the Mac, and one design across all four platforms BUILT FOR THE PLATFORM Written in SwiftUI for iOS, tvOS and macOS, with full Dynamic Type, VoiceOver labels on every control, and Reduce Motion respected throughout. There is no account to create and no service of ours in the path: Photon talks to your servers and to your own iCloud, and to nothing else. PHOTON PRO The free app is the whole player: one media server and one Live TV subscription, every drive and network share, and every format — 4K, MKV, Dolby Vision, TrueHD and DTS — with browsing, search, Handoff and SharePlay, no advertising and nothing to sign up for. Pro adds: • Every source at once: as many servers and Live TV subscriptions as you like, together in Home and Search • Downloads, for watching offline • Dolby Atmos from TrueHD soundtracks, rendered for your speakers or headphones • AirPlay to an Apple TV or any AirPlay screen • Your servers, settings and the way you have arranged Home, on every device you sign in on Available monthly, yearly, or as a one-off Lifetime purchase, with a free week on either subscription. One purchase covers iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and Mac. Photon plays the media you already have on servers and storage you control. It is an independent client and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Jellyfin, Emby or Plex. Terms of Use (EULA): https://photon.oliverwalton.uk/terms/ Privacy Policy: https://photon.oliverwalton.uk/privacy/

Screenshots

Sakura!3 screens
Photon Player4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Photon Player at Free against Sakura!'s $0.99. Photon Player also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 2 months) and device support (5 vs 2). Sakura!'s advantage is iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On ads and in-app purchases 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

Photon Player is free to download; Sakura! costs $0.99 up front. Sakura! sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Photon Player sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sakura! ships an update every 2 months, Photon Player daily. Both last shipped on October 14, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Sakura! versus Photon Player: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSakura!Photon Player
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating4.5 (10 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews90.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings10 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size84 MB37 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDylan MathurinOliver Walton

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Sakura!

One-time1
  • Tip 1$$0.99
3 purchases

Photon Player

Subscriptions2
  • Photon Pro Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Photon Pro Yearly$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Photon Pro Lifetime$49.99

Questions

Is Sakura! free?
Sakura! costs $0.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Photon Player free?
Photon Player is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Sakura! or Photon Player have ads?
Neither Sakura! nor Photon Player shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sakura! or Photon Player?
Sakura! ships an update every 2 months, and Photon Player daily. Most recently, Sakura! was updated on October 14, 2026 and Photon Player on October 14, 2026.

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