Comparison

Ditty vs Backdrop

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

Head to head
About

Ditty

Apply retro-style photo filters inspired by classic video game consoles. Adjust pixel resolution and save custom presets. Pro features include custom watermarks and wallpaper saving.

Highlights
  • 21 one-tap retro Looks based on iconic games
  • Adjustable pixel scaling (5% to 200%)
  • Save and name custom presets
  • Customizable watermarks (Pro)
  • Save dither as Lock-Screen wallpaper (Pro)
  • Massive live-camera speed-ups
Features
Read full description

Looks Library + Pixel Scaler — every retro system, now faster than ever. • 21 one-tap Looks based on iconic games — Tetris (Game Boy), Super Mario Bros (NES), Castlevania, Sonic, Out Run, Lemmings, and 15 more. Each Look bundles the system, palette, kernel and FX into one tap. • New Pixels FX — slide engine resolution from 5% to 200% for chunkier output or finer detail. Works live on the camera and on still photos. • Save your own Presets — arcade-style 5-letter dial for naming (drag, type, or Randomise). Long-press any preset to rename or delete. • Pro: Customise the watermark — hide it, replace it with your handle, pick the corner, tune the opacity. • Pro: Save your dither as a Lock-Screen wallpaper at your device's native resolution. • Settings → Suggestions & Feedback — a fast way to send us notes; it lands straight in our studio Slack. Plus: massive live-camera speed-ups across every retro system (C-64, NES, Apple II, Atari, Mac 128K, MSX, Amiga, ZX Spectrum…), faster video uploads, tap the camera view to exit the FX panel, and a few hundred smaller polish fixes.

About

Backdrop

Read full description

Pick a Look and the camera changes. Point it at a street and the street is already painted in oil, or broken into dots, or drawn by hand. You are not previewing a filter. That is the picture, and the shutter keeps it. THE LOOKS Brush. Painted stroke by stroke, coarse to fine, as you move. Mosaic. Rebuilt from its own colours. Cells split where there is detail. Drawn. The world drawn instead of photographed. Flat colour, inked lines. Matter. The picture as a field of grains that drift and settle. Fur. Combed strands that follow what the camera sees. Dither. Tone traded for dots on one fixed grid, nothing in between. Halftone. Print dots on a square or hex grid, in four shapes. Fluted. Seen through ribbed glass. The world arrives in strips. Water. Refraction and caustics, the scene read through moving water. Code. Digital rain over katakana, lit by whatever the camera sees. The list grows. New Looks arrive in updates. TAP OR HOLD Tap the shutter for a photo. Hold it to record, up to ten minutes. Video renders in the background at full quality, one frame at a time, using the exact settings you shot with. TUNE ANYTHING Every Look has its own knobs. Size, grain, relief, speed, depth, whatever that Look actually has. Drag the handle at the edge of the screen and the picture changes under your thumb. Tap a knob to put it back. BRING YOUR OWN Choose from Photos to run something you already have through a Look. For video, trim it first, pick the frame, then render. NOTHING LEAVES YOUR PHONE No account, nothing to sign in to. No servers. What you shoot sits in the Shelf on your device. Saving a copy to Photos is a switch, off until you turn it on. BACKDROP PREMIUM Dither, Water, Halftone and Drawn are free, and they record video too. Premium opens every Look, including the ones added later, and takes the Backdrop mark off everything you shoot. Monthly and annual. Payment goes to your Apple Accou renews unless you turn it off at least 24 hours befo Manage or cancel in Settings, Apple Account, Subscri Privacy: backdrop.wiki/privacy Terms: backdrop.wiki/terms Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ iPhone. iOS 18 and later.

Screenshots

Ditty3 screens
Backdrop4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Ditty at every 2 days against Backdrop's weekly. Ditty also leads on iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.0). On price, ads, 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. Ditty sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Backdrop sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Ditty ships an update every 2 days, Backdrop weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Ditty versus Backdrop: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDittyBackdrop
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 days — betterWeekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB127 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLovish SainiShekhar Upadhaya

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Ditty

One-time1
  • Ditty Pro$4.99
4 purchases

Backdrop

Subscriptions3
  • Backdrop Premium — Weekly$4.997 Days
  • Backdrop Premium — Monthly$11.991 Month
  • Backdrop Premium — Annual$39.991 Year
One-time1
  • Backdrop Premium — Lifetime$79.99

Questions

Is Ditty free?
Ditty is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Backdrop free?
Backdrop is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Ditty or Backdrop have ads?
Neither Ditty nor Backdrop shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Ditty or Backdrop?
Ditty ships an update every 2 days, and Backdrop weekly. Most recently, Ditty was updated on October 19, 2026 and Backdrop on October 28, 2026.

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