Comparison

ShadowClip vs Recast

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

Head to head
About

ShadowClip

Features
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You share screenshots with colleagues and paste them into AI tools every day. ShadowClip removes the personal data before you hit send. Email addresses in a complaint. Names and faces. API keys. They end up in screenshots constantly, and then in places they shouldn't โ€” AI assistants, emails to colleagues, or texts to friends. ShadowClip autodetects sensitive information in images, and lets you review and adjust before sharing. WHAT IT DETECTS โ€ข Credentials: API keys and tokens in more than 20 formats โ€ข Financial: credit card numbers and IBANs, each checked against its own check digit, so a number that merely looks like a card isn't flagged โ€ข Identity: national ID numbers for 29 countries, each matched to its own format โ€ข Contact: email addresses, phone numbers, postal addresses โ€ข Network: IPv4, IPv6 and MAC addresses โ€ข Visual: faces, QR codes, barcodes โ€ข Names, organisations and locations โ€ข Dates of birth and handwritten signatures BUILT INTO YOUR WORKFLOW Pick a photo from your library and give ShadowClip a few seconds. Findings appear as a review list: accept, dismiss, or add your own. Then save the redacted copy back to Photos. You can also select words by hand, or draw a region over anything else you want hidden. Share Extension: from Photos, Safari, or any app with the system Share menu, choose ShadowClip. Redact and save without leaving what you're doing. BUILT FOR EVERY LANGUAGE Most redaction tools are built for English. ShadowClip's interface is available in 17 languages, and it checks text in 30 โ€” including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Russian and Thai. National ID numbers are matched country by country, not with one generic pattern. Arabic and Hebrew get a fully right-to-left interface. Apple's text recognition cannot read Hebrew, Greek or Hindi. Rather than pass over it silently, ShadowClip marks that text on the image so you can see exactly what went unchecked โ€” and numbers, email addresses and ID numbers inside it are still found. IRREVERSIBLE BY DESIGN Redactions are opaque fills composited into a new image. The original pixels are discarded, not covered: there is nothing underneath to recover. Location data and camera metadata are stripped when you save. PRIVACY BY DESIGN ShadowClip contains no networking code and makes no network requests. Your images are processed on your device and never leave it. No accounts, no cloud, no telemetry.

About

Recast

Features
Read full description

Recast turns a file into the format you need, or makes it smaller for sharing. Every feature is free, with no daily limits, no ads and no account. CONVERT Convert images into JPEG, PNG, HEIC or PDF. Turn videos into MP4, MOV or GIF, or extract their audio as M4A. Export PDF pages as images and turn GIFs into video or still images. Extract the video from a Live Photo. HEIC encoding depends on device support. COMPRESS Choose an actual target size or enter your own. Recast can reduce quality and dimensions to reach the target and tells you when a target cannot be met. GIF conversion may shorten a clip to keep the output manageable. Compressing a PDF may flatten selectable text into images; the result explains when this happens. BATCH AND AUTOMATE Convert or compress multiple files in one go. Combine photos into one PDF, in the order you choose. Run conversions from Shortcuts and the Action button. Save your favourite settings and reuse them with one tap. ON YOUR DEVICE Your files are never uploaded. Conversion works offline on your iPhone or iPad. Optional tips use Apple's in-app purchase system. HONEST ABOUT RESULTS Some conversions and ZIP archives make files bigger. Recast shows the actual result and explains any size or quality tradeoffs. An already suitable file is kept as it is where possible. ALSO INCLUDED Compress images and PDFs from the share sheet Pack other files into a ZIP archive Keep recent results ready to share again Choose an export folder Preview before and after Light and dark appearance OPTIONAL SUPPORT If Recast helps you, you can leave a tip in Settings > Support Recast. Tips are one-time consumable in-app purchases. They are entirely optional, do not unlock features, and are not subscriptions. Every feature stays free whether you tip or not. Thank you to everyone who previously bought Recast or Recast Pro. All existing functionality remains available without restoring a purchase.

Screenshots

ShadowClip4 screens
Recast4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ShadowClip at none against Recast's 4. ShadowClip also leads on ads (none vs shown). Recast's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months). On price, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Recast sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. ShadowClip asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ShadowClip ships an update every 2 months, Recast weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences ยท 3 level
ShadowClip versus Recast: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShadowClipRecast
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsWeekly โ€” better
AdsNo โ€” betterYes
In-app purchasesNo โ€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac โ€” betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size5 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlexander HepburnLEON NELIO FIGUEIRA

In-app purchases

None

ShadowClip

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

Recast

One-time4
  • Small tip$0.99
  • Kind tip$2.99
  • Recast Pro$4.99
Show 1 more
  • Generous tip$4.99

Questions

Is ShadowClip free?
ShadowClip is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Recast free?
Recast is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do ShadowClip or Recast have ads?
Recast shows ads; ShadowClip does not.
Which is updated more often, ShadowClip or Recast?
ShadowClip ships an update every 2 months, and Recast weekly. Most recently, ShadowClip was updated on October 31, 2026 and Recast on October 25, 2026.

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