Comparison

Lumen vs DICOM Viewer

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

Head to head
About

Lumen

Read full description

Lumen opens the radiology zip your patient brought in. No upload, no cloud, no signup — just pixels, at native resolution, on every Apple device you own. Designed for healthcare professionals reviewing studies they already have authority to access. Lumen is positioned for education, case review, and second-read scenarios. It is NOT a medical device and is not intended for primary clinical diagnosis. WHAT YOU CAN OPEN • DICOM / IHE-PDI zip archives — the format most patient CDs ship as • ISO 9660 disk images directly, no manual mount or repackage needed • Folders of DICOM files • Open via Files.app, share sheet, or in-app picker • No file at hand? Five sample scans come with the app: real, de-identified CT, MRI and X-ray studies PERSISTENT LIBRARY • Every imported archive lives in your device's Lumen folder, visible in the Files app • Every scan shows a preview of its images, its modality and number of series • Re-open with one tap from the home screen; no re-importing • Delete an archive from its menu — along with all the videos exported from it VIEWING • Full native bit-depth display, with pinch zoom, drag pan, and double-tap toggle • Window/level by drag: vertical for brightness, horizontal for contrast — sensitivity scales with the active window so wide CT and narrow brain windows feel equally responsive • One-tap modality presets (CT: soft tissue, bone, lung, brain, abdomen, liver) • Per-instance metadata sheet with manufacturer, matrix, bit depth, transfer syntax, SOP class, and a built-in radiology acronym glossary VOLUMETRIC TOOLS • Automatic detection of stackable volumes from the slice geometry tags, with a 3D / 4D badge in the browser so you can see at a glance which series are reconstructable • Multi-planar reconstruction (MPR): axial, sagittal, and coronal reformats side by side, with crosshair-linked navigation — tap one plane to jump the other two • Slab projection: maximum-intensity (MIP), minimum-intensity (MinIP), or average over 3 to 50 slices — great for vessels, lungs, and noise reduction • True 3D volume rendering: a Metal-powered raycaster with four rendering modes — Surface (solid skin/bone shell with gradient lighting and per-volume tone presets), Anatomy (coloured tissue transfer function), Volume composite (grayscale translucent depth), and MIP • Tissue isolation presets per modality (bone, skin, soft tissue, lung, liver) — hide everything else from the volume with one tap, no per-slice masking • Two-finger pan, drag-rotate, pinch-zoom, auto-rotate cine, and an axis-aligned clipping plane (sagittal / coronal / axial) for cutting away half the volume to see inside • Save the current 3D view as a PNG snapshot at 2Ɨ the on-screen resolution, sharable via Photos, AirDrop, Files, or Mail DYNAMIC 4D ACQUISITIONS • Native support for dynamic contrast-enhanced series (e.g. dyn_eTHRIVE liver MR, perfusion MR, dynamic angio): every timepoint becomes its own 3D volume • Timepoint slider in MPR and 3D with cine playback — watch contrast wash through over time • All timepoints prefetched in the background and persisted to an on-device cache, so scrubbing across timepoints stays instant across launches SHARING • Export any series as an H.264 MP4 at 10, 15, or 30 fps • Saved next to its source archive in the Lumen folder of Files.app • Share via the standard share sheet, or copy to iCloud Drive • PNG snapshots of the 3D view share PRIVACY BY DEFAULT • Everything stays on this device • No analytics on file contents, no account, no tracking SDKs • Patient data leaves the device only when YOU choose to share an export • Lumen never connects to the internet: even the sample scans come with the app • A file that won't open? Lumen explains why and, if you want, emails us the technical details — never names, dates or images Lumen is intentionally positioned as an educational and second-read tool. It is not a regulated medical device in any jurisdiction. See the in-app disclaimer for the full statement.

About

DICOM Viewer

View and organize medical imaging files like MRI, CT, and X-rays directly on your iPhone or iPad. Import studies from various sources, browse images with powerful tools, and even create 3D renderings. Local processing ensures your data remains private.

Highlights
  • Import DICOM from Files, cloud, ZIP
  • Supports MRI, CT, X-Ray, PET, Ultrasound
  • Fast image scrolling
  • Window Width/Level adjustment
  • 3D volume rendering
  • Annotation and measurement tools
  • Local processing for privacy
  • Offline functionality
Features
Read full description

View and Explore DICOM Studies Anywhere Open, organise and explore DICOM studies directly on your iPhone or iPad. DICOM Viewer makes it simple to open and review any DICOM file, with no complicated desktop software. Import studies from Files, cloud storage or ZIP archives, browse series instantly and explore images using powerful viewing tools. Features • Import DICOM studies from Files, ZIP archives and cloud storage • Opens all common DICOM modalities (MRI, CT, X-Ray, PET, Ultrasound and more) • Fast scrolling through image slices • Window Width & Window Level (WW/WL) • Smooth zoom, pan and rotation • Multi-Planar Reconstruction (MPR) • High-quality 3D volume rendering • Draw annotations with arrows, text and freehand tools • Distance, angle and area measurements • Export annotated images • Organise studies into folders • View detailed DICOM metadata • Local processing for improved privacy • Works offline Perfect For • Developers working with DICOM • Anyone who needs to open DICOM files on the go Supported Modalities • MRI • CT • X-Ray • PET • Ultrasound • Mammography • CR & DX Privacy First Your studies stay on your device. Images are processed locally whenever possible, helping keep your files private. To use the app a subscription is required. A yearly and monthly plan are available. The yearly plan has a 3 day free trial. Terms of service: https://timely-ios-web.vercel.app/terms Disclaimer DICOM Viewer is a file viewer for opening, organising and exploring DICOM studies. It is not certified as a medical device and must not be used for primary diagnosis or clinical decision-making.

Screenshots

Lumen4 screens
DICOM Viewer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: DICOM Viewer at Free against Lumen's $9.99. Lumen's advantage is device support (4 vs 2). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

DICOM Viewer is free to download; Lumen costs $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Lumen ships an update fortnightly, DICOM Viewer every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences Ā· 6 level
Lumen versus DICOM Viewer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLumenDICOM Viewer
Price$9.99Free — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Subscription
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size166 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMarco TiniAli Siddique

In-app purchases

None

Lumen

No in-app purchases

None

DICOM Viewer

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Lumen free?
Lumen costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is DICOM Viewer free?
DICOM Viewer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Lumen or DICOM Viewer have ads?
Neither Lumen nor DICOM Viewer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Lumen or DICOM Viewer?
Lumen ships an update fortnightly, and DICOM Viewer every 3 weeks. Most recently, Lumen was updated on October 28, 2026 and DICOM Viewer on October 29, 2026.

Other comparisons