Gloaming vs ShiWen
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Gloaming
Experience procedurally generated, dynamic skies that change with the time of day. This app offers a living frame for evolving sunsets and dusks, created on-device from geographical and astronomical data. Explore, save, and even compose your own unique celestial scenes.
- Procedurally generated skies
- Dynamic time of day progression
- On-device sky generation
- Sky composition tools
- World dusk tracking (Pro)
- Unlimited sky saves (Pro)
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Gloaming can become a living frame for procedurally generated skies: changing light, dusk, and sunset drawn on your device rather than a static image collection. In Frame, choose one sky from Today, Explore, your Collection, or saved Studio creations and watch it play and loop for free, with no time limit. Time advances naturally: drag the time bar to another moment, release it, and the evening continues. With no sky selected, Watch plays today’s sky. Gloaming Pro unlocks multiple skies playing in sequence and a separate mode that follows dusk around the world. Return to selection to change the skies you are watching. Every sky is generated on-device from a place, a date, and geographical and astronomical inputs. With Gloaming Pro, Seek lets you revisit a chosen place and date—or imagine an evening still ahead. Studio lets you compose a sky through palette, clouds, and landscape. Pro also includes unlimited keeps and high-resolution Save. A quiet display for evenings that keep moving. Privacy Policy: https://www.quantumcola.com/privacypolicyforapps Terms of Use: https://www.quantumcola.com/termsofuse
ShiWen
Transform any image into unique geometric patterns and seamless designs. This tool offers over 20 pattern styles, real-time previews, and AI-enhanced upscaling for high-resolution exports. Create kaleidoscope art, repeat designs, and transparent assets for various creative projects.
- Create patterns from photos and textures
- Over 20 geometric and kaleidoscope styles
- Real-time sampling and preview
- 70+ color palettes
- AI HD image enhancement
- High-resolution PNG export
- One-tap background cutout
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ShiWen | Create Patterns from Any Image ShiWen is a pattern maker for designers, illustrators, crafters, and visual creators on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Import a photo, drawing, fabric, lettering, or everyday texture, then move the sampling frame to create kaleidoscope art, mandalas, symmetrical patterns, seamless repeats, and reusable pattern tiles. From real-time sampling and color palettes to cutout, print sizing, tiled preview, and high-resolution PNG export, ShiWen brings the complete pattern design workflow into one studio. 【Turn Images into Patterns】 Import from Photos or Files, or take a picture on supported devices. Drag the sampling frame to discover new compositions. Photos, illustrations, traditional motifs, natural textures, fabrics, and handmade artwork can all become patterns. 【20+ Pattern Styles】 Explore more than 20 kaleidoscope and geometric styles based on symmetry, rotation, reflection, interlocking, and repetition. One image can become entirely different mandalas, repeat designs, and seamless textures. 【Real-Time Sampling】 Drag the sampling frame and adjust its width, height, rotation, and output size. Every change appears directly in the preview. On iPad and Mac, use the − / + controls for precise adjustments. Enable guides to inspect tile boundaries, rhythm, and composition. 【70+ Color Palettes】 Choose from more than 70 palettes and quickly explore new color combinations while preserving the pattern’s original structure. 【Visual Styles】 Switch between the original image, watercolor, oil painting, and rubbing print effects to give the same pattern a different texture and mood. 【Layered Mandalas】 Adjust the number of petals and combine up to six concentric layers to create richer, more intricate mandala compositions from the same source image. 【One-Tap Cutout】 Remove the background from a source image or pattern to create a transparent PNG. Refine the result with the brush, eraser, and invert tools while preserving the original colors and details. 【Seamless Repeat Preview】 View supported repeating structures as individual tiles or full pattern layouts. Use full-screen preview to inspect boundaries and composition for seamless patterns, wallpapers, textile prints, and repeat backgrounds. 【AI HD】 Enhance small or blurry images with AI HD to preserve more detail during pattern creation and high-resolution export. Apply AI HD before cutout for clearer transparent assets. Export standard, AI-enhanced, or transparent images for Procreate brush textures, fashion prints, textiles, packaging, wallpapers, stickers, illustration backgrounds, and digital journals. 【Local Gallery】 Source images, saved patterns, and cutout assets are organized separately. Reopen an item to continue editing, exporting, or sharing. Core image processing happens locally on your device. No account is required. 【Perfect For】 • Pattern design and seamless repeats • Procreate brush and texture assets • Fashion, textile, fabric, and print design • Wallpapers, packaging, and pattern backgrounds • Illustration textures and digital collages • Stickers and transparent elements • Journaling and craft projects 【ShiWen Pro】 ShiWen Pro is available as a one-time purchase, or as a monthly or annual subscription. Pro unlocks AI HD, one-tap cutout, all Pro pattern styles, print presets and custom sizing, high-resolution tile and full-pattern exports, 70+ color palettes, and other creative features. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled. Manage or cancel your subscription in Settings → Apple Account → Subscriptions. Previous purchases can be restored in ShiWen. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://alinefan.github.io/shiwen-privacy/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ShiWen at none against Gloaming's 1. ShiWen also leads on update cadence (every 9 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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
Both are free to download. Gloaming sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. ShiWen asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Gloaming against 5.0 for ShiWen. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
Gloaming ships an update every 3 weeks, ShiWen every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Gloaming | ShiWen |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 9 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 15 MB | 22 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | QuantumCola (Hangzhou) Technologies Co.,Ltd. | 广俊 张 |
Customer experience
Gloaming
ShiWen
In-app purchases
Gloaming
- Gloaming Pro$8.99
ShiWen
No in-app purchases





