Comparison

REFRAXA vs (d)effect

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

Head to head
About

REFRAXA

Transform your photos and videos into stunning symmetrical art with a variety of mirrored effects. Apply live camera filters or edit existing media, with instant, watermark-free exports. This app offers a unique optical approach to creative visual transformations.

Highlights
  • 17 distinct mirroring effects
  • Edit photos and videos
  • Live camera effects
  • Record video with effects
  • Watermark-free exports
  • No account or cloud required
Features
Read full description

Turn your photos into hypnotic, symmetrical art. Pick any picture from your library and REFRAXA folds it into a living mandala - mirrors, kaleidoscopes, tiles, and prisms, rendered instantly as you flip between styles. - 17 distinct effects: mirrors, kaleidoscopes, prisms, tiles, wedges, and rotors - Edit any photo or video from your library - no length cap on video - Or go live: the camera shows the effect in the viewfinder as you shoot - Record video with the effect baked in - perfect for Reels, TikTok & Stories - Every export is archived beside your untouched original, inside the app - One-tap export, instant save. No account, no login, no cloud. - No AI, just optics: every pixel comes from your photo, and nothing you shoot ever leaves your phone Free to use. Upgrade to REFRAXA Pro once ($9.99, no subscription) for unlimited, watermark-free exports forever.

About

(d)effect

This camera app applies unique, real-time visual effects directly to your photos and videos as you capture them. It offers a variety of artistic filters, allowing for live previews and immediate saving without any post-processing steps. All processing is done on-device, ensuring your content remains private.

Highlights
  • Live filter rendering on viewfinder
  • Real-time photo and video capture
  • Stackable and adjustable filters
  • On-device processing for privacy
  • Variety of unique artistic filters
  • Random effect generation
Features
Read full description

(d)effect is a camera that shows you the effect before you take the shot. Every filter renders live on the viewfinder at full frame rate — no preview, no "apply" step, no waiting. What you frame is what gets saved. THE FILTERS • Riso Print — RGB plate misregistration and grain, like a badly aligned risograph • Dither — 4×4 Bayer ordered dithering, the look of a 1-bit screen • ASCII — the frame rebuilt from coloured glyphs on black • False Color — channel crushing and hue cycling • Halation — the bloom that film gets around highlights • Posterize — hard tonal banding • Exclusion — a solid hue blended straight through the image • Low Res — chunky pixellation that scales with the shot • Slow Shutter — a real exposure change on the camera, so the motion blur is genuine rather than faked Stack them. Adjust contrast, brightness and saturation on anything. Hit Random when you want the machine to decide. PHOTO AND VIDEO Shoot stills or record video with the same effects, with audio, in 4:5. What the viewfinder showed is what lands in your library — filters that are sized in pixels scale with the image, so the saved file matches the preview. YOUR SHOTS STAY YOURS Everything is processed on your iPhone using Metal and Core Image. Nothing is uploaded, stored on a server, or looked at by anyone. There is no cloud gallery and no server-side processing — captures go straight to your own Photos library, into a "(d)effect" album the in-app gallery reads back. We hold one piece of personal data: the email address attached to your sign-in. You can delete your account, and it, from inside the app. — (d)effect is free while in active development — every filter unlocked, no ads, no subscription. If something breaks, tell us at support@d-effect.com and we'll fix it.

Screenshots

REFRAXA4 screens
(d)effect4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: REFRAXA at 5.0 against (d)effect's 3.0. REFRAXA also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 2 weeks) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.2). (d)effect's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). On price, ratings volume, ads 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. REFRAXA sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. (d)effect asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

REFRAXA holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 2 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

REFRAXA ships an update every 4 days, (d)effect every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
REFRAXA versus (d)effect: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterREFRAXA(d)effect
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings) — better3.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews—0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings3 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.2
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDANIEL GUY CIRALDOJoao Campagnolo

Customer experience

REFRAXA

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

(d)effect

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

REFRAXA

One-time1
  • REFRAXA Pro$9.99
None

(d)effect

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is REFRAXA free?
REFRAXA is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is (d)effect free?
(d)effect is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, REFRAXA or (d)effect?
REFRAXA is rated higher. REFRAXA averages 5.0 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while (d)effect averages 3.0 from 2 ratings.
Do REFRAXA or (d)effect have ads?
Neither REFRAXA nor (d)effect shows ads.
Which is updated more often, REFRAXA or (d)effect?
REFRAXA ships an update every 4 days, and (d)effect every 2 weeks. Most recently, REFRAXA was updated on October 7, 2026 and (d)effect on October 2, 2026.

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