ARK Infrared vs frmrr
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ARK Infrared
Transform ordinary photos into striking infrared images with realistic film simulations. Explore various infrared effects, from black-and-white to false color, and apply them to both photos and videos. Features an interactive deck for live adjustments and educational content on infrared photography.
- Infrared film simulations
- Photo and video editing
- Adjustable filter wavelengths
- False color effects
- Day-to-night conversion
- Interactive editing deck
- Educational content
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ARK Infrared turns ordinary photos into infrared photographs, the way they would look on infrared film behind a real filter. The app reads the colours in your photo for the things infrared responds to: chlorophyll in leaves, blue light in the sky, the heat of tungsten lamps. From those it rebuilds the picture as infrared film would have recorded it. Leaves turn white and skies turn dark because of what is in the scene. EIGHT FILMS BW. Black-and-white infrared from 590 to 850 nm, in the manner of Kodak HIE: white foliage, dark skies, a soft glow around bright areas. The dial sets the filter wavelength. AERO. Kodak Aerochrome false colour. Vegetation turns red and neutral tones stay neutral. The dial moves through the Wratten filters photographers used with the real film, #12 to #25. NIGHT. Infrared at night. Tungsten lights blaze and foliage turns red against a black sky. The dial sets how far into red the film goes, and the app adjusts to each photo's white balance. MOON. Day for night. A daylight photo becomes a moonlit one, following how the eye sees in the dark: reds fade first, colour drains and the daytime sky turns to night. The dial sets how deep the night goes. NEG. The exposure before development: the scene as a camera sensor records it behind a deep red filter. Press and hold to develop the print. SAFELIGHT. The darkroom lamp. Warm surfaces glow red and everything else falls into blue dark. CYANO. The cyanotype, John Herschel's iron-blue print from 1842, in a blue measured from real prints. The dial sets the printing time. Hold the print to tone it to sepia and back to the original photo. COPPER TONE. The copper-toned print after Kodak's 1918 Tone A: a red image on white paper. The dial sets the toning time. Hold the print to see the silver print under the toner. VIDEO Load a clip and tune the film on its first frame. One key renders the whole clip through the same film. THE DECK An aluminium deck with a tuning ruler, an exposure dial and one red key, rendering live while you drag. Swipe the film name to change films. Tap the nameplate to read how infrared light works, with a chapter on each film and Herschel's experiment from 1800 that you can repeat with your finger. Exports are 10-bit HEIF up to 19 megapixels and keep the date, place and camera of the original. There is no account and no network access. Your photos stay on the device.
frmrr
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A film camera for your iPhone. Shoot on film stocks, make every frame yours, and keep a quiet photo diary. Frmrr makes your photos look like film because it works like film. Each stock has its own colour response and is printed onto print paper, with the glow, grain and light leaks of a real roll. Everything happens on your phone. No accounts, no internet, no AI. SHOOT ON FILM • Six film stocks, live in the viewfinder: Daylight 200, Portrait 400, Cine 500T, Slide 100, Mono 400 and Mono 3200. Swipe the dial and see the look before you shoot. • A real camera: RAW capture, tap to focus and lock exposure, swipe for exposure, and white balance by preset or Kelvin. • Flash with Off, On and Auto. In Auto the button lights up when the scene needs it. • A light meter needle on the side of the viewfinder, a level that turns amber when you're straight, and a composition grid. • Zoom up to 3× and keep the full RAW. • Take the shot with either volume button. • Built for one hand, with the dial and shutter below the picture. MAKE EVERY FRAME YOURS • Change the exposure, the stock, the print paper or go black and white, with small previews of your own photo in each. • Shadows, Highlights, Contrast and Saturation, worked on the film itself. • Halation, Haze, Light leak, Grain and Vignette. • Crop and rotate, add a white or black paper border, and stamp the date in orange film-camera digits in any corner. • Undo and redo, and hold to compare with the original. • Import up to 10 photos at a time from your library and give each a film look. • Your Roll keeps every original, so you can re-edit any photo at any time. KEEP A PHOTO DIARY • Answer a short, thoughtful prompt about a photo, right after you take it or later. • A quiet daily reminder, at a time you choose, skipped on days you've written. It stops by itself if you take a break. MAKE PHOTO STRIPS • Shoot or pick four frames for a photobooth-style strip on white or black photo paper, with captions and the date. PRIVATE BY DESIGN • Fully offline: no accounts, no sync, no analytics, no network. • No AI. Your words and photos stay yours. • Nothing is saved, shared or exported without a tap. • Supports Dynamic Type, VoiceOver, Increase Contrast, Reduce Motion and Reduce Transparency.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: frmrr at none against ARK Infrared's 1. frmrr also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. ARK Infrared sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. frmrr asks for nothing beyond the download.
ARK Infrared ships an update every 3 weeks, frmrr every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ARK Infrared | frmrr |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | ARK ICELAND LLC | MYO KHANT ZAW |
In-app purchases
ARK Infrared
- IR-01 Full$6.99
frmrr
No in-app purchases









