Comparison

Elements vs BlurBefore

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

Head to head
About

Elements

Features
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Aesthetic widgets that match โ€” because you designed them that way. Elements is a design system for widgets: set the typeface, the accent, the background and the density once, and 33 kinds of widget wear it โ€” on the Home Screen, the Lock Screen, StandBy, CarPlay, and on your Mac. 173 designed faces. 267 backgrounds, 118 of them photographs. 80 colour sets, 12 accent colours, or your own. 218 finished looks you can apply in one tap and then keep tweaking. 17 KINDS FREE, THE REST ONE AD AWAY Clock, weather, next event, calendar, battery and storage, world clock, countdown, days since, dots, today, sunrise and sunset, moon, prayer times, quote, word of the day, verse of the day and a groceries list are free to place and keep. Every other widget is free for 7 days after one short ad, as often as you like. Elements Pro removes the ads and unlocks everything for good. WIDGETS THAT KNOW SOMETHING โ€ข Weather written as a sentence โ€” "31ยฐ now, feels 35ยฐ. Haze till 6pm." โ€ข Your next event, your month at a glance, and how long until the next thing โ€ข A groceries list you tick off from the Home Screen โ€ข Steps, distance and sleep, read from Health โ€ข Sunrise, sunset, the moon's phase, and how much daylight you lost since yesterday โ€ข Prayer times, computed on device from five published methods โ€ข Currency at the day's published reference rate โ€ข Analog dials, world clocks, countdowns, a verse, a word, your own feeds CUT OUT A SUBJECT AND STICK IT ON YOUR SCREEN Pick a photo and Elements lifts the subject out of it. Size it, turn it, give it a paper edge, and let the widget rotate through your shelf. MINI-APPS YOU FILL YOURSELF Habits you check off. Tallies you count. Subscriptions with renewal reminders. A focus timer. A fasting window. Places, moments, quotes and words of your own. Readings your Shortcuts write into. A canvas you compose from blocks. Habits and tallies keep their streaks and totals, and all of it stays on your phone. FED BY YOUR SHORTCUTS Your automations can write straight into a widget: a reading, a habit, a counter, a canvas block. State how often your shortcut runs and the widget will say "as of 9:41" when it misses โ€” a stale number never poses as a fresh one. CORRECT, OR IT TELLS YOU WHY The most common complaint about widgets is that they go stale, blank or wrong. Every widget knows how fresh its data is and says so. Every failure is named โ€” "no location fix", "offline", "not allowed" โ€” instead of one shrug. Widget Health shows what actually reloaded today. PROGRESS WITHOUT PRESSURE Streaks, totals and a small celebration when you reach a goal โ€” and you can switch celebrations off. No streak repairs to buy, no leaderboards, and no red marks for a day you missed. THREE THEMES, LIGHT AND DARK Ink Bento, Dawn Glass and Pop. Each design can pin its own theme and light/dark, so one widget stays dark while another follows your phone. PRIVACY Calendar, Reminders, Health and everything you type stay on your device. Health access is read-only and the widget extension never touches it. Weather sends your location, or a place you pin, to Apple for a forecast; a few widgets fetch public data such as exchange rates or feeds you add. There are no accounts. The free version shows ads from Google AdMob. Ads are personalised only if you allow tracking when asked; otherwise they are less personal. In the UK and EU you choose in a consent form, and can change it any time in Settings. Elements Pro has no ads. ELEMENTS PRO Every widget, every face, every photograph and colour set, the bundled typefaces and icon styles, unlimited saved designs, and no ads. Yearly, monthly or a one-time lifetime purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the period; manage or cancel them in your Apple Account settings. Privacy policy: https://thesolanalabs.com/elements/privacy/ Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

BlurBefore

Automatically detect and obscure sensitive information like phone numbers, ID details, and addresses in your images before sharing. Choose from blur, pixelate, or solid cover styles with adjustable intensity. Process images directly from the iOS share sheet for ultimate convenience.

Highlights
  • Smart detection of sensitive data
  • Multiple redaction styles (blur, pixelate, cover)
  • Adjustable redaction intensity
  • Integrated iOS share sheet functionality
  • On-device processing for privacy
  • One-tap save and share
Features
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BlurBefore โ€” redact sensitive info before you share. Posting a chat screenshot, parcel label, or ID photo? Phone numbers, ID numbers, and home addresses slip out with your image. BlurBefore finds and covers them automatically โ€” before you share. KEY FEATURES โ€ข Smart detection: auto-finds phone numbers, ID numbers, addresses & bank cards โ€ข 3 redact styles: blur, pixelate, or solid cover โ€” adjustable intensity โ€ข Share sheet built-in: redact right from the iOS share sheet, no app switching โ€ข Fully on-device: nothing uploaded, no account, no tracking โ€ข One-tap save to Photos or share anywhere USE IT FOR โ€ข Chat screenshots: hide phone numbers and account details โ€ข Parcel labels: cover names, numbers and addresses โ€ข ID photos: redact ID numbers and faces โ€ข Cars: blur license plates โ€ข Before posting: strip EXIF such as location PRIVACY PROMISE Everything runs on your device. No uploads, no accounts, no data collection. GO PRO The free version includes all redaction tools with a watermark on export. A one-time purchase removes the watermark, or unlocks advanced detection (faces, QR codes, bank cards, addresses) and EXIF removal. Buy once, keep forever โ€” no subscription. -Privacy Policy: https://docs.qq.com/doc/p/a1de546661e60c87d3c86aa9abf0dc549f2141f2 Support: sunjun20141@qq.com

Screenshots

Elements4 screens
BlurBefore4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: BlurBefore at none against Elements's shown. BlurBefore also leads on iOS requirement (17.6 vs 26.0). Elements's advantage is update cadence (every 6 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, in-app purchases and device support 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. Elements sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and BlurBefore sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Elements ships an update every 6 days, BlurBefore every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on October 29, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences ยท 5 level
Elements versus BlurBefore: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterElementsBlurBefore
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviewsโ€”100.0% of reviews
Update frequencyEvery 6 days โ€” betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsYesNo โ€” better
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetizationโ€”Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.017.6 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size116 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTouseef Hassan Nasirๅ†› ๅญ™

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Elements

Subscriptions2
  • Elements Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Elements Pro Yearly1 Month trial$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Elements Pro Lifetime$49.99
3 purchases

BlurBefore

One-time3
  • Remove Watermark$0.99
  • Advanced Redaction$2.99
  • Lifetime Pro$9.99

Questions

Is Elements free?
Elements is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is BlurBefore free?
BlurBefore is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Elements or BlurBefore have ads?
Elements shows ads; BlurBefore does not.
Which is updated more often, Elements or BlurBefore?
Elements ships an update every 6 days, and BlurBefore every 3 weeks. Most recently, Elements was updated on October 29, 2026 and BlurBefore on October 29, 2026.

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