Mobile Darkroom vs Camera Remote Controller
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side β with what reviewers say about each.
Mobile Darkroom
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Your photo lab for iPhone and iPad: develop RAW, JPEG and HEIF photos, remove distractions, and shape light, color and depth. Image processing and AI computations run on your device. Your originals stay intact. TRY FREE, UNLOCK ONCE The download is free. The free β3-Day Trialβ in-app purchase unlocks every feature for 72 hours. After that, continued use requires the Full Version as a one-time in-app purchase. No subscription, no automatic renewal. All advertised features are included in the trial and Full Version. Existing Full Version owners receive this update without an additional feature purchase. SHAPE LIGHT AND COLOR β’ Exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, white and black points β’ Optional histogram with highlight and shadow clipping indicators β’ Saturation, vibrance, white balance, curves and selective color β’ Sharpening, structure, noise reduction and selective blur LOCAL ADJUSTMENTS WITH MASKS β’ Brush, radial and gradient masks; duplicate and combine masks β’ Compute subject, background and sky masks on device β’ Interactive object selection on supported devices running iOS 27 or later DEPTH AND YOUR OWN LOOK β’ Depth blur using embedded or locally estimated depth maps β’ Shape focus, aperture effect, depth falloff and bokeh; save your own optical defaults β’ Simulated lens character, vignette, distortion and color fringing β’ Filter magazine with full, graduated and creative filters: warming and cooling steps, sepia, tobacco, sky colors, hard or soft edge and reverse graduation β’ Star, spectral star and light fan filters whose rays follow the brightness and color of each light source, plus diffusion and halation β’ Film looks, grain and paper character REPAIR AND REDUCE REFLECTIONS β’ AI Removal: paint over an area, let the app fill it locally, and review the result before applying β’ Smart repair brush and manual cloning β’ Simulated polarizer with linked reflection reduction and optional fine tuning, also within masks β’ Results depend on the scene. The effect does not replace an optical polarizer or reconstruct details that were never captured KEEP EDITING AND EXPORT β’ Crop, straighten and correct converging lines β’ Save and reopen local projects with the original, edits and history β’ Undo and redo adjustments β’ Export a new JPEG copy and share through the iOS share sheet EDIT PRIVATELY No photo uploads by the app, no app account, no tracking and no advertising. Computations run locally. Certain Apple models and RAW resources are downloaded first when needed; the corresponding editing then works offline. Apple's StoreKit handles activation and purchases. iCloud files and external sharing destinations may need a connection. After the trial, importing, editing and exporting require the Full Version; the price is shown before purchase.
Camera Remote Controller
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Camera Remote Controller turns your iPhone into a camera and your Mac or iPad into the monitor and remote. Put the iPhone on a tripod, sit down at your desk and see exactly what the camera sees, in real time, while you control every setting. Made for bloggers, streamers, teachers and anyone who records alone and wants to check framing, focus and exposure without running back to the phone. WHAT YOU GET β’ Live preview with low delay over your Wi-Fi network or a direct device-to-device link β’ Full camera control from the Mac or iPad: lenses and smooth zoom, tap to focus, exposure compensation, focus, exposure and white balance locks, torch, stabilization, resolution and frame rate up to 4K 60 β’ Photos and videos recorded on the iPhone in full quality, with sound, saved straight to Photos β’ Several iPhones at once: connect two or three cameras and switch between them from one screen β’ Battery and temperature of the iPhone right on the monitor β’ Dim the iPhone screen while it works to save battery β’ Keyboard shortcuts on the Mac: Space to record, P for a photo, Command-1, 2, 3 to switch cameras HOW IT CONNECTS Open the app on the iPhone. Open it on the Mac or iPad. The iPhone appears in the list. Tap Connect, tap Allow on the iPhone. Next time it connects on its own. Both devices need to be on the same Wi-Fi, or simply near each other with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on. PRIVACY Everything stays on your devices. The preview travels directly from the iPhone to your Mac or iPad on the local network. There are no servers, no accounts, no analytics and no ads. Recordings are stored only on the iPhone. ONE APP, TWO ROLES The iOS app runs as the camera on iPhone and as the remote on iPad. You can switch the role on any device, so an iPhone can also control another iPhone. REQUIREMENTS iPhone with iOS 18 or later as the camera. Mac with macOS 15 or later, or iPad with iPadOS 18 or later, as the remote. The app on the iPhone must stay in the foreground while it streams.
Screenshots
Verdict
Mobile Darkroom and Camera Remote Controller are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters β price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them β neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
| Parameter | Mobile Darkroom | Camera Remote Controller |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 6 days | β |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 β better | 18.0 |
| Further details β not scored | ||
| Size | 315 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Bjoern Kindler | Aleksandr Pozharov |
In-app purchases
Mobile Darkroom
No in-app purchases
Camera Remote Controller
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Mobile Darkroom free?
Is Camera Remote Controller free?
Do Mobile Darkroom or Camera Remote Controller have ads?
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