Photometrics vs Photon
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Photometrics
Access photometric data for ARRI light fixtures, including discontinued models and electronics ballasts. Features include illuminance, beam angle, luminous distribution graphs, and light properties. Tools for comparison, DMX calculations, and product catalogs are also available.
- Photometric data (illuminance, beam angle)
- Luminous distribution graphs
- Light properties (CRI, TM30, TLCI)
- Metric and Imperial units
- Camera exposure information
- Project creation and preset saving
- Lamphead comparison tool
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The ARRI Photometric App gives you the ability to quickly reference the photometric characteristics of all of the ARRI light fixtures. It includes data for discontinued lampheads and our portfolio of Electronics Ballasts (EB). In the Tool section you find more useful resources. Data - Photometrics incl illuminance and beam angle and diameter - Luminous Distribution Graph - Light Properties like technical specification and color metrics (CRI, TM30, TLCI) - Metric and Imperial Units - Camera Exposure and Aperture Information - Create projects and save preset fixtures - Bulb Selection Tools - Compare Lampheads - DMX Implementation Tables - DMX Conversion Calculator - CCL Calculator - Product Catalogue
Photon
Control DMX lighting wirelessly for events, clubs, and theaters. Create sequences, synchronize lights to music with beat tracking, and manage fixtures with a user-friendly interface. Offers advanced features via in-app purchase.
- Wireless Art-Net/sACN DMX control
- Multi-touch interface optimized for iPad
- Light group management
- Scene and animation creation
- Beat tracker for music synchronization
- Fixture database and creator
- Sequencer with timeline editing
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Photon, the next generation of professional user friendly DMX lighting console perfect for nightclubs, musicians, live events, filmmakers, theaters... Wireless (Art-Net or sACN through WIFI) and easy to use, Photon reinvents the way to control DMX devices with its single interface for all your lights. Indeed, combine multiple presets to a sequence and synchronize your lights to music. Our beat tracker listens and animates your devices to the rhythm of the music. Live events will have no more secret for you. Features of the free version: - Multi-touch interface designed and optimized for the iPad. ⁃ Light group management. Associate multiple lights together to perform similar controls (colors, positions, brightness ...). - Classic DMX console for sophisticated controls (gobos/fog/focus...) ⁃ Managing scenes. Create and play animations/effects on your lights. ⁃ Smart color manager. ⁃ Art-Net /sACN / DMX output channel analyzer. ⁃ Complete control of an Art-Net universe with 512 channels. ⁃ Art-Net in multicast or unicast. ⁃ sACN in multicast or unicast. ⁃ Database with hundreds of pre-configured devices (fixtures). - Fixture creator to configure your custom devices. Features of the in-app purchase: ⁃ Sound analyzer : sync your lights to music. ⁃ Multi scene / multi group sequencer. Combine multiple cues to a sequence and animate it. ⁃ Edit your sequences as in a video editor with the timeline. ⁃ Automatic, manual or semi-automatic beat control for the sequencer. - Ableton Link support : Sync lights animations with your favorite DJ app or musical instrument. Link is a technology that keeps devices in time over a local network for a perfect synchronization between lights and music. ⁃ Management of the animation curve in/out. - Background mode * Requires an Art-Net (or sACN) Bridge to DMX. Photon is based on the open lighting architecture (open lighting project). ** Purchase of the "Sequencer" with the in-app purchase
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Photometrics at none against Photon's 1. Photometrics also leads on review sentiment (67% vs 42%) and device support (3 vs 1). Photon's advantage is update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 5 months) and ratings volume (27 vs 7). On price, rating and ads 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. Photon sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Photometrics asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.3 for Photometrics against 4.4 for Photon. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 7 and 27 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 67% of Photometrics's written reviews are positive against 42% of Photon's.
Photometrics ships an update every 5 months, Photon every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on August 31, 2026 and June 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Photometrics | Photon |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (7 ratings) | 4.4 (27 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews — better | 41.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 7 | 27 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 10 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 105 MB | 36 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | ARRI Group | Photon Studio |
Customer experience
Photometrics
Photon
In-app purchases
Photometrics
No in-app purchases
Photon
- Light Sequencer$24.99
