Comparison

Instacall vs Look Straight

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

Head to head
About

Instacall

This app offers a smart T9 dialer for efficient contact searching and calling. It features a user-friendly interface with customizable colors and speed dial support.

Highlights
  • Smart T9 dialing
  • Fast contact search
  • Speed dial support
  • Customizable colors
  • Simple interface
Features
Read full description

Instacall is the best T9 Smart Dialer It's incredibly easy to find names and make call FEATURES • Great Interface • Simple Design • Support Speed Dial • Color Customization

About

Look Straight

Read full description

Look Straight detects head orientation, eye states, and mouth gestures in real time — then uses those cues to run automations, trigger actions, send messages, and control devices. Simply look, tilt, or turn your head, open or close your mouth, or look away to activate shortcuts, play sounds, speak text, control HomeKit, launch web requests, or send OSC messages. Look Straight is built for productive control and automation. • It’s not a mouse or keyboard replacement. • It’s not full facial performance capture. • It’s not a generic accessibility pointer tool. Instead: • Your intention = a trigger. If you look away, turn your head, tilt it, close your eyes, or smile/open your mouth, the app can respond. • Action-first focus. Every recognition state can map to an action. • Flexible for public speakers, creators, automators, developers, and power users. Whether you’re streaming, working remotely, automating your smart home, or building custom command pipelines — Look Straight gives you a new “input channel” with your face. # Head, Eye & Mouth States • Head yaw, pitch, tilt (turned left/right, nodded, tilted). • Eye states: centered, side-eye, averted, closed. • Mouth states: closed, open, and smiling. These states feed discrete triggers you can act on. # Trigger Conditions & Actions Define when a state becomes “active” and what happens when it does. Actions include: • Display a visual alert. • Trigger a sound. • Speak custom text aloud. • Run a shortcuts. • Send an OSC message to external software or hardware. • Execute a web request. • Control HomeKit accessories or scenes. # Action Sets Create Action Sets (groupings of actions) — Pro users can have unlimited sets; free users get one. # User Profiles and Custom Calibrations Create user profiles that can have custom calibrations for more accurate head, eye, and mouth state detection. Available only with Look Straight Pro. ## Activity Logging & Export Track what’s happening: when states changed and gaze dynamics over time. Logs are written locally (never uploaded automatically), exportable as CSV. Available only with Look Straight Pro. ## Automation with Shortcuts and OSC • Control Look Straight using shortcuts. Change action sets and user profiles when you switch Focus modes. Perfect for streamers, home automators, and productivity fans. • Interface with devices that support Open Sound Control (OSC) such as video switchers. Available only with Look Straight Pro. # How you might use it • Presenter / Streamer: Looking off-camera triggers a “BRB” overlay or mute/unmute. • Home automation user: Head tilt left activates lights off; mouth open for 3 seconds turns on a scene. • Accessibility augmentor: While not a replacement for pointer input, you can trigger recurring reminders when you look away or pause. • Video production / AV professional: Use OSC to send commands when you glance at a cue monitor—automating camera switch, lighting cues, tally signals. • Researcher / maker: Collect CSV logs of gaze orientation and states; prototype interactive installations where your motivation is “face input = action.” # Pro vs Free Free users get a streamlined experience with one Action Set and basic triggers. A single In-App Purchase unlocks these Pro features: • Unlimited Actions and Action Sets • OSC support • User profiles and custom calibration settings • Activity recording # Privacy & On-Device Focus Your face video never leaves your device. Look Straight does not collect, transmit, or sell any personally identifiable information or location data. All app data (profiles, calibrations, action sets) is stored locally and may sync via iCloud if enabled — the developer has no access to this data. Activity logs are saved locally and can be exported by you (never uploaded automatically). Deleting the app removes local data; if iCloud sync was enabled, data in iCloud may remain unless you manually purge it via iCloud settings.

Screenshots

Instacall4 screens
Look Straight4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Look Straight at Free against Instacall's $5.99. Look Straight also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 2 months) and device support (3 vs 1). Instacall's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). On ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Look Straight is free to download; Instacall costs $5.99 up front. Look Straight sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Instacall asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Instacall ships an update every 2 months, Look Straight every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Instacall versus Look Straight: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterInstacallLook Straight
Price$5.99Free — better
Rating4.3 (216 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews65.8% of reviews—
Number of ratings216 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS18.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size13 MB13 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperhbullAdam Tow

Bugs and requests

Instacall

Reported bugs

15 issues
  • Settings crash on launch
  • App crashes when accessing settings
  • Paid version settings crash
  • Lite version settings work, paid version does not
  • Unable to search contacts
Show 10 more
  • No missed call history
  • Watch app screen is cut off
  • Vibration not working on iOS 14
  • App crashes when trying to access settings menu
  • Purchased app crashes when accessing settings
  • Cannot search contacts with numbers or asterisks
  • App crashes when pressing certain 초성 keys
  • App crashes when trying to dial
  • App crashes sometimes
  • Contact search is clumsy and glitches

Requested features

20 requests
  • Support for WhatsApp and social network calls
  • Contact backup feature
  • Display call duration
  • Support for e-sim
  • Option to disable confirmation before dialing
Show 15 more
  • Seamless integration with call history
  • Support for voicemail access
  • Ability to customize widget size and description
  • Option to change font size and background color
  • Add Russian language support
  • Support for T9 search with Chinese Pinyin
  • Add automatic area code feature
  • Option to hide call list or auto-delete
  • Support for 10-key Korean keyboard for 초성 search
  • Option to sort frequently searched contacts at the top
  • Option to disable the 'Instacall' logo on the recent screen
  • Support for direct dialing without confirmation
  • Add contact marking feature
  • Support for Force Touch like original dialer
  • Add option to select which line to use for calls

Look Straight

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Instacall

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Look Straight

One-time1
  • Look Straight Pro Full Access$9.99

Questions

Is Instacall free?
Instacall costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Look Straight free?
Look Straight is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Instacall or Look Straight have ads?
Neither Instacall nor Look Straight shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Instacall or Look Straight?
Instacall ships an update every 2 months, and Look Straight every 2 days. Most recently, Instacall was updated on October 29, 2026 and Look Straight on October 31, 2026.

Other comparisons