Comparison

Circular Tiny Planet Editor vs iLightningCam 2

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

Head to head
About

Circular Tiny Planet Editor

Transform your photos into unique circular images with advanced editing tools. Add professional effects like lens flares, celestial bodies, and customizable center objects to create miniature worlds. Supports 360-degree photos for immersive edits.

Highlights
  • Circular image creation
  • 360-degree photo support
  • Adjustable zoom, rotation, and invert-mode
  • Professional effects (lens flares, sky objects, centers)
  • Filters and lens textures
  • Center object placement
Features
Read full description

Now supports 360 degree photos! - A new twist on photo editing. Turn your photos into amazing circular images with Circular+. Circular+ is a fun app with powerful new features never seen before in this type of app. You can easily zoom in and out of your circular image to get it just right. Once you're happy with your image, add professional effects such as lens flares and sky objects like the sun, moon, planets, and birds. REVIEWS "My favorite iPhone app for this purpose is Circular+" - Joanna Stern, Wall Street Journal "I've tried them all and Circular is by far the best "tiny planet" app. You get more controls and fun effects like lens flares and moons. Having a blast with this app!" - Customer Review "I tried different Tiny planet apps, but this is really the best. Love that I can put different things inside the picture ... Thanks for the great work." - Customer Review This app does so much more than just turn your image into a tiny planet. It has all kinds of effects you can add and you have a lot of control over how it twists your image. - Customer Review VIDEO: http://vimeo.com/brainfevermedia/circular Another really cool feature is a collection of "center" objects. These include spheres, planets, and geometric shapes to place at the center of your image circle. This turns your image into a mini world. FEATURES - Super fast and responsive editing - Adjust image zoom, rotation, invert-mode, and repeats - Professional effects: lens flares, sky objects, and centers. The lens flares are the same as the pro desktop app, LensFlare Studio - Filters and Lens Textures - Fun sample images to get your started Tag your photos with #CircularApp for a chance to be featured!

About

iLightningCam 2

Capture stunning lightning strike photos in real-time with your iPhone or iPad. This app automatically detects and photographs lightning, offering both fully automatic and manual ISO controls for expert users. Enjoy high-resolution images without interpolation.

Highlights
  • Real-time lightning detection
  • Full AUTO mode
  • Manual ISO adjustment
  • Original photo resolution
  • Double-shot blending
  • Modern design
Read full description

iLightningCam 2 - The Second Generation - Real-time lightning photography with iPhone made easy. It enables everyone to take spectacular pictures of real lighting strikes with an iPhone or iPad! After three years of development, iLightningCam 2 follows the unique iLightningCam, which was the only app with ISO control since 2012 with more than 160 000 users. iLightningCam 2 features: - Full AUTO Mode! No user input needed! The app changes automatically between day and night mode Continuous calculation of best ISO settings based on the last strikes - Original Photo Resolution, no tricks, no interpolation! - Much better detection! - Double-shot , + one image as blend of first and second shot! - New modern design! - For experts: ISO ranges are fully manually adjustable, if wished! iLightningCam 2 uses true real-time recognition of lightning strikes. Once recognized, your iPhone takes a picture of the recognized lightning in up to full resolution. And yes - your iPhone or iPad is fast enough! You only need a good view on a real thunderstorm. The app works free hand. Just point your iPhone towards the scene/part of the sky/thunderstorm where you expect the next lightning, start the iLightningCam 2 and wait, the app will automatically press the trigger if a lightning is detected in your view. Warning: Lightning storms are life threatening for you and your phone!!! Take care using this app! Do not take any risks and avoid exposure to thunderstorms! Use this app only in lightning and storm protected places. You are solely responsible for your actions and adverse consequences. Read full safety warning in the instructions page, before using this app. Who is it not for: It is not for children and it is not for mentally handicapped persons, as they may have not the ability to protect themselves against lightning or the associated storm.

Screenshots

Circular Tiny Planet Editor4 screens
iLightningCam 24 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Circular Tiny Planet Editor at 4.7 against iLightningCam 2's 4.0. Circular Tiny Planet Editor also leads on ratings volume (650 vs 92). iLightningCam 2's advantage is price ($3.99 vs $4.99) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 11.0). On review sentiment, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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

Circular Tiny Planet Editor costs $4.99 and iLightningCam 2 $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Circular Tiny Planet Editor holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Circular Tiny Planet Editor has 650 ratings behind it against 92, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of Circular Tiny Planet Editor's written reviews are positive against 67% of iLightningCam 2's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Circular Tiny Planet Editor ships an update every 3 months, iLightningCam 2 every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Circular Tiny Planet Editor versus iLightningCam 2: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCircular Tiny Planet EditoriLightningCam 2
Price$4.99$3.99 — better
Rating4.7 (650 ratings) — better4.0 (92 ratings)
Positive reviews71.4% of reviews — better66.7% of reviews
Number of ratings650 — better92
Update frequencyEvery 3 months — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS11.09.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size106 MB16 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJames GroteFlorian Stiassny

Customer experience

Circular Tiny Planet Editor

All ratings650 ratings
Positive95.1%
Neutral2.5%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews353 reviews
Positive71.4%
Neutral5.9%
Negative22.7%

iLightningCam 2

All ratings92 ratings
Positive73.9%
Neutral4.3%
Negative21.7%
Written reviews120 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral6.7%
Negative26.7%

Bugs and requests

Circular Tiny Planet Editor

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

iLightningCam 2

Reported bugs

22 issues
  • White bar across the top of the image
  • Pictures are blurry on newer iPhone models
  • App captures nothing or everything is overexposed
  • Auto setting not getting lightning, only brightness and out of focus
  • Large lightning setting gets nothing
Show 17 more
  • Misses a lot of strikes, ones caught are out of focus
  • Constantly out of focus on 13 pro max
  • Only 2x zoom works, other cameras are blurry
  • White bar showing up
  • App takes 4 pics but captures nothing
  • Weird pink light but no lightning strike
  • Focus not working on iPhone 12 max pro
  • Took a lot of blank pictures and lots of duplicates
  • Out of focus on iPhone 12
  • Every photo is out of focus on 13 pro max
  • App freezes
  • Not triggering camera on newest version
  • Tells user to upgrade to iOS 10 when on iOS 11
  • App freezes after a minute
  • App not saving photos despite access rights
  • App not working well on iPhone 5
  • App not capturing lightning bolts, only sheet lightning

Requested features

15 requests
  • Vertical mode
  • RAW format output
  • More control over aperture and shutter speed
  • Higher resolution output (24MP)
  • HEIC or RAW format saving
Show 10 more
  • Option to choose more than 2 shots for composite
  • Timelapse/Video/Live Photo mode
  • Way to review shots within the app
  • 5x zoom
  • Daytime lightning capture
  • German language support
  • Tutorial for settings
  • Improve UI/UX
  • Higher resolution camera optimization
  • Fix bug with x0.5 lens focus

In-app purchases

None

Circular Tiny Planet Editor

No in-app purchases

None

iLightningCam 2

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Circular Tiny Planet Editor free?
Circular Tiny Planet Editor costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is iLightningCam 2 free?
iLightningCam 2 costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Circular Tiny Planet Editor or iLightningCam 2?
Circular Tiny Planet Editor is rated higher. Circular Tiny Planet Editor averages 4.7 out of 5 from 650 ratings, while iLightningCam 2 averages 4.0 from 92 ratings.
Do Circular Tiny Planet Editor or iLightningCam 2 have ads?
Neither Circular Tiny Planet Editor nor iLightningCam 2 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Circular Tiny Planet Editor or iLightningCam 2?
Circular Tiny Planet Editor ships an update every 3 months, and iLightningCam 2 every 4 months. Most recently, Circular Tiny Planet Editor was updated on October 13, 2026 and iLightningCam 2 on October 12, 2026.

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