Circular Tiny Planet Editor vs iLightningCam AI
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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!
iLightningCam AI
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.
- Real-time lightning detection
- Full AUTO mode
- Manual ISO adjustment
- Original photo resolution
- Double-shot blending
- Modern design
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iLightningCam AI – photograph lightning without pressing the shutter. Set up your iPhone and point it at the storm. The app watches the camera image and takes the shot automatically at every strike. Each detected strike appears as a card with all images of that moment and a combined image that brings all phases together. Save the images you choose to the Photos app. iLightningCam AI is the successor to iLightningCam 2 and to iLightningCam, the first lightning app for iOS, available on the App Store since 2011. Existing owners of iLightningCam 2 receive iLightningCam AI as an update. Why “AI”: the parameters for lightning detection and for post-processing in the Studio were determined with artificial intelligence, using thousands of real lightning images from iLightningCam 2 and iLightningCam AI. iLightningCam AI is a genuine photo app. It uses no generative AI to create images. The Studio, too, only optimizes and enhances your own shots and never creates artificial lightning. WHAT THE APP DOES • Real-time lightning detection, day and night, with images at photo resolution • More phases per strike: high temporal resolution captures how a strike develops across several individual images • Much improved detection, especially in daylight against a bright sky, with few false triggers • Higher image quality thanks to the new engine and the HEIC format • Automatic exposure, frame rate and capture mode, tuned for lightning and for your iPhone • Modes for every storm: Auto, Normal, Near Lightning, Distant Lightning, Sheet Lightning and Manual, with your own ISO range • Horizon line: nothing below it is analyzed, so cars and streetlights don’t interfere • Focus calibration for every lens, optimized for storm photography • Detailed in-app manual in eight languages, including the basics of lightning photography iLightningCam Studio (in-app purchase) The optional add-on brings editing tools to the app: • Choose the best phases of a strike and combine them into an image of your own • Lightning Repair: bring out the bolt, remove dark edges along it, soften the bright horizontal band the camera can produce. Many image defects can be reduced considerably this way, but not all. • Crop and fine-tune light and color • Save as an image, Live Photo or video clip • Time-lapse of the entire storm, with separate speed settings for the strikes and the storm One-time purchase, Family Sharing included, no subscription. Your originals stay untouched. The Studio only works with strikes captured with iLightningCam AI. Images from iLightningCam 2, from other apps or from the Photos app cannot be imported. REQUIREMENTS iPhone with iOS 17 or later, iPad with iPadOS 17 or later. For good results, use a tripod or steady support and make sure you have a clear view of the storm. SAFETY Thunderstorms are life-threatening. Seek shelter immediately as soon as a storm can be seen or heard, and never stay outdoors. Only take photos from inside an enclosed building, through a window. You are responsible for your own actions and for any resulting damage. The app is not intended for children or for people who cannot protect themselves from thunderstorms. The full safety information is in chapter 1 of the in-app manual.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Circular Tiny Planet Editor at 4.7 against iLightningCam AI's 4.0. Circular Tiny Planet Editor also leads on chart position (#168 vs unranked) and ratings volume (650 vs 93). iLightningCam AI's advantage is price ($3.99 vs $4.99). 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
Circular Tiny Planet Editor costs $4.99 and iLightningCam AI $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
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 93, 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 AI's.
Circular Tiny Planet Editor ships an update every 3 months, iLightningCam AI every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Circular Tiny Planet Editor | iLightningCam AI |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | $3.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.7 (650 ratings) — better | 4.0 (93 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 71.4% of reviews — better | 67.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 650 — better | 93 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #168 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 106 MB | 51 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | James Grote | Florian Stiassny |
Customer experience
Circular Tiny Planet Editor
iLightningCam AI
Bugs and requests
Circular Tiny Planet Editor
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
iLightningCam AI
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
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- 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
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- 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
Circular Tiny Planet Editor
No in-app purchases
iLightningCam AI
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Circular Tiny Planet Editor free?
Is iLightningCam AI free?
Which has better reviews, Circular Tiny Planet Editor or iLightningCam AI?
Do Circular Tiny Planet Editor or iLightningCam AI have ads?
Which is updated more often, Circular Tiny Planet Editor or iLightningCam AI?
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