Retrospecs vs Dot Art
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Retrospecs
Transform your photos and videos into retro pixel art. Emulate the look of classic computers and consoles from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Customize your output with various graphics engines, color palettes, and fonts.
- Pixelate images and video clips
- Emulate 40+ classic computer/console systems
- Create custom graphics modes
- Variety of color palettes and fonts
- Supports Commodore 64, IBM PC, ZX Spectrum, Amiga, and more
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A retro computing / pixel art camera app. Retrospecs lets you convert images and video clips so they appear as they would on a wide variety of home computers and consoles from the 70's, 80's and 90's. Simply take a picture (or select one from your photo library) and you can display it as it would appear on over forty systems including the Commodore 64, IBM PC (DOS, CGA, EGA and VGA), Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, Sega Mega Drive, Nintendo Game Boy and even the original 1984 model Apple Macintosh. If that's not enough you can also create your own custom modes based around four different graphics engines and a wide variety of color palettes and character fonts. (The free version only contains a limited number of systems/dither modes and the custom editors, video clip processing and animation options aren't available.) All trademarks are acknowledged as the property of their respective owners.
Dot Art
Create unique artistic images by controlling dot size and spacing. This tool offers a different visual experience and can be helpful for overcoming phobias.
- Adjustable dot size
- Control dot spacing
- Unique artistic effects
- Phobia overcoming tool
- Different visual experience
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Dot Art transforms your photos into gorgeous dot art, pixel art, and mosaic masterpieces. Control the size and spacing of every dot to craft your own pointillism, halftone, or stippling effects—from bold pixel blocks to delicate dotted textures. WHY YOU'LL LOVE IT • Photo to dot art in one tap—instant artistic transformation • Fully adjustable dot size & spacing for endless creative styles • New live camera effects: shoot directly through real-time dot & pixel filters • Import any image and apply effects instantly • Rich filters, black & white, and elegant wedding effects • A soothing cure for trypophobia—turn unsettling images into calm, ordered dot patterns Whether you're a designer, photographer, or just love creative play, Dot Art makes pixel and dot art effortless and fun. Download now and dot your world. Millva.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Retrospecs at none against Dot Art's shown. Retrospecs also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 55 months) and ratings volume (367 vs 2). Dot Art's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). On price, review sentiment, in-app purchases and device support 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. Retrospecs sells 5 one-off in-app purchases and Dot Art sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Dot Art holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Retrospecs has 367 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 94% of Retrospecs's written reviews are positive against 100% of Dot Art's.
Retrospecs ships an update every 2 months, Dot Art every 55 months. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Retrospecs | Dot Art |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (367 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 94.3% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 367 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 55 months |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 27 MB | 13 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | John Parker | CHI HAO CHIU |
Customer experience
Retrospecs
Dot Art
Bugs and requests
Retrospecs
Reported bugs
3 issues- Animation option not working properly
- Video import and saving issues
- Occasional image loading failures
Requested features
5 requests- Add more retro systems (e.g. NES, TI-99/4A)
- Improve video encoding capabilities
- Allow adjusting dithering levels
- Add support for transparent PNGs
- Implement batch processing and export options
Dot Art
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Retrospecs
- Small tip$0.99
- Medium tip$1.99
- Unlock everything$1.99
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- Big tip$4.99
- The king of tips$9.99
Dot Art
- Dot Art Pro$2.99
