Retrospecs vs HalftonePix
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.
HalftonePix
Apply unique artistic effects to your photos with a variety of dot, line, and wave patterns. Customize shapes and colors for a personalized look. Transform selfies or gallery images into memorable artwork.
- Halftone dot effects
- Line and stripe effects
- Wave patterns
- Customizable shapes and colors
- Apply to selfies or gallery photos
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HalftonePix brings advanced artistic photo effects to your mobile device. Our filters include a variety of halftone styles, patterns, shapes, and colors. Customize everything for a truly unique effect. HalftonePix includes: - Variety of dot effects (akin to newspaper print or comics) - Line and stripe effects - Waves - Circles HalftonePix allows you to apply a halftone effect to a selfie or a photo from gallery. Don't miss out on this unique and memorable photo filter!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Retrospecs at 4.8 against HalftonePix's 4.3. Retrospecs also leads on review sentiment (94% vs 67%) and ratings volume (364 vs 7). HalftonePix's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 14.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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 HalftonePix sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Retrospecs holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Retrospecs has 364 ratings behind it against 7, 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 67% of HalftonePix's.
Retrospecs ships an update every 2 months, HalftonePix fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on August 26, 2026 and June 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Retrospecs | HalftonePix |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (364 ratings) — better | 4.3 (7 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 94.3% of reviews — better | 66.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 364 — better | 7 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 | 9.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 27 MB | 17 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | John Parker | Aevica Software |
Customer experience
Retrospecs
HalftonePix
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
HalftonePix
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
HalftonePix
- Premium Styles$4.99
