Retrospecs vs C00L PXL
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
Read full descriptionHide full description
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.
C00L PXL
Read full descriptionHide full description
The C00L PXL app is an experiment by me Milan Kazarka on how to create an image processor that would create visually appealing art in the theme of the command line. You could put it into the same category as ASCII art and overall the aesthetics are inspired by the ‘ricing’ Unix community. C00L PXL doesn’t collect any data and it is a fun hobby project.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: C00L PXL at none against Retrospecs's 6. C00L PXL also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 2 months). On price, ads, device support 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
Both are free to download. Retrospecs sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. C00L PXL asks for nothing beyond the download.
Retrospecs ships an update every 2 months, C00L PXL daily. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Retrospecs | C00L PXL |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (367 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 94.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 367 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Daily — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 | 14.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 27 MB | 9 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | John Parker | JUMP DEER s.r.o. |
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
C00L PXL
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
Show 3 moreShow fewer
- Big tip$4.99
- The king of tips$9.99
- Tipapottamus Prime$24.99
C00L PXL
No in-app purchases
