Retrospecs vs Retro Pixel Camera
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.
Retro Pixel Camera
This camera app applies real-time dither shaders and retro color palettes to your photos and videos. Customize effects, pixel scale, and contrast live in the viewfinder. Import existing photos to apply the same artistic filters.
- Real-time dither shader effects
- Fourteen live effects including error diffusion and ordered dither
- Thirty-eight hand-graded color palettes
- Live adjustment of pixel scale, contrast, shadows, and highlights
- Import and edit existing photos
- iPad Split View and Slide Over support
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PIXELADO Dither the world, live in the viewfinder. Pixelado is a camera that renders every frame through a real-time dither shader. Pick an effect, pick a palette, and the viewfinder is already the photo. Nothing to apply afterwards. FOURTEEN LIVE EFFECTS Floyd-Steinberg and Atkinson error diffusion, Bayer 4x4 and 2x2 ordered dither, blue-noise stipple, per-channel RGB dither, ordered halftone, posterize, CRT scanlines, and a Sobel ink edge pass. Plus four retro hardware palettes that clamp every frame to a classic 4-color or 8-bit color set. THIRTY-EIGHT COLOR PALETTES Hand-graded palettes, from clean monochrome and graphite to neon, sunset, and deep contrast. Every one of them is free. DIAL IT IN Pixel scale, contrast, shadows, highlights, and sharpness, all live on the preview. Five effects take a tint color, so you can push a dither into any two-tone you want. Your settings are stored per effect, so switching back never loses your numbers. A CAMERA THAT STAYS OUT OF THE WAY Volume button shutter, rule-of-thirds grid, tap to focus, flash, zoom, front camera, and your last shot one tap from the editor. BRING YOUR OWN PHOTOS Import anything from your library and run it through the same shader, with the same sliders. BUILT FOR IPAD Split View and Slide Over are supported, and the camera preview keeps the right aspect ratio at every window size. COMPLETELY FREE Every effect, every palette, every slider. No subscription, no unlocks, no ads. STAYS ON YOUR DEVICE Every frame is processed on your device with Metal. Nothing is uploaded. Shoot in pixels. PRIVACY POLICY AND TERMS OF USE: Apple App Store User Agreement - Terms of Use (EULA) https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy https://tahatuna.com/pixeladoprivacy For more information, please visit https://tahatuna.com For support, send an email to: ios@tahatuna.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Retrospecs at 4.8 against Retro Pixel Camera's 4.0. Retrospecs also leads on ratings volume (364 vs 1) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 26.0). Retro Pixel Camera's advantage is update cadence (every 9 days vs every 2 months). 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 Retro Pixel Camera sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Retrospecs holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Retrospecs has 364 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Retrospecs ships an update every 2 months, Retro Pixel Camera every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Retrospecs | Retro Pixel Camera |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (364 ratings) — better | 4.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 94.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 364 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 9 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 27 MB | 27 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | John Parker | Ali Taha Tuna |
Customer experience
Retrospecs
Retro Pixel Camera
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
Retro Pixel Camera
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
Retro Pixel Camera
- Pixelado Pro Weekly3 Days trial$2.997 Days
- Pixelado Pro Lifetime$4.99
Questions
Is Retrospecs free?
Is Retro Pixel Camera free?
Which has better reviews, Retrospecs or Retro Pixel Camera?
Do Retrospecs or Retro Pixel Camera have ads?
Which is updated more often, Retrospecs or Retro Pixel Camera?
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