Comparison

Blackie vs Silenus

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Blackie

This app is designed for black and white photography enthusiasts, offering a minimal interface and powerful tools for both beginners and professionals. It provides real-time effect previews, manual camera controls, and extensive editing options to achieve stunning monochrome images.

Highlights
  • Real-time effect previews
  • Manual camera controls
  • Extensive editing mods
  • Customizable presets
  • Minimalist design
  • Fast camera access
Features
Read full description

The perfect app for the Black & White photography. It doesn't matter if you've just started or you are a professional. The Blackie has something for everyone. Its minimal design and easy use with many features will make it your go-to app when you're in the mood for the Black & White. It will help you explore all the possibilities of the Black & White photography and achieve the best result. • Fast. Blackie opens in camera mode, so you can instantly capture moments around you and give them vintage feeling. • What you see is what you get. All effects are previewed in Real-time. • Shuffle your best. The smart shuffle works exceptionally. You only need to shuffle a couple of times and snap the best one. • Customize. If you have time, you can manage every effect in your photo with Mods by yourself. • Simple Minimal Design. The way that Blackie works is unique. The experience is clear and fast. No need for unnecessary buttons. • Just save it! Captured photo goes instantly to your photos library. It is up to you when you are ready to share it with the world. • No in-app purchases and no ads. Nothing to bother you while making memories. • Settings Save Original Photo On / Off. Save Photos with Compression (JPEG) On / (TIFF) Off. Modify UI to Lighting Conditions. (Black or White design). • Camera Manual Controls Manual Focus with Focus Peaking. Lenses. Manual Exposure. Shutter Speed and ISO. Manual White Balance. EV. • Grids 9x Grid Types with custom Opacity. Center Lines On / Off. Grid Color Black / White. • Presets 8x Slots for custom Presets. • Mods Crop and Rotate. Films. 5x Scanned Analog Films. 3x Digitally Created. Brightness. Contrast. Color Filters. 6x Types Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue and Infra. Vignette Overlay. 5x Types with rotations and inverted light. Fade. Low, Mid, High mods. Shadows. Highlights. Sharp. 2x Types Clarity and Bloom. Grain. Frame. Black & White frame with custom size. • Post processing Before / After function. Tags: #blackieapp #blackie Note: iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4/4S, iPod 4th generation, iPad2, iPad Mini 1st generation, iPad3 is Missing Sharp and Grain Mods. All iPads preview and capture is in Square Mode only.

About

Silenus

Features
Read full description

Edit • Basic - Temperature, Tint, Exposure, Contrast, Brightness, and Saturation Colors • Ver, Aestas, Autumnus, and Hiems Presets • Terminus - Nostalgia - Amber, Bronze, Copper, Denim, Eclipse, Faience, Glaze, Henna, Iron, Jade, Khaki, Linen, Mosaic, Nocturne, Oak, Porcelain, Quill, Rawhide, Slate, Trellis, Usukō, Velvet, Wool, Xanadu, Yarrow, and Zen • Mensis - Duotone - Green, Spring Green, Cyan, Azure, Blue, Violet, Magenta, Rose, Red, Orange, Yellow, and Chartreuse Green • Annus - Combination - Atmosphere, Bay, Crystal, Desert, Ether, Forest, Gulf, Haze, Ice, Jungle, Kambaba, Lava, Moss, Nectar, Oasis, Peat, Quarry, Reef, Storm, Tide, Unexplored, Vulcan, Woodland, Xenon, Yonder, and Zephyr • Labes - Blur - Miniature, Bokeh, Box, Disc, Gaussian, Masked, Median, Motion, and Zoom • Remedium - Adjustment - AbsoluteDifference, ColorClamp, Controls, Matrix, Polynomial, Threshold, Exposure, Gamma, Hue, ToSRGB, ToLinear, Kelvin, ToneCurve, Vibrance, and WhitePoint • Augendae - Effect - CrossPolynomial, Cube, Invert, Map, Posterize, LabToRGB, RGBtoLab, Dither, Document, FalseColor, Palettize, Thermal, Vignette, VignetteEffect, and X-ray • Noir - Monochrome - R Channel, G Channel, B Channel, MinRGB, MaxRGB, Tonal, Mono, Noir, Luminance, Meteorite, Ochre, Sienna, Umber, Charcoal, Bistre, Azurite, Malachite, Cinnabar, Silver, Ultramarine, Verdigris, Carmine, Sepia, Tyrian, Cocoa, Saffron, Madder, Indigo, Turmeric, Spinach, Carrot, Iris, Marigold, Artichoke, Paprika, and Cyaneus • Processus - Cool Tone - Greenery, Peridot, Emerald, Alexandrite, Process, Aventurine, Opal, Turquoise, Amazonite, Cerulean, Ethereal, Marina, Lapis, Twilight, Sapphire, Corallite, Iolite, and Amethyst • Translatio - Warm Tone - Daiquiri, Lime, Chartreuse, Illuminating, Transfer, Pineapple, Lemon, Banana, Cantaloupe, Apricot, Orange, Mango, Fiery, ChiliPepper, Barn, Fig, Peach, and Raspberry • Ipsas - Style - Bloom, Comic, Crystallize, Depth, Edges, EdgeWork, Gabor, Gloom, Hexagonal, HighlightShadow, LineOverlay, Pixellate, Pointillize, SpotColor, and SpotLight • Mollis - Desaturated High Contrast - Darken, Multiply, ColorBurn, LinearBurn, Lighten, Screen, ColorDodge, LinearDodge, Overlay, SoftLight, HardLight, VividLight, LinearLight, PinLight, Difference, Exclusion, Subtract, Divide, Hue, Saturation, Color, and Luminosity • Alteratio - Distortion - Bump, BumpLinear, Splash, Wrap, Droste, Displacement, Glass, Lozenge, Hole, LightTunnel, NinePartStretched, NinePartTiled, Pinch, StretchCrop, Torus, Twirl, and Vortex • Causa - Generator - BlurredR, Checker, ConstantColor, LenticularHalo, Mesh, Random, RoundedR, RRStroke, StarShine, Stripes, and Sunbeams • Prospectiva - Geometry - AffineTransform, Bicubic, Crop, Flip, KeystoneCorrection, Lanczos, PerspectiveCorrection, PerspectiveRotate, PerspectiveTransform, Extent, and Straighten • Clivus - Gradient - Ocean, Sierra, Waterfall, Glacier, Fjord, Dune, Lagoon, River, Cavern, Byzantium, Heritage, Afterglow, Murex, Jasmine, and Nebulas • Dimidius - Halftone - Circular, CMYK, Dot, Hatched, and Line • Minuo - Reduction - Row, Column, Area, AreaMin, AreaMinA, AreaMax, AreaMaxA, AreaMinMaxR, and K-Means • Acuere - Sharpen - SharpenLuminance, UnsharpMask, Portrait, Flower, Architecture, Scenery, Web, and Generic • Fictilis - Tile - AffineClamp, Affine, Clamp, Triangle, FourfoldTranslated, FourfoldRotated, SixfoldRotated, Kaleidoscope, Parallelogram, FourfoldReflected, SixfoldReflected, EightfoldReflected, and TwelvefoldReflected • Conversio - Transition - Accordion, BarsSwipe, CopyMachine, Disintegrate, Dissolve, Flash, Mod, PageCurl, Shadow, Ripple, and Swipe • Super - Overlay - Circle, Ellipse, Hexagon, Pentagon, Square, Triangle, and Spring Access Membership • Terminus - Weekly - 297 Presets • Mensis - Monthly - 357 Presets • Annus - Annual - 383 Presets Terms of Use • Plan automatically renews until cancelled. EULA • https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Blackie4 screens
Silenus4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Silenus at Free against Blackie's $3.99. Blackie's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 11) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 13.0). On update cadence, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Silenus is free to download; Blackie costs $3.99 up front. Silenus sells 11 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. Blackie asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Blackie ships an update monthly, Silenus every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Blackie versus Silenus: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBlackieSilenus
Price$3.99Free — better
Rating3.1 (44 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews58.5% of reviews—
Number of ratings44 — better—
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS10.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size26 MB60 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBrutality ArtsYu Tse Wu

Bugs and requests

Blackie

Reported bugs

53 issues
  • Severe crashes
  • Photos not saving
  • Editing not saving
  • Upper side of pictures cut off
  • Double assignments in UI (e.g., histogram)
Show 48 more
  • Filter usage broken
  • Setting a frame to black does not persist
  • GUI not usable on iPad Pro
  • Camera shuts down with manual focus on wide angle
  • App crashes when using manual focus on wide angle lens
  • App did not save any images
  • Latest update crashes consistently
  • App crashes on opening/shutter click
  • Photo not recorded in Photos app
  • Cannot take pictures after setup choice
  • App no longer works, shutter circle does nothing
  • App freezes on opening screen
  • App crashing with iPhone Pro 15
  • App freezes when opening photos
  • App freezes and hangs
  • Some shots lost and not saved
  • App drains battery even in background
  • App freezes on each section
  • App crashes when trying to load/edit from library
  • App crashes when importing photos
  • App crops images
  • App not responding
  • App crashes frequently
  • App not working on iPhone 7
  • App not working on iPhone XR
  • App not working on iPhone XS Max
  • App not working on iPhone X, Xs, Xs Max
  • App not working after last update (iPhone XS Plus)
  • Icons too small
  • Buttons too small
  • Icons are tiny
  • UI not optimized for screen size
  • Interface not user-friendly
  • Cropping to square is forced
  • Random/shuffle FX is perfect but cannot be saved
  • Clunky unintuitive UI
  • Cannot access photos, freezes phone
  • Uploads sporadically, then uploads wrong photo
  • No icons show up, cannot take photos
  • App still doesn't work on new iPhone, unable to take photos
  • Controls not quite right for iPhone 14 Pro Max
  • App doesn't work with iPad Pro 11
  • App doesn't work with iPad Air 4
  • Buttons cut off at screen edge and don't respond
  • Live camera image visible, but UI buttons cut off
  • App crashes
  • Bug crashing again
  • App not responding

Requested features

24 requests
  • Customizable default comment in metadata
  • Home screen shortcut icon
  • Masking function
  • Retouch/correction function
  • Support for 48MP max grid
Show 19 more
  • Features for night photography
  • Optimization for new iPhones
  • Ability to turn off shuffle
  • RAW capture support
  • Zoom while shooting
  • Ability to edit preset names
  • Save favorite combinations from shuffle
  • Support for second lens on iPhone 7 Plus
  • Ability to pinch out to zoom in
  • Tiff format support
  • Color photo option with same interface
  • More film simulations
  • Smaller font size
  • Support for larger photo databases
  • Guidance on app usage
  • Permanent settings after restart
  • Ability to reset chosen preset
  • Scroll through camera roll within the app
  • Clear way to upload to computer/camera roll

Silenus

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Blackie

No in-app purchases

11 purchases

Silenus

Subscriptions3
  • Terminus$0.997 Days
  • Mensis$2.991 Month
  • Annus$29.991 Year
One-time8
  • SuperFree
  • RemediumFree
  • Minuo$0.99
Show 5 more
  • Acuere$0.99
  • Labes$1.99
  • Mollis$1.99
  • Fictilis$1.99
  • Conversio$1.99

Questions

Is Blackie free?
Blackie costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Silenus free?
Silenus is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Blackie or Silenus have ads?
Neither Blackie nor Silenus shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Blackie or Silenus?
Blackie ships an update monthly, and Silenus every 3 weeks. Most recently, Blackie was updated on October 15, 2026 and Silenus on October 14, 2026.

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