Comparison

Blackie vs PICSCAM

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

PICSCAM

Create unique and vibrant photo filters from your existing images. Apply a wide range of artistic tones, from vintage to fantasy, to enhance your photos. Easily adjust brightness, saturation, and contrast for a more emotional and Instagram-ready look.

Highlights
  • Create filters from photos
  • Apply vintage, retro, and fantasy tones
  • Black & White and Monochrome modes
  • Adjust brightness, saturation, and contrast
  • Apply filters to camera roll photos
  • RETRO PLUS function for instant retro feel
Features
Read full description

- Make CameraFilters more free, more colorful, more vivid and more emotional - PICSCAM is a brandnew-style filter camera application. you can create amazing photo filter from all photos and images in this world. Let’s take a photo with PICSCAM!! ◇◆◇◆◇Features of PICSCAM◇◆◇◆◇ ■You can take emotional photos just by choosing your favorite photos. A vintage and retro tone that is popular on SNS,The tones of Movies and Dramas and Arts,Fantasy pink tone,The emotional tone of evening,The tone of vivid summer sky and more… With the PICSCAM that analyzes and applies colors, you can quickly shoot emotional photos just by selecting your favorite photos. ■Filter photos can be selected from camera rolls as well as presets. In addition to over 250 preset filters, you can select filters from your favorite photos in your camera roll. ■Black&White Mode / Monochrome Mode. You can easily take Black&White Photos and Monochrome Photos. ■Suitable for creating a unified sense of Instagram gallery. With PICSCAM, you can create a sense of unity using not only the existing filters but also the photos you have taken and posted so far. Create an impressive gallery page! ■With one tap, you can create a more "retro feeling". RETRO PLUS function that gives you a retro feel with a single tap. Combined with a filter, you can take Emotional photos more easily. ■More "emotional shots" with easy adjustments. You can cut out more creative moments by making simple adjustments such as brightness, saturation, exposure, contrast and white balance. ■You can also apply a filter effect to photos on the camera roll. The number of photographs in the world makes the possibilities of expression infinite. Let's Take only one " instagrammable"photo in the world with PICSCAM! ***Features of the Full-featured version*** -You can Remove All ADs. -You can use all preset filters. -You can select filter photos from your camera roll. -You can save unlimited filter photos in app. -You can apply filters to photos in a camera roll. -You can use Black&White Mode and Monochrome Mode. *If you purchase the Full-featured version, you can remove all functional restrictions. ◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇ ==================================================== ICONS by icons8(https://icons8.com/)

Screenshots

Blackie4 screens
PICSCAM4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: PICSCAM at Free against Blackie's $3.99. PICSCAM also leads on rating (3.7 vs 3.1). Blackie's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ads (none vs shown). On update cadence 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

PICSCAM is free to download; Blackie costs $3.99 up front. PICSCAM sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Blackie asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

PICSCAM holds the better App Store score, 3.7 against 3.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Blackie has 44 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 58% of Blackie's written reviews are positive against 38% of PICSCAM's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Blackie ships an update monthly, PICSCAM every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Blackie versus PICSCAM: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBlackiePICSCAM
Price$3.99Free — better
Rating3.1 (44 ratings)3.7 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews58.5% of reviews — better37.5% of reviews
Number of ratings44 — better3
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS10.0 — better13.4
Further details — not scored
Size26 MB46 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBrutality ArtsKENICHI YAMAMOTO

Customer experience

Blackie

All ratings44 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral2.3%
Negative47.7%
Written reviews118 reviews
Positive58.5%
Neutral12.7%
Negative28.8%

PICSCAM

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive37.5%
Neutral12.5%
Negative50.0%

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

PICSCAM

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Blackie

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

PICSCAM

One-time1
  • Full featured Version$2.99

Questions

Is Blackie free?
Blackie costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is PICSCAM free?
PICSCAM is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Blackie or PICSCAM?
PICSCAM is rated higher. Blackie averages 3.1 out of 5 from 44 ratings, while PICSCAM averages 3.7 from 3 ratings.
Do Blackie or PICSCAM have ads?
PICSCAM shows ads; Blackie does not.
Which is updated more often, Blackie or PICSCAM?
Blackie ships an update monthly, and PICSCAM every 2 months. Most recently, Blackie was updated on November 1, 2026 and PICSCAM on October 31, 2026.

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