MoonCatcher vs ikPlayer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
MoonCatcher
Capture stunning images of the moon with advanced focus and zoom capabilities. Offers both automatic and manual modes for precise control over exposure, ISO, and white balance. Ideal for aspiring astrophotographers.
- Easy moon photography
- Advanced zoom (40x)
- Automatic focus adjustment
- Manual focus control
- Adjustable ISO/shutter speed
- Multiple exposure modes
- Night scene enhancements
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This is an app that allows you to easily photograph the moon at night, including its pattern. You can also zoom easily. Usage is simple. (A) Tap the moon from the menu and tap the closest moon shape among the three. (B) Point the camera at the moon and zoom. (C) Release the shutter without moving the smartphone (tripod recommended). The shutter will fire several times, so don't let it slide until the end. If you cannot take any of the photos with the moon in focus, you can try "changing the center of focus" as many times as you like below. Tap the manual mode button (second button from the bottom right) to enter manual mode, where you can manually set focus, ISO/shutter speed, white balance, and multiple exposure parameters. ------------------------- The features of this app are (1) Fully automatic function - If you select "Moon", the exposure will be automatically darkened in response to the bright moon in the night sky, and the focus will be adjusted to the distance. Since it fires continuously while changing the focus multiple times, you can choose the best result among them. (The number of consecutive shots and the center of focus can be changed with the slider) *"Change the focus center": Tap "Moon" on the shooting screen to display the moon shape selection segment, the number of consecutive shots slider, and the focus center slider. Now you can change each value. Because the moon is far away, it is difficult to focus when zoomed in. Therefore, if you take pictures while changing the focus little by little, you can expect the moon to be in focus at some point. The focus range is from 0 (nearby) to 1 (far), but in reality, the focus is shifted by 1/5 when shooting. For example, 0.7 to 0.9 (0.8 in the center). By changing the center of focus, you can shift the focus within any range and fire continuously. - There are two types of night views. ・"Night Scene 1" brightens a dark night scene by one level. ・“Night Scene 2” brightens the image one step brighter than “Night Scene 1”. It fires continuously while changing the brightness 4 times. - If you select "HDR", multiple consecutive images with different exposures will be combined to create a pseudo-large dynamic range. Multiple exposure 3 times. (2) Full manual function You can take photos by manually setting the focal length, exposure, white balance, photo composition method, and number of photos. ・Tap "Focus", "ISO/SS", and "WB" to select auto or manual. ・Tap "Multiple Exposure" to select the multiple exposure composition method and set the number of composite images (up to 100). The synthesis methods are as following. Bright: Screen composit (Screen Blend) Normal: Comparison(light) composition (Lighten Blend) Dark: Comparison (dark) composition (Darken Blend) HDR: Special composition (Special Blend) (3) Other camera functions ・Zoom function: Achieving a zoom ratio of 40 time ・A camera position: The LCD screen side or the back camera is selectable. ・Focus position specification ・Mesh display ・Aspect selection ・Deviation correction selection (4) Filter function just after the photography To display the photograph just after photography and the following filtering are possible by slider operation. ・Purity (sharpness) ・Comparison degree (contrast) ・Luminosity (exposure) ・Display list function The photos taken in this app is stored in the camera roll and in app itself too and you can see the list of them with the shooting date and time information. ・Image processing function When you tap the image on the list, it displays the list of filters for image processing. It has about 70 filters such as 'Brightness','Contrast','Blur','Sharpening','Sepia','Monochrome','Edge detection','Sketch' and so on. *** This app include the following open sources. - GPUImage (Copyright (c) 2012, Brad Larson, Ben Cochran, Hugues Lismonde, Keitaroh Kobayashi, Alaric Cole, Matthew Clark, Jacob Gundersen, Chris Williams. All rights reserved.)
ikPlayer
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Even a laptop from over 10 years ago has sufficient performance. By using a large-capacity external HDD to store the photos and videos stored on all the family's iPhones on a Windows PC set as an SMB server, if you can access it in the same wifi environment as the Windows server, all family members can access it smoothly at home. You can also import CDs and transfer music to the Windows server to share and enjoy with your family. Even if you don't have a Windows SMB server, it also supports network HDDs such as RECBOX. It's a long explanation, but I hope you'll read it all to understand what features it has. I'd also appreciate it if you could take a look at the app preview video and screenshots. What you can do with this app ・Find the Windows SMB servers in your home network ・You can access the SMB servers you find with a username and password ■What you can do before selecting a server *The list can be rearranged or deleted ・Last played ・All played history ・Favorite list. Select or All play(shuffle,Repeat) ・Favorite folders ・Playlist registered in playlist groups. Select or All play(shuffle,Repeat) ・Downloaded list & total size. Select or All play(offline) ・Videos,images from the camera roll in your iPhone with this app's high-performance media player(offline) ・Videos,music,images from files stored in your iPhone with this app's high-performance media player(offline) ・You can hide server names that you do not want to display when there are multiple SMB servers ・Detailed settings for the color and design of the SMB server list ・Setting to show/hide the status bar common to all apps. Setting the color when it is displayed ・If you turn on auto login, you can skip entering your username and password ・Back up and Restore data using the sharing function ■What you can do after selecting a server ・Display folders and files ・Play all files in a folder at once(Shuffle,Repeat) ・Folder and file display can be switched between list display and icon display ・Set thumbnails for folders. Thumbnails can be set from videos or the iPhone camera roll ・Image files are automatically displayed as thumbnails ・Set the display size and font size of folders and files ・Folder and file lists can be sorted by name, modification date and time, and size ・Detailed color design for folders and file lists ・Multiple files can be selected and added to a playlist ・Files can be downloaded, and downloaded files can be played offline ・A function to narrow down the display of files and folders using the search field ・A function to narrow down the display of files and folders by searching through sub-folders using the search field and Deep Search button ■What you can do with the media player after selecting a file ・Play videos and music. Show Image ・Switching Audio&Subtitle(Japanese and English,etc) ・Music can be played in the background (even in sleep mode) ・You can bookmark any playback position ・Check, edit, and jump to bookmark lists ・Rewind and fast forward ・Change aspect ratio ・15 second rewind and 30 second forward ・Screen lock ・Screen rotation ・Add to Favorite list ・Add to playlist ・Check playable list and jump playback.(Shuffle,Repeat) ・Set subtitle instead of file name ・Extract thumbnail from currently playing video ・Set thumbnail from camera roll ・Auto-play function when next file is available ・Function to set color design in detail ・Function related to sound as follows ・Equalizer ・Option to mute sound during playback ・Ability to adjust audio delay. (Memorized for each file) ・Ability to change playback speed ・Ability to loop playback between A & B ・The following gesture ・Change volume ・Change brightness ・Double tap left or right to fast forward or rewind 10 seconds ・Swipe left or right to fast forward or rewind(changes depending on the amount of swipe) ・Double tap for full screen(videos only) ・Swipe to end playback ・Control panel settings ・By mirroring from the Control Center, you can display videos on your TV just like with AirPlay Made in Japan
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: ikPlayer at daily against MoonCatcher's every 4 months. MoonCatcher's advantage is price ($0.99 vs $1.99) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On ads, in-app purchases 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
MoonCatcher costs $0.99 and ikPlayer $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
MoonCatcher ships an update every 4 months, ikPlayer daily. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | MoonCatcher | ikPlayer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 — better | $1.99 |
| Positive reviews | 28.6% of reviews | — |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Daily — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 23 MB | 57 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | HIROFUMI MARUO | IK Software |
In-app purchases
MoonCatcher
No in-app purchases
ikPlayer
No in-app purchases









