Comparison

Blur Image Background vs Phocus

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

Head to head
About

Blur Image Background

Easily create stunning blurred backgrounds for your photos. Select an image, adjust blur intensity with a customizable brush, and even erase effects. Save and share your edited images instantly.

Highlights
  • Automatic background blur
  • Adjustable brush size
  • Erase blur effect
  • Save edited photos
  • Share via social media
  • Camera option
Features
Read full description

Auto blur background app to create beautiful blur backgrounds to your photos quickly and easily. This photo background blur app enables us to select a photo and give it a blurry look. Choose a photo that you like from the phone or take a snap using the camera option, add a blur effect to the image background by adjusting the brush size. Also erase the blur effect on the photo wherever you want. After adding the blur effect the photo can be saved to the phone. Also share the blurred photo with your dear ones through social media platforms. Do you want to give your photo a blur effect? Then this photo blur app is the one you must be looking for. Key features 1. Camera option to take a photo. 2. The photo to be blurred can be selected from the phone. 3. Blur option to blur the selected photo. 4. The size of the blur brush can be adjusted. 5. The blur effect given to the image can be erased. 6. Save the blurred photo to the phone. 7. Share the blurred image through different social media platforms. Subscription Terms - Subscribe to get unlimited video collage app access to all features. - Upon confirmation of purchase, the payment will be charged to the iTunes account. - Until you turn off the auto-renew at least 24 hours before the end of the current. period it will be automatically renewed. - If you decide to turn off auto-renewal, you can turn it off maybe by going to account settings after purchase. -The renewal amount will be charged from the account within 24 hours before the end of the current period. -As per the policy, cancellation of the current subscription is not allowed during the active subscription period. Once purchased, refunds will not be returned for any unused portion of the subscription period. Terms of use - https://www.outthinkingindia.com/terms-of-use/ Privacy policy - https://www.outthinkingindia.com/privacy-policy/

About

Phocus

This AI-powered app creates DSLR-style portraits by simulating realistic background blur and offering advanced 3D relighting capabilities. It allows for precise control over depth, lighting, and scene atmosphere, transforming any photo into a cinematic masterpiece.

Highlights
  • DSLR-style portrait creation
  • Realistic background blur simulation
  • Advanced 3D relighting
  • AI-powered subject detection
  • DSLR lens emulation
  • Portrait video blur
Features
Read full description

# Selected by App Store Editors Featured in “Best New Apps and Updates” in the United States and Canada. Phocus is a portrait camera and depth editor for iPhone and iPad, built for realistic bokeh, lens character, focus control, and cinematic color. Capture DSLR-style portraits, preview lens and depth effects live, refine background blur with precision, and create polished images with more control over focus, tone, and mood. With Phocus, you can go beyond simple portrait blur. Shoot with real-time lens and bokeh previews, import your own LUTs, shape aperture and focus depth, edit depth-aware masks, and fine-tune subject separation after capture. Whether you are creating cinematic portraits, polished social content, or expressive camera looks, Phocus gives you powerful tools in a fast and intuitive workflow. Inspired by real optical systems, Phocus lets you simulate lens behavior without external gear. Control aperture feel, blur falloff, bokeh character, focal response, and depth transitions with tools designed for creators who want more than one-tap filters. Phocus Camera keeps the shooting experience closer to the final capture, with live lens previews, natural bokeh rendering, custom LUT import, curated color looks, manual controls, and responsive launch performance. "Looking for an app that not only adds the Portrait mode effect to your photos but does a bit more? Then Phocus is the one you're looking for." — iMore "An Outstanding AI Portrait and Macro Camera for the iPhone. It has clearly established itself as the front runner in this iOS camera apps." — John DeNicola "The app is a fine example of technical and artistic craftsmanship." — iGeeksBlog "Phocus is an excellent photo and video editing app for your iPhone that lets you edit both portrait photos and videos with great attention to detail." — The Useful Tech Phocus enhances your creativity with smart tools: • Live lens and bokeh preview for portrait capture • Natural depth-of-field with adjustable aperture, focus depth, and blur falloff • Lens character controls inspired by classic optical systems • Custom .cube LUT import with personal LUT organization • Curated LUT library for Daily, Film Looks, Vintage, Signature, and Mono styles • Look controls for intensity, tone, grain amount, and grain texture • Manual camera controls for ISO, shutter speed, white balance, exposure, and focus • RAW and ProRAW support for high-quality capture workflows • Intelligent depth separation for natural portrait blur and refined bokeh • Real bokeh simulation with aperture shapes and light behavior • Precision brush and eraser tools for edge refinement • Dual-layer editing for foreground and background tone • Portrait video blur with realistic depth-of-field • 3D LUT color styles for cinematic previews and edits • 3D Relight and 3D Scene Preview for depth-aware lighting control • Depth Visualizer, Tap-to-Focus, portrait matte, and depth map export • Lock Screen and Control Center shortcuts for quick camera launch and editing • Built-in tutorials to learn the app step by step Phocus AI Subscription Unlock full creative control with a Phocus AI subscription, available monthly or annually. Terms of use: https://rayinformatics.com/terms Privacy policy: https://rayinformatics.com/privacy Contact: https://rayinformatics.com/contact

Screenshots

Blur Image Background4 screens
Phocus4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Phocus at 4.6 against Blur Image Background's 3.6. Phocus also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 6 months). Blur Image Background's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, review sentiment, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Blur Image Background sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days and Phocus sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Phocus holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Phocus has 6.8K ratings behind it against 143, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 52% of Blur Image Background's written reviews are positive against 50% of Phocus's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Blur Image Background ships an update every 6 months, Phocus fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Blur Image Background versus Phocus: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBlur Image BackgroundPhocus
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.6 (143 ratings)4.6 (6.8K ratings) — better
Positive reviews52.0% of reviews — better49.7% of reviews
Number of ratings1436.8K — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size29 MB349 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerout thinking limitedRAY INFORMATICS YAZILIM TEKNOLOJI MEDYA DANISMANLIK VE EGITIM TICARET LIMITED SIRKETI

Customer experience

Blur Image Background

All ratings143 ratings
Positive62.9%
Neutral7.0%
Negative30.1%
Written reviews173 reviews
Positive52.0%
Neutral9.8%
Negative38.2%

Phocus

All ratings6,838 ratings
Positive88.8%
Neutral4.8%
Negative6.3%
Written reviews499 reviews
Positive49.7%
Neutral5.2%
Negative45.1%

User reviews

Blur Image Background

From 143 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💯 Excellent blur quality
  • 🔍 Precise blur control
  • 🔨 Useful for photo editing
  • 🎨 Customizable blur intensity

Room to improve

  • 🚫 Frequent ads disrupt usage
  • 💾 Difficulty saving edited photos
  • 🔍 Imprecise manual blur tool
  • 🔴 Entire image gets blurred instead of just background

Phocus

From 6.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Good app
  • 👍 Best tool camera app
  • 👍 Easy editing, works great
  • 👍 Makes your phone current

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Hilariously terrible effects
  • 🔒 Can't limit access to personal stuff
  • 🐛 Awful, blurs everything
  • 🐛 Crashes too much
  • 🐛 Doesn't render, gets stuck

Bugs and requests

Blur Image Background

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashes on launch for some users
  • Saved photos not retaining blur effect
  • Ads cover up editing controls

Requested features

3 requests
  • Automatic background blur option
  • More blur filter styles (e.g. bokeh, pixelated)
  • Ability to save edited photos without ads

Phocus

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Can't save pictures
  • Photos don't download
  • Unable to save picture
  • Camera crashes when clicking portrait
  • App dies if you don't upgrade

Requested features

4 requests
  • Change bokeh shapes/effects
  • Add manual brush to control bokeh
  • Make it a photo extension in Photos app
  • Add more shadows and directional lighting

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Blur Image Background

Subscriptions3
  • Premium Features$2.997 Days
  • Premium Features$5.991 Month
  • Premium Features3 Days trial$29.991 Year
5 purchases

Phocus

Subscriptions4
  • Phocus AI Weekly2 variants$3.997 Days
  • Phocus AI Monthly2 variants$7.991 Month
  • Phocus AI Yearly7 Days trial$19.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Phocus AI Yearly7 Days trial$39.991 Year
One-time1
  • Phocus AI Unlimited Access$59.99

Questions

Is Blur Image Background free?
Blur Image Background is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Phocus free?
Phocus is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Blur Image Background or Phocus?
Phocus is rated higher. Blur Image Background averages 3.6 out of 5 from 143 ratings, while Phocus averages 4.6 from 6.8K ratings.
Do Blur Image Background or Phocus have ads?
Blur Image Background shows ads; Phocus does not.
Which is updated more often, Blur Image Background or Phocus?
Blur Image Background ships an update every 6 months, and Phocus fortnightly. Most recently, Blur Image Background was updated on September 21, 2026 and Phocus on September 23, 2026.

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