iFocus app review: make parts of your photos stand out by darkening other parts

Introduction

iFocus by CHENG LUNG chang is an app that allows you to make certain parts of your photos stand out more. I expected quite a lot from this app, as I think you can do some really cool perspective changes by shifting the focus on another object in your photo. Regrettably, this app under-delivers due to the way it actually creates the illusion of something being more prominent in the photo. On top of that, the app is poorly designed and it’s never clear what you’re actually doing.

Using the App to Create a Great Photo

When I started up the app, I expected at least some kind of tutorial. There is a button on the app that says Demo Video, but clicking that sends me to a video that details the in-app purchase for gradient colors, and doesn’t tell me anything about the app itself. In my case, this video didn’t even work!

On the main screen of the app there are three menu items. The first is to take a photo straight from the app, the second is the option to select a photo from your Camera Roll, and the third option is the shop. More about that later.

When you use a photo, you first pick what you want to have stand out. This is only done in one shape, a circle. Now the app will pull a filter over your photo, keeping the selected part light while the rest of the photo goes dark. The app then allows you to play around with the setting and details of the filter. It doesn’t look at all good when finished.

 

In-App Purchases

It seems to me that the creator of the app is mainly after selling in-app content to the users. As far as I can tell, there are no ads in the app. There are tons of different items in the shop you can buy, but all of these simply bring you to different apps in the App Store by the same developer. In my opinion, the developer should have made all these similar apps into one app with ads and in-app purchases. I would never have tons of different apps on my device, all with a small difference in them. The two actual upgrades for this app are a color pack and a gradient colors kit, both available for $0.99.

 

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Free
• No Ads

 

Cons

• The app doesn’t work as advertised
• So many similar apps in the app store from the same developer

 

Conclusion

I do not recommend this app. I have a recommendation for the developer though: create one big app that has all options available for purchase. I’m not taking one photo through seven different apps just to get my preferred outcome.

The app is compatible with iPad and iPhone.

There are many better apps out there in the App Store.