Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

PhotoCircle vs InShot

PhotoCircle 4.9★ · Free to download 65
Winner Tie
InShot 4.9★ · Free + IAP 68

For photo and video sharing with family and friends, PhotoCircle is a good choice despite its ad issues, while InShot is a more versatile video editor, albeit with its own set of problems.

Full reviews: PhotoCircle · InShot

PhotoCircle excels at group photo and video sharing, offering unlimited storage and ease of use, but is plagued by intrusive and sometimes inappropriate ads. InShot is a powerful video and photo editor with a user-friendly interface, though it struggles with saving long videos and has faced criticism for recent feature changes and aggressive ads.

Head to head

Core Functionality: Photo/Video Sharing vs. Editing tieR8R14R17R23
PhotoCircle PhotoCircle is highly praised for its ability to easily share photos and videos within groups, making it ideal for family trips, events, and collaborative memory keeping R8R14R17R23. Users appreciate the unlimited storage and cross-platform compatibility between Apple and Android devices .
InShot InShot is primarily an editing app, lauded for its ease of use in creating and customizing videos, photos, and collages . It's seen as a good option for beginners and for business ads, offering a smooth workflow .
User Experience: Ads and Interruptions edge: PhotoCircleR1R4R6R10
PhotoCircle PhotoCircle users frequently complain about the excessive, intrusive, and sometimes inappropriate ads that interrupt usage, get stuck, or force app restarts R1R4R6R10. Some ads are described as malicious, attempting to trick users .
InShot InShot also faces significant criticism for its ads, with users reporting that they are unbearable, hard or impossible to close, and can cause the app to crash or freeze . However, some users note that the app is "almost ad-free" or that ads can be watched to unlock features R83.
Reliability and Performance edge: InShotR3R53R55R31
PhotoCircle PhotoCircle has issues with app updates requiring newer iOS versions, leading to users losing access to their photos R3R53R55. Some users report the app stopping working even with a premium account R31 and buggy interfaces or sketchy delivery . There are also complaints about notifications not working or being spammy .
InShot InShot users frequently encounter problems saving or exporting videos, especially longer ones or 4K content, with the app crashing, freezing, or taking excessively long R66R72R82. Some users report drafts disappearing .
Features and Limitations tieR7R43R59R9
PhotoCircle PhotoCircle is limited to mobile use, disappointing users who want desktop access R7R43R59. Video length is restricted to one minute R9. Users desire features like replying to comments, adding multiple photos into one image, chat functions , direct printing, or in-app album creation .
InShot InShot has faced criticism for removing features like the capture tool and limiting the number of photos in an edit . Users also complain about music restrictions due to copyright and a lack of customizability in editing features, such as searching stickers/fonts or custom rotating PIP . The forced integration of AI features is also a point of contention .
Customer Support and Account Issues tieR15R37R31R79
PhotoCircle PhotoCircle users report issues with retrieving old accounts after incidents R15 and getting banned for no reason R37. One premium user reported no response from customer support when the app stopped working R31.
InShot InShot users complain about terrible customer service, particularly regarding subscription transfers between devices or platforms, leading to lost money and forced new purchases R79. The removal of a lifetime membership option also drew strong negative reactions .
Pick PhotoCircle if

Pick PhotoCircle if you need a straightforward app for sharing photos and videos with specific groups of family and friends, value unlimited storage, and can tolerate frequent, intrusive ads R8.

Pick InShot if

Pick InShot if you are looking for a user-friendly video and photo editing tool for creating social media content, especially for short videos, and are willing to pay for a premium subscription to avoid ads and unlock features .

Evidence note: PhotoCircle's reviews are heavily skewed towards complaints about ads and technical issues, despite its high lifetime rating. InShot's reviews also show a strong negative sentiment regarding ads and saving issues, but a significant portion still praises its editing capabilities.

Frequently asked

Are PhotoCircle and InShot free to use?
Both PhotoCircle and InShot are free to download, but PhotoCircle is ad-supported, with many users complaining about intrusive ads, while InShot offers in-app purchases to remove ads and unlock premium features R1R4R10R83. PhotoCircle users have paid $10.00 for what they thought was a premium experience, only to find limitations R7.
Can I use PhotoCircle or InShot on a computer?
PhotoCircle is primarily designed for cell phones and is not available for use on a computer, which disappoints some users R7R43R59. InShot is a mobile app for editing videos and photos on devices like iPhones R97.
What are the main issues with PhotoCircle's ads?
PhotoCircle's ads are frequently described as too many, intrusive, unskippable, inappropriate, and often get stuck, forcing users to restart the app R1R4R10R12. Some ads are even reported to be malicious, attempting to trick users .
Does InShot have problems saving videos?
Yes, many InShot users report significant problems saving or exporting videos, especially if they are longer than 15 seconds or in 4K resolution, with the app frequently failing, crashing, or taking an extremely long time R66R72R82R85.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R8] PhotoCircle 5/5 · US This is great: This is so good for sharing pictures
  2. [R14] PhotoCircle 5/5 · US Wow: So far so good, what a great way to share your memories.
  3. [R17] PhotoCircle 5/5 · US Great access to photos: Such a wonderful aasaet to our family trip. So many wonder photos for everyone. Can’t wait to add to a book!
  4. [R23] PhotoCircle 5/5 · US Great way to share photos!: We’ve enjoyed this app for years! It’s the best way for us to share photos s for all kinds of events. We use it for parties, vacation, trips…. Highly recommended!!
  5. [R1] PhotoCircle 2/5 · US Too many Ads: Ads pop up too many times. Sometimes you can’t get out without killing the app and restarting.
  6. [R4] PhotoCircle 1/5 · US Hardly usable: So many ads that it is hard to even use it.
  7. [R6] PhotoCircle 3/5 · US 👍: I love the app but I wish that there weren’t ads. Other wise it’s a great app
  8. [R10] PhotoCircle 1/5 · US Ads, ads everywhere: Unable to skip ads, ads get stuck on and never end. Only way to get out of the ads is to force quit the app. Not worth it
  9. [R3] PhotoCircle 3/5 · US Love it, but…: I was using this right? And it was so nice being able to see the photos. But now I can’t anymore cuz I have to have IOS16.0 and I can’t go that far guys… I know this is a just me issue, but what id like to understand is why it requires such an update? It worked perfectly for me before. I thank you for taking the time to read this.
  10. [R53] PhotoCircle 1/5 · GB Now requires iOS 16. My old tablet maxed out at 15+: This app has upgraded beyond my ability to use it on my iPad. The forced update won’t run so I have no other option but to uninstall. Why not leave a copy of the old app available, with security caveats, or whatever? Or make a web version; I use other former apps on Safari, e.g. eBay, AirBNB, now my old tablet isn’t supported by the app.
  11. [R55] PhotoCircle 2/5 · GB Can not update: As my phone is only a 7 iPhone I cannot update the photo circle app. I have lost all my photos, can they be retrieved
  12. [R31] PhotoCircle 1/5 · US App stopped working, even with a premium account!: The app stopped working, even with a premium account paid through iTunes. So disappointed because my family was on a trip and I missed out on what they were uploading. I tried multiple times to get customer support, but never received a response.
  13. [R7] PhotoCircle 1/5 · US Only good for cell phone?: I just paid for this app so I would have flexibility for my group to download each others photos. After paying, I found out that the app is not available for use on a computer! What’s that about? My older eyes struggle to see images clearly on a cell phone. What a waste of my $10.00!
  14. [R43] PhotoCircle 2/5 · US Nothing Original: Got the premium version of this app to run on desktop to have my business submit photos to be displayed on a big board at an event party in a slideshow fashion. The app doesn’t have this functionality - this is just a less functional Google Photos - which is what I had to go to after downloading all the photos. I don’t see the point of this app.
  15. [R59] PhotoCircle 1/5 · GB It is of limited use: I am unable to upload images from a laptop so it’s no use to me.
  16. [R9] PhotoCircle 3/5 · US Limit!!!: PLEASE make the video limit longer than 1 minute!!
  17. [R15] PhotoCircle 3/5 · US I need my old account back: Hey 👋🏼 everyone on pc was able too get their old account back can u send me a email and get my old account back or i will have to give a 1 star review and i was not involved in the incident plz unband me and give my old account back i (WAS NOT) involved in it
  18. [R37] PhotoCircle 1/5 · US I got banned for no reason: I was on a few groups nothing bad was posted Me and all my friends all got banned photocircle u need to get ur game going u banned so many ppl got no reason :(
  19. [R79] InShot 1/5 · US Terrible customer service: I swich from android to iphone with a different email account and they wont let me use my yearly subscription, so i lost my money and now i have to pay for a new subscription and more expensive.
  20. [R83] InShot 5/5 · US MUST USE!: This app is almost add free and really easy to use! I had got this app because one of my friends recommended it so I got it so she would stop bugging me about it and I ended up really like this app and I have had it for 2 days
  21. [R97] InShot 2/5 · GB Quality issues: I am have problems with the quality of the finished video. I saved it in 1080p but the resulting video is almost unwatchable. This is disappointing. Could it be due to internet speed? I don’t know but I will have to find another way to edit video. I am using my iPhone to take the video and my unedited clips play beautifully.
  22. [R12] PhotoCircle 3/5 · US Ads are a killer: They’re always inappropriate and stuff
  23. [R66] InShot 3/5 · US I’m having trouble with the app: Love the app for short videos for some reason I can’t seem to download a 15 minute long video it just doesn’t download I’m so frustrated
  24. [R72] InShot 3/5 · US Easy to use, impossible to save: I love how easy it is to edit with this app BUT WHY CAN IT NOT DOWNLOAD MY VIDEOS ONCE THEY’RE DONE?!?! If the video is longer than 15 seconds, it fails 100 times before I can actually save it to my phone. This is so consistent that I’m thinking of switching to a different editing app.
  25. [R82] InShot 1/5 · US 4K takes forever: I’ve been using this app successfully for 4 years and I loved it. Within the last month or so I can no longer export 4K videos without my phone overheating and it taking a ridiculously long amount of time to export a vid. I tried turning off HDR, I tried another phone, same problem. So it’s not my phone. I’ve had to switch to CapCut. Don’t know what you guys upgraded, but it suck
  26. [R85] InShot 1/5 · US Will NOT SAVE & Chinese Company: BE AWARE that this app is a chinese app!!! I wasted 45 minutes editing my video because your app will NOT SAVE / Export it. Your app Sucks! I’ve never had this problem with CapCut ever

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store