Report updated May 12, 2026
Focos
For iPhone and iPad users seeking DSLR-like depth of field and lighting control for their mobile photography.
Focos is an established photo & video app that is free with in-app purchases. With a 4.7/5 rating from 56.4K reviews, it shows polarized user reception. Users particularly appreciate depth of field and bokeh effects provide professional magazine quality results for casual photographers, though aggressive subscription paywalls prevent access to core editing features previously available for free remains a common concern.
What is Focos?
Focos is a computational photography app for iPhone and iPad that enables post-capture depth-of-field and lighting adjustments.
Users hire Focos to achieve professional-grade bokeh and lighting effects on mobile photos without requiring expensive DSLR equipment.
Current Momentum
v2.11 · 3w ago
Maintenance- Ships minor bug fixes only.
- Last major feature release unknown.
Active Nemesis
Darkroom: Photo & Video Editor
By Bergen Co.
Other Rivals
7-Day Rank Pulse 🇺🇸
Photo & VideoNo ranking data
Rating Pulse 🇺🇸
Recent User MoodAI-powered deep analysis surfacing high-signal insights. Still in beta, accuracy improves daily. For informational purposes only.
What makes this app unique?
What Does It Look Like?
How Is The App's Momentum Right Now?
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What Are The Key Features?
AI-calculated depth of field for existing photos without manual selection
Placement of multiple light sources in 3D space with adjustable color and brightness
Manual refinement of depth maps using pressure-sensitive input on iPad
How much does it cost?
- Free version with core computational photography tools
- In-app purchases for advanced features
Freemium model utilizing IAP to gate advanced computational tools and professional lens simulations.
Who Built It?
Mosaic S.r.l.
Scaling iconic digital utilities through data-driven improvements to help users navigate weather, language barriers, and communication security.
Portfolio
13
Apps
Who is Mosaic S.r.l.?
Mosaic S.r.l. operates as a specialized vehicle within the Bending Spoons ecosystem, focusing on the acquisition and optimization of high-utility evergreen applications rather than original IP development. Their competitive advantage lies in a centralized operational model that applies sophisticated AI and data-science layers to established products, effectively out-monetizing independent developers in crowded categories like Weather and Productivity. The aggressive update cadence across their portfolio suggests a strategy where legacy utilities are transformed into high-margin subscription engines with continuous feature iteration.
Who is Mosaic S.r.l. for?
- Global mobile users seeking professional-grade utilities
- Travelers
- Commuters
- Individuals prioritizing digital security
Portfolio momentum
Maintaining an intense development pace with 78 updates across the portfolio in the last six months, ensuring nearly all active titles remain current.
What other apps does Mosaic S.r.l. make?
iTranslate Translator
Robokiller: Spam Call Blocker
SlideShow Maker Photo to Video
Scan Hero: PDF Scanner
TrapCall: Reveal No Caller ID
Speak & Translate - Translator
What do users think recently?
Low confidence · Latest 82 of 198 total reviews analyzed · Based on 198 reviews. Signal may be noisy.
How did the latest release land?
What is the recent mood?
Recent user voice shows a mixed sentiment. Users appreciate depth of field and bokeh effects provide professional magazine quality results for casual photographers, but report aggressive subscription paywalls prevent access to core editing features previously available for free and touch input inaccuracies during zoomed editing sessions break the precision of depth masking.
What Users Love
What Frustrates Users
What is the competitive landscape for Focos?
How's The Photo & Video Market?
Market outlook for this category
Available very soon
The rivals identified
The Nemesis
Darkroom: Photo & Video Editor
★4.8 (29.1K)Bergen Co.
⚡Darkroom is the direct market leader in the computational photography and post-processing niche, maintaining a high-velocity release cadence that mirrors Focos's focus on professional-grade mobile editing.
Head to Head
Focos must double down on its unique light-field depth-editing engine to differentiate from Darkroom's broader, more versatile editing platform.
What sets Focos apart
Focos provides superior light-field depth manipulation and post-capture focus adjustment tools for portrait photography.
Focos offers a more specialized, singular focus on bokeh simulation compared to Darkroom's generalist editing suite.
What's Darkroom: Photo & Video Editor's Edge
Darkroom delivers a more robust, multi-platform ecosystem that supports professional RAW workflows and non-destructive editing.
Darkroom's frequent release cadence allows for faster adoption of new iOS hardware capabilities and system APIs.
Contenders
Cloud-based asset synchronization enables seamless transitions between mobile, tablet, and desktop creative workflows.
Advanced masking and AI-powered subject selection tools provide deeper control than standard mobile editing apps.
Halide Mark II - Pro Camera
★4.4 (12.9K)Lux Optics Incorporated
🚀Halide is a direct competitor in the pro-photography niche, focusing on manual control and computational capture rather than just post-processing.
Features a proprietary manual focus peaking and exposure control interface designed for professional photographers.
Provides specialized computational capture modes that bypass standard iOS processing for higher fidelity raw output.
Peers
Offers a comprehensive suite of professional-grade editing tools completely free of charge or subscription barriers.
Selective adjustment brushes provide precise control over specific image areas without requiring complex layer management.
Strong community-driven social platform integrates creative inspiration directly into the photo editing experience.
Film-emulation presets provide a distinct aesthetic signature that differentiates it from purely technical editing tools.
Automated background removal and AI-generated studio lighting effects streamline e-commerce product photography workflows.
High-velocity release schedule of 26 updates in six months indicates aggressive AI feature deployment.
The outtake for Focos
Strengths to defend, gaps to attack
Core Strengths
- Computational depth-mapping engine enables DSLR-like portrait effects on non-portrait hardware
- iPad-specific Apple Pencil integration increases switching costs for professional mobile photographers
Critical Frictions
- High-cost subscription model alienates legacy users
- Touch-input precision errors in the brush tool erode professional utility
- Feature parity gaps between iPhone and iPad versions
Growth Levers
- Expansion into B2B photography workflows
- Integration of wearable-based remote shutter triggers
- Untapped educational partnerships for computational photography training
Market Threats
- Darkroom’s 26-release cadence outpaces Focos’s update cycle
- Photoroom’s aggressive AI-feature deployment in the e-commerce segment
- Rising user churn due to subscription-model friction
What are the next best moves?
Rebuild touch-input logic for the brush tool because brush inaccuracy is a top complaint → improve professional utility
Brush tool precision is a primary complaint theme among power users.
Trade-off: Pause the development of new bokeh filters — precision is a higher churn risk.
Audit iPad feature parity because tablet users report missing core functionality → reduce iPad-specific churn
iPad users report that core features are missing compared to the iPhone version.
Trade-off: Deprioritize the AR portrait preview update — parity is a more critical retention lever.
A counter-intuitive read
The app's high-cost subscription model is not just a monetization failure, but a strategic error that creates an opening for competitors to capture the prosumer segment through lower-friction pricing.
Feature Gaps vs Competitors
- Non-destructive RAW editing (available in Darkroom but absent here)
- Unified library management across Mac/iPad/iPhone (available in Darkroom but absent here)
Key Takeaways
Focos retains a strong core utility in depth-mapping, but the aggressive subscription shift and technical regressions in brush precision are driving user churn, so the PM must prioritize fixing input accuracy to stabilize the professional user base.
Where Is It Heading?
Declining
The mobile photography market is consolidating around high-velocity editors that offer professional-grade RAW workflows. Focos is currently exposed due to a lack of significant feature updates and a monetization strategy that alienates its most loyal users, so the PM must pivot to technical hygiene to prevent further market share erosion.
The transition to a high-cost subscription model alienates long-term users, which accelerates churn and drives negative sentiment trends.
Technical regressions in touch precision during editing sessions erode the app's value for professional photographers, leading to lower retention.