Prequel: Photo & Video Editor Reviews

I have the free version and it’s so amazing that it makes me want to get the gold version. That’s how apps should be! With most apps, they make it impossible to enjoy using unless you pay because they want you to buy a subscription. That always just turns me off and makes me delete Prequel because I don’t like feeling pressured into buying something just to enjoy it. But I’ve been using this app for over a year, maybe two, and it’s the exact opposite! There are so many filters and effects that you can use even with the free version, there aren’t a millions ads popping up all the time, and it doesn’t feel like they’re pressuring you to get a subscription or be forced to stop using Prequel altogether! I can’t stress enough how much there is to do even with the free version of Prequel, and how much that makes me WANT to get the gold version. I don’t mind paying to have access to even more filters/effects because they’ve given me the chance to see how much is available even for free, so I know that the paid version must be even more amazing. THIS is how apps should be, and other apps should take notes. I will be getting a gold subscription as soon as I can because I WANT to not because I feel like I HAVE TO.

I wanted to do a 3 day trial. So as soon as I downloaded Prequel I went to my subscriptions to cancel before getting charged the weekly. I still got charged $4.99 week after week. Come to find out unlike other apps in Prequel store Prequel uses the Apple API to also login their website to create a login & subscription as well & collecting your Apple email address which I don’t give out to anyone due to security & to prevent spam/junk mail being sent to me. So while you add Prequel through Prequel Store & think it’ll be as simple as to unsubscribe before being charged you have to go to their help button do a search for the unsubscribe. Which doesn’t gives you a direct link but only tells you where to go to do such. You have to go to the company website then login using the API to unsubscribe. So even if you went the normal route of unsubscribing an app by going through Apple ID, purchases/subscription, cancel subscription. You still have to go to this app actual website to officially cancel the subscription or you’ll still get charged. On Apple request a refund this app shows up as a free app so to requesting a refund is a grayed out option due to this. I’m reporting this as a scam to Apple & requesting for a refund. So far you guys STOLEN & owe me for 5 weeks of payments after I canceled the subscription from Prequel Store 5 weeks ago.

Too late did I realize by clicking the “trial” subscription that you would be charged weekly and NOT monthly the 5$ amount.
In the beginning I believe it to be intentionally phrased to swindle the consumer. I doubt this company actually cares. I buy apps because I don’t mind an investment to purchase an app is no big deal to me. But I signed up for the subscription, which said a 1/week trial and then your subscription will begin within 7 days at 5 dollars. Now some re might come on here and blah blah but it is deliberately misleading. What they meant by 7days was that EVERY SEVEN days they’d charge you 5 dollars. It took me two months to realize because my other purchases were grouped in with it in notifications (another feature I’m sure they bank on because they probably make the most money on people who get it and then remove it after a few months.) I doubt they actually care and I know how iTunes works they won’t refund nor gonna bother trying. Overall Prequel is great if you like spending that much money. They do have a yearly option and some other stuff which I did want to purchase if after one month I enjoyed Prequel . However after spending 40$ on it (my bad but they definitely intend you not to notice.) I just can’t bring myself to spend another 28$ for the yearly.

I love Prequel 's interface and ease of access to edit photos and videos. But as a turn of events really turned me off from Prequel. Recently I had to delete apps to free up space. Originally i had the yearly subscription to this app and didn't think anything of it, I paid for a yearly Subscription, I can surely get it back upon re-downloading. But when I rebooted Prequel a month later it wouldn't let me get past the apps deals for a 1 week subscription unless i clicked it. (I had a yearly subscription already why is it showing me deals as if im a new customer? I thought) i never switched iClouds and the subscription was still valid. But i wanted to edit something in a hurry so rebooted it again and the SAME THING HAPPENED. Why am I getting double charged for a weekly subscription when i was trying to bypass and get to my stuff. So I contacted the support and they told me the charges were by apple and they said click restore purchase. So I cancelled the weekly subscription and clicked restore purchase and it gave me the WEEKLY SUBSCRIPTION. >;( I forward the emails for both receipts to both apple and this app and since i clicked restore purchase it wont even let me cancel the weekly subscription. Highly upset at the hiccup and i just want a refund.

Okay, I love Prequel, it has so many things to play around with and so many fun filters and effects! One this i’ll complain about is that sometimes the filters glitch. When I say glitch as an example if I click on Bahamas filter, the filter won’t show up on my video / photos. But what I love about Prequel is that I mostly use it for editing TikTok videos or profile pictures! As my idea, could you guys add a search bar option for effect and filter? If you can’t find a filter or don’t want to just scroll though different bundles it would be very very helpful! Also maybe add some more sparkle effects? I love sparkle effects, they just add a vibe to your videos. I have no bad complains about Prequel and I definitely recommend it! If you want to edit videos and photos, DOWNLOAD THIS! I never thought i’d write a long review about any sort of app but I did! I hope this was helpful!! - Sophie 💚💙🤍

I have been using this app for some time now because I love the effects it provides. I always use this app to make aesthetic edits of myself, my friends and just aesthetically pleasing things in general. But I’ve noticed that over time, this app has been slowing down and crashing pretty badly for me. I don’t know if its the same for other people but what happens is that I will import the video, crop it, and attempt to put an effect and boom. There it is. It is slow and ruins the vibe of the video. I just don’t know what’s wrong with Prequel . I don’t know if Prequel needs a new update or if I’m doing something wrong. Please fix this! I hope you take my complaint in consideration.

(Edited)
First of all, thank you for replying back. Second of all, the overall issue is the filter. Once I click on a filter like for example, disco, VHS, just any filter in particular, it will immediately slow down. The filters just sort of crash...but I hope you guys cab fix this soon. That way I can keep using the best editing app for aesthetic edits.😊

So let me say this.. there is no company on the planet that can limit my abilities to alter images, video and anything else that is my intellectual property and me not be entitled to compensation or monetization if I so choose. Especially if I am going to pay your ridiculous fees for every alteration. And the fact your terms and conditions would so egregiously and subversively suppress an artist (who already has done without 2 years of income due to the pandemic) to not be adequately compensated for participation with your application is outrageous. You blatantly state it. I work with application developers all the time and have my artists do the same. That way we grow your company and we grow with them. The fact you market yourself on TikTok to artists is such a false narrative. If somehow this has been misconstrued.. I’m sure you’ll know how to reach me. I’d happily like a real conversation or video chat. . Not a cheap apology and a pay on the back. I strive to fight fkr artists who don’t understand the business out in the real world will take everything from them if they let them and was really hoping that this application would be different.. but it seems as though my hopes were misplaced.

Edit September 1st 2019: the developers responded with a super lame canned response justifying their 8+ subscription options. I cancelled mine last week. Over Prequel and on to another- note: don’t download Prequel friends they’re a greedy bunch who just had to mess with something they had that was good. 1 subscription tier was enough but to add more so you have to pay the highest amount to get everything is just downright rude. DEVELOPERS I SUGGEST YOU START GIVING REAL RESPONSES AND ACTUALLY READING REVIEWS INSTEAD OF SOME COPY AND PASTE BS. You lost me as a customer and I’m sure many more. I take my rating down to 1 star. AND DON’T respond with “try our free version etc blah blah” the free version is horrid and you’ve made it that way so people have to pay. Disappointed in your company. Don’t fix what’s broke, but you just had to have more $$$.

They used to have a FEW subscription options for premium. Now they have a TON so that you have to pay even MORE than you were for even more filters. Won’t be paying anymore. So sad because this used to be my go-to app. But they decided to get greedy because premium payment wasn’t enough already. If I pay $5 a week I shouldn’t have to pay more for more filters. $20/ month?!

Just recently, maybe a month or two ago, I started noticing that Prequel wasn’t working. First, it was whenever I wanted to export my video. Once I had finished finding a filter or an effect, it would load as if it’s getting ready to export and then it doesn't export at all. And no matter how many times I would try to export it, or go back into Prequel , or shut my phone off, it just would take days to export. And now, as I’m trying to use Prequel , I can’t even get passed from cropping the video. It’s doing the same thing, after I’ve picked a video I want to edit, and cropped it to the size I want, it loads like it’s going to let me continue, and then it doesn’t. And I’ve exited out of Prequel and tried again, and I’ve shut down my phone multiple times thinking it needs a refresh, but I can’t get passed from cropping the video.

I’m not sure why it’s doing that and it’s getting really annoying. Prequel is really cool and I really enjoy it since I’m a video editor, but I’m thinking about just deleting it and finding a different app because I don’t want to keep wasting my time on a incorporative app.

Please fix this issue!

With 100 bajillion photo apps on here it's hard to recommend anyone pay this much for one. But I got to say in all honesty, if you have the money to spend comfortably, this app is one I would splurge on. A lot of apps do one or two of the things this app does well, but I've never found one that was This good at This many features. Darkroom and VSCO are go-tos when I need just a quick filter or touch-up, but if I ever want to do something cool or different from usual, this app is automatic. There are so many filters, effects, and extras —and unlike other apps none of them feel like throwaways. Almost ALL of them are hits, with very few misses (if any - it’s probably more fair to say they're Just not my taste)

I avoid paying for apps like the plague. Especially when something like Snapseed is free. But credit where Credit is due, this app actually made it feel like it was worth it.

I almost don’t even wanna tell my friends about Prequel because I’ve been able to impress them so much by using it! The ease, detail, endless possibilities. It’s actually mind-blowing. There are a handful of aesthetic apps to give VHS effect or Super 8 or something like that, but this app is in a league of it’s own. If you have a brand or are a content creator, this is the secret to doing sleek, professional, high quality work. I would like to pay a bigger fee once instead of annually but they make it so worthwhile by constantly adding updates like they just did several for Halloween and I’d assume they’ll do similar for Christmas. The textures they use make fonts look like real lacquer pins or fabric patches. These guys have it all figured out!! More than a review, I just want to thank the developers — Prequel has made my year!

I really loved a lot of the free filters & effects & how you can customize each filter! I love everything about Prequel, however, I think that paying $5/week to unlock all the other filters & editing features are a bit too pricey, especially if you’re paying WEEKLY! Even though I really do like Prequel & I know that I will be using Prequel a lot, I don’t think it’s necessary to pay a weekly subscription for that kind of price for all those filters. Also, for some strange reason, everytime I go onto Prequel , after each minute my screen dims & gets darker & darker & it’s very hard to see how I’m editing my photos & videos! My brightness is turned up all the way & Prequel still causes my screen to dim & I have get out of Prequel & wait for the brightness to turn up again. Please add a monthly subscription for those who want use all of the features but don’t want to pay high price for them & please fix this bug!

everything about Prequel is AMAZING and i’m so happy that you offer users who want to use the limited version so many filters and effects for free, but the only thing that ruins it is the fact that you have to deal with a big watermark on your photo/video when you want to share it. the only way that i can get rid of the watermark is if i pay $5/WEEK and that’s to use everything in Prequel , there’s no option to just get rid of the watermark. i really wish that for the free version that you could get rid of the watermark because users are so excited once they’re done editing their photo/video and then a big watermark appears that you can’t get rid of. i’m completely fine with the fact that you don’t have access to all do the effects and filters unless you pay, but for me the watermark in the limited version makes Prequel so useless and not fun to use. i don’t have to money to be spending $5/week on an app i won’t use every single day. please understand and take the forced watermark away..

OK I’m totally in love with Prequel. I’m a filmmaker artist and photographer. The AI with cartoon effects is awesome. I don’t know what other people are complaining about but Prequel is great.I haven’t found anything else that does what you’re AI cartoon app does. What I would like to see is more cartoon AI transformations. Do this: create an entire story book. This would be the ultimate goal. Choose a different story have different storylines. Make each comic strip at a minimum six pages long. Also it would be good to enable the user to caption the photos they want and move the pix around inside the preselected frame. I want to write my own dialogue. That’s a big ask. If you guys can do that more power to you. That would be amazing. I really bought Prequel specifically for the cartoon AI effects 👍✌️great job thanks! Please work the cartoon apps !!!!! MJ from Philly 😎

Overall, this is an AMAZING app for small videos that just need something extra to make them pop with many vibrant filters and very bling-ey effects! (I know bling-ey isn’t a word) My only problem with it is that you can only make videos up to 1:00 long! only one minute! I enjoy using this for mainly short tiktok edits but I thought I’d try YT! I filmed and eventually got to the part where I’d use this app to add something extra! (I use Miami to 80% And stardust to 20%) then realizing I can only edit one minute of it. So i gave up on that. That was a little annoying considering those effects would kind of carry the whole video then finding out I can’t use them. I know Prequel is mainly for shorter videos but I really feel that if they added the ability to edit a longer video, it’d be way more of a powerful and useful app! Please lmk if there are any updates though I’ve kept it installed! Thank you,

UPDATE: The watermark has been removed for free users!!!!!! Amazinnnng!!! Thank you Developers.
I don’t write that many reviews and much less bad reviews, although Prequel has some amazing and unique effects you may not find anywhere else, i have to point out to a really turn down fact which is your subscription system, paying weekly with as high price point is probably the worst I’ve came across yet, even if it’s something still affordable but it is absurd to pay such amount weekly for an app that you use once a week. We want to have the feeling of paying for something and not thinking about it much like one time purchases or at least make it monthly and reduce the price point. Anyway if you don’t mind the big water mark than you're fine with the free versions

Right after making the payment for annual subscription I quickly realized that I got tricked into buying a paid Crippleware that uses my content for their advertisement 1) most cartoon effects are cropped to my face and the “this app” watermark cannot be removed 2) you have to pay for their weekly subscription in order to use many features thus making this a crippleware, I have I clue what I own as there is no way to turn of this annoying sales pitch to make me buy extra features/filters/fx. It was so annoying I had to stop using Prequel after a few photos. 3) There is a major bug with their “manage” button which forces you to grant full access to your library
Industry standard Photoshop is cheaper why should I use this app and get frustrated with their crippled GUI which they should have mentioned before making me buy Prequel for only some cartoon fx. I feel cheated and your app is unusable for any purpose an very unorthodox I would not spend more money for your company with this mentality. I want my refund

I was looking for an app, that helps make me edits for pinterest. I came across Prequel, “ this app.” I started using Prequel for about a day and loved it. The next day I was going to make another edit and noticed that when I put the filter on, it got a bit glitchy. I figured it was an effect and it might be glitchy, so I deleted Prequel and re download it a few days later. When I re downloaded it and started using it for a few hours, I noticed... 1. It was still pretty glitchy. 2. It drained my battery, ( quite a lot just for an hour or two. ) Other than that I think Prequel has some pretty interesting features. Definitely worth getting, just be aware it’s a bit glitchy, ( but when saved to camera roll it is perfect quality. ) Thank you for reading my 100% honest review, stay safe & have an amazing day. :)

I’ve been using Prequel and loving every minute of it. So much capability. User friendly. Spectacular outcomes. Super fun to use. Even the free version gives you a lot of innovative and fresh filters, music and so much more for video and stills. I love the simplicity and elegance. With the integration of music too! My own library and Prequel has a library too. You have the option of dragging to select the few seconds of music of your choice. I don’t have any music capability on IG but...now I do. The power to produce content like this app affords is priceless in this “look at me” marketplace. If you’re an original content creator and/or you’re curating, repurposing, re-anything? Your now have an addictively classy tool to monetize you. Or make impressive memories for your clients, friends and family.

It’s my favorite app. Ever.

Love Prequel! The filters and effects have mostly two free options to choose from. As a causal and free user this is a huge plus for me. The filters and and effects are quality and there are a lot to choose from. Definitely a good option for free users. I hope to future filters continue to have free options.

My biggest gripe with Prequel is that it drains my battery in minutes. Had my phone at full charge with battery saver on and after editing two photos my phone is at 8% :(
Also Prequel crashes several times when it is rendering. Some of the filters take a while to load and lag when editing.
I have an iPhone SE which is a very old phone so I don’t know if Prequel is too much for my old phone or if it’s Prequel itself. Maybe it works better on newer phones, I’m not sure.

I don’t EVER write reviews but I felt compelled to write this one after using Prequel. I had been looking for an app that I could make videos with good music with for WEEKS and couldn’t find anything. Then I found this. Prequel is amazing as far as I’m concerned. It has every song I search for- even the most rare. It has really cool effects and I didn’t buy the extra version just the free one. I’ve only been using this for a couple of days and I’m honestly in love! Good job!! Definitely recommend!!

Ok, I’ve paid for editing apps before, and I would probably have paid a couple of dollars to get the whole package from Prequel. But $5/week is just ridiculous. The free version looked pretty cool, until I saved the photo I had edited and they placed a big, ugly logo on the front and told me I couldn’t get rid of it without paying for the full app. For $5/week. That’s just lunacy. This isn’t worth it. There are lots of fun editing apps out there, don’t waste your time with this one. This one will run you $20/month, ~$240/year, that’s honestly ridiculous for an app. Maybe if this was actually a full version of photoshop. But photoshop has an app that’s better than this one, and it doesn’t charge you $5/week. The video effects are cool, but nothing is worth anything with the big ugly watermark on every pic or vid you save. If they got rid of that, I would use the free version, but there’s very little that could persuade me to spend $5/week on an editing app. What are the developers thinking?!

I use this app to edit a lot of my pictures and it’s amazing! i love using the disco filters but there is one thing. just last night i went into this app to edit a picture, and for some reason it did not load. it just stayed on a picture of the logo. i tried everything, i went to Prequel store and opened it, then deleted it and got it again but nothing worked.

so then i just gave up and now this morning i’m trying to open this app and it’s STILL NOT LETTING ME USE Prequel . it’s really annoying me and i really hope it gets fixed soon. because i know it’s not just me because i had a friend who also has this app and they couldn’t get into Prequel as well. please fix this!

I love Prequel but the fact I have to sit in silence while I edit photos on it is really making it less fun 😶,, please patch it so in the settings or something we can allow our own music to play while we're within Prequel .

Also I don't like that I can't mute my phone while I edit a video clip. It pauses the clip and won't play until I turn it back up again.. You start to go crazy and start hating the clip you're editing when you have to listen to the same loop over and over a million times 💀 Please let me listen to my own music while within Prequel and let me mute my phone while I edit a video clip! 👍

Normally, i would rate an app like this 5 stars, however, i can’t believe the fact that after taking the time to edit my photos and videos, the result is completely ruined with this massive watermark. i understand that the watermark is a form of advertisement to help Prequel developers persuade more people into buying the weekly subscription, but i hope they know that not a single soul is willing to pay 5 DOLLARS A WEEK for a photo editing app. this is more expensive than my television subscriptions and i use those way more than Prequel. I’m not asking for Prequel to be completely free or to not put the watermark, but at least let us choose where to put it and make it smaller.

In Prequel , it reads “try this app gold”, implying that you can buy and use it optionally, which isn’t the case. You can’t get yo try any effects or anything without actually purchasing the gold . Sure it offers a free 3 day trial at first but I just wanted to use the free version, which clearly there isn’t any. If I was more a terrible person , I could try to sue for false info, at the fact that they have the word “try” for the gold, not that you have to pay to use. If there was an option for no starts I would have left none. Don’t waste your time unless you don’t mind paying, but there plenty of other apps out there that are actually free that offer the same effects as this one.

Let me preface with that I’ve been subscribed and paid weekly for Prequel for over half of a year now, and they really SCREWED their subscribers over by taking away the music. Sure, the music is still there, but now you have to pay EXTRA from the iTunes Store for each song. I’ve been loyal to Prequel because I loved it and I have referred lots of friends to it... but this new change... I feel like I’ve been slighted BIG time after paying the ridiculous amount that I do every week. Considering cancelling my subscription and deleting because this feels like a scam now. I used it to edit videos and put the songs to it, and now you expect me to pay out the nose for it????? No thank you!

Saddening, really... I can’t believe they screwed over their subscribers like this.

I signed up for the trial period to try it out. I did enjoy the features the first few days I tried it but they are NOT worth paying $5 a week!!! Not by a long shot. And when you sign up, they do not tell you they have many other options besides the weekly subscription which ends up adding up to $20 a month! That’s insane!
Anyways, once the trial period was over, I could no longer use any of the premium features. So I assumed the subscription cancelled automatically. Then I get a receipt from Apple showing they charged me for TWO WEEKS, and even still the premium features are not available to me. I requested a refund thru Apple & they said I do not qualify for a refund. So basically they took $10 from me for absolutely nothing. And I don’t make enough money to be spending like that because I am disabled!

Scam scam scam!!!

Update in response to developers response:

I don’t need info to cancel the subscription, I’ve already done it now. What I want is my $10 back for two weeks I didn’t want, NOR were the premium features available!!!! Anything less than my money back is insufficient!!

I used to never edit my photos, mainly because I could never find any ‘aesthetically pleasing’ filters. Instagram filters are awful and most apps make you pay for the really good ones. this app has great filters and affects in different variants so you can still have the cool ones without paying. The also removed the watermark for non paying users which is absolutely amazing. I honestly would pay for the ‘gold’ to see and use all the other filters.

I love what Prequel has to offer, & I understand you given us a free version with the watermark on the video/picture and limited filters but paying $5/week for the full version!? That’s highly unreasonable. I really believe if your going to charge individuals to get the full version of Prequel , you should have it to where we pay once and won’t have to pay again. Versus paying $5 a week for something that we won’t use everyday.

I love Prequel. I saw it as in ad on Instagram and IMMEDIATELY decided to download it, however I don’t like the idea of paying $2.99 a week just to get rid of a watermark and to get some special features. An app called InShot gives you the option to pay $2.99 a month or more to become a monthly subscriber or you can buy filters. I have plenty of apps that give the options of having the VHS effect but they won’t let you stack them up like this app does, I constantly have to go into different apps (max is 2) to create the effects that I want. I’d love to see a change in the $2.99 a week....other than that I love Prequel!

Amazing that you guys removed the watermark for free users especially with so many cool effects and useful filters (currently loving the aspen set for making my photos with green trees look way more autumnal). People are clever and always can figure out ways to get around or hide the watermarks without paying (especially with alternative apps out there). Hopefully this will pay off in word of mouth recommendations so this works out for both consumers and developers