PostReady vs cropping in Photos: which gets you both formats faster

The honest alternative to PostReady isn't another app, it's the Photos app you already own. You can record once and crop a duplicate to the other aspect ratio in Photos for free. So the real question is whether capturing both crops live (PostReady Dual Recorder Camera) is worth it over cropping a copy by hand. Here's the straight comparison, including where Photos is the better choice.

The two workflows

Cropping in Photos: record a clip (ideally wide 16:9), duplicate it, open the duplicate, use the crop tool to make a 9:16 vertical, and save. Now you have both shapes.

PostReady: open the camera, frame inside both the live 9:16 and 16:9 guides, record once, and both cropped files save to Photos automatically.

Where Photos wins (and I mean it)

• It's free and already installed. Zero cost, nothing new to learn or trust.
• You can re-crop endlessly after the fact. Because you're editing a saved clip, you can change your mind about the crop, redo it, reframe it, as many times as you like.
• It's fine for occasional needs. If you only sometimes need a second format, the manual crop is perfectly reasonable.

If those describe you, honestly, use Photos. I'd rather you keep your money than buy a tool you'll use twice.

Where PostReady wins

• No re-export generation loss. Photos cropping re-encodes the cropped copy, adding a compression generation. PostReady writes each file from the source frame, so neither output is a re-export of the other.
• Both files at once, framing decided live. You compose for the 9:16 and the 16:9 together, before you commit, instead of discovering after the fact that the vertical crop clips your head, with no way to recover the lost edges.
• It removes the repeated manual step. If you do this regularly, "record once, get both files" beats duplicate-crop-export every single time.
• Reliability: if a Photos save fails, PostReady keeps the local file so you can retry.

Honest comparison table

	Crop in Photos	PostReady
Cost	Free, built in	Free tier; Pro for longer/4K
Re-crop after the fact	Yes, endlessly	No, framing set at capture
Quality of 2nd format	Re-encoded copy	Written from source
Edge content for vertical	Lost if not framed for it	Composed for both up front
Effort per clip	Manual duplicate + crop each time	One take, two files
Save reliability	Standard Photos behavior	Local recovery if save fails

The honest limit on PostReady's side

PostReady's live crop overlay is a framing guide, not a pixel-exact bound of the saved file. Photos, by contrast, shows you the exact crop because you're working on an already-recorded clip. So if pixel-perfect, re-adjustable cropping is what you want, Photos genuinely does that better, PostReady's advantage is capturing both right the first time, not letting you fiddle endlessly afterward.

So which should you pick?

• Occasional second format, want to re-crop freely, want zero cost → Photos.
• Regular cross-posting, want both files without re-export loss, want framing decided live → PostReady.

That's the real trade. No invented competitor, no fake specs, just the built-in tool versus mine.

Free PostReady output is 1080p30 dual, audio, no watermark, clips up to 1 minute each. Pro removes the cap and adds 4K/60fps/HEVC; it's Monthly, Yearly (with optional 7-day free trial for new subscribers), or Lifetime; pricing is shown in the app and set by Apple in local currency; subscription auto-renews unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the period; cancel any time in iPhone Settings > Apple ID > Subscriptions. See Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Get it

Download PostReady Dual Recorder Camera on the App Store. Related: how to record portrait and landscape at once.