FlowVision vs Flipic Lens: which fits?

FlowVision and Flipic Lens are both free, open-source image viewers for Mac, and they start from different ideas. FlowVision is built around seeing a whole folder at once in a waterfall or grid layout, with video alongside the photos. Flipic Lens is built around one photo at a time, with a thumbnail strip along the bottom; the Pro Workbench adds a grid for a whole shoot. Double-click any image, then use the arrow keys to work through the folder and rate what you want to keep. Neither is a replacement for the other; the right one depends on how you look at photos.

FlowVision vs Flipic Lens at a glance

	FlowVision	Flipic Lens
Price	Free	Free; optional Pro for batch tools
License	GPL-3.0	MIT
Minimum macOS	macOS 11.0 or later	macOS 13 or later
Main view	Waterfall and grid layouts	One photo at a time with a thumbnail strip; a grid in the Pro Workbench
Camera RAW	Yes	Yes
Built for	Browsing and organizing folders	Culling a shoot with ratings and marks

Where FlowVision fits

FlowVision is the one to try if you think in folders. Its waterfall and grid layouts show many images at different sizes at once, which suits going through a shoot, a download folder or a reference library before deciding what to open. It plays video in the same window, so mixed folders of clips and stills stay in one place. The app also handles file management while you browse: move, copy and rename files, add tags and ratings, and jump between folders with right-click gestures. It is GPL-3.0, needs macOS 11.0 or later, and handles camera RAW.

Where Flipic Lens fits

Flipic Lens is the one to try if you cull by stepping through photos. Open a folder, double-click any photo and press ← or →; the window moves through the folder one image at a time, with a thumbnail strip along the bottom. Press 0 to zoom to 100% at the pointer and check focus, 1–5 to rate, and P to mark keepers. Ratings are written as standard XMP, so Lightroom, Bridge and Capture One can read them. Cleanup Mode groups similar bursts, exact duplicates, closed eyes and blurry shots on your Mac, and nothing is deleted until you choose Move to Trash. Flipic Lens is MIT-licensed, a 5 MB download, needs macOS 13 or later, and runs on Apple silicon and Intel.

Which should you pick?

If you want to see a whole folder at once and keep video in the same view, FlowVision fits better. If you want to open one photo and go forward and back with the arrow keys while rating and marking, Flipic Lens fits better. Both are free and open source, so trying both costs nothing but a download.

FlowVision facts and links

FlowVision is at github.com/netdcy/FlowVision and flowvision.app. The details above were checked on 7 November 2026 against those two pages: the repository is GPL-3.0, the README lists macOS 11.0 or later, the source handles camera RAW and video, and the latest release is 1.7.6 from 8 September 2026.

For the full field, see Mac photo viewers and culling tools compared.