Bubbl vs Locket

Both apps do the same basic thing: they take something from a person you care about and put it on your Home Screen, where you see it without opening anything. The difference is what you are allowed to send, and who gets to see it.

The short version: Locket sends one photo at a time to everyone in your Locket group. Bubbl sends two kinds of things, a written note you design with colors, fonts and emoji, or three photos together as one film roll, and you pick the audience for each post separately. Both are free on iPhone and Android. Bubbl has no ads.

Side by side

	Bubbl	Locket
What you send	Written notes on a colored canvas, or photos	Photos
Photos per post	Three, laid out as a film roll	One
Who sees each post	A friend, a community, or everyone, chosen before you send	Everyone in your Locket group
Text	The point of the app. Colors, fonts and emoji are yours to pick	A short caption on the photo
Reactions	On the Home Screen, attached to the post	In the app
Cost	Free, with no ads in the app	Free, with an optional paid upgrade
Platforms	iOS and Android	iOS and Android

Where Locket is the better pick

Locket invented this. If your whole use case is trading quick photos with the same handful of people, and you like that everyone in the group sees everything, Locket does that cleanly and has the biggest network of people already using it. The friend you want to send to is more likely to already have it.

It is also simpler. One button, one photo, done. If extra choices sound like friction rather than freedom, that simplicity is a feature.

Where Bubbl is the better pick

Three differences matter in practice.

You can send words, not just pictures

Some things are a sentence, not a photo. "I got the job." "Thinking about you today." In Locket you would have to photograph something and caption it. In Bubbl the note is the post: you pick the background color, the type, and the emoji, and that becomes the thing sitting on their Home Screen.

Photos come in threes

A single frame flattens an afternoon. Bubbl sends photos in sets of three, stacked like a strip from a photo booth, so the sequence survives: the setup, the moment, the aftermath. It reads more like handing someone a disposable camera you both used than like posting.

You choose the audience per post

This is the one people notice most. In Locket, what you send goes to your group. In Bubbl there is an audience picker before every post: one friend, a community, or everyone you are connected to. Something meant for one person stays with that person. There is also a setting on the receiving end, where the widget can be dedicated to a single person so you never miss their posts.

Bubbl

Free on iOS and Android, no ads

Bubbl is ours, so weigh this accordingly and try the free app rather than taking our word for it. Setting up the widget takes about a minute on iPhone or Android.

Can you use both?

Yes, and plenty of people do. They are both widgets, so they sit next to each other on the Home Screen. Locket ends up being the group photo channel and Bubbl the one for the person you actually talk to, because of the per-post audience choice. Nothing about installing one affects the other.

Do both people need the app?

Yes, in both cases. This is the part people miss. For anything to appear on a Home Screen, the person receiving it needs the app installed and the widget added to their Home Screen. In Bubbl you invite someone with a link you can send through any other app, and the app opens up properly once they accept.

Questions people ask

Is Bubbl free?

Yes. Bubbl is free on iPhone and Android, and there are no advertisements in the app.

Is Bubbl the same as Bubble?

No, and the spelling is the usual mix-up. The app is Bubbl, without the final e. In the App Store it is listed as Bubbl Widget.

How many people can I connect with?

Close connections are capped so the app stays small on purpose. Communities are separate from that cap.

Does Bubbl work between iPhone and Android?

Yes. You can send to someone on the other platform. Some features arrive on one platform before the other.

Try Bubbl

Notes and three-photo film rolls on the Home Screen. Free, no ads.