Comparison

Smart Shades vs Vantage Point

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Smart Shades

Transform your existing window shades into smart devices with this solar-powered, wireless gadget. Control your blinds remotely via a smartphone app, setting custom schedules and automated movements for enhanced convenience.

Highlights
  • Turns regular shades into smart shades
  • Solar-powered operation
  • Wireless and easy installation
  • Smartphone app control
  • Automated patterns and schedules
  • Bluetooth Low Energy communication
Features
Read full description

SOMA Smart Shades is an easy to install, solar-powered device that turns your regular window shades into smart shades. It is extremely simple to operate via your smartphone. It is also easy to install since it is wireless. All the movements of SOMA Smart Shades are controlled by the application which communicates with SOMA Smart Shades via Bluetooth Low Energy. You can move blinds in your rooms up and down whenever you like or create automated patterns and schedules for different rooms to make your life even more convenient.

About

Vantage Point

Track your gaming progress, organize your backlog, and discover new titles. Import your libraries from Steam, Xbox, and RetroAchievements. Analyze your gaming habits with stats and compare with friends.

Highlights
  • Organize games into six customizable lists
  • Import libraries from Steam, Xbox, and RetroAchievements
  • Analyze gaming habits with Stats DNA radar
  • Discover new games based on your preferences
  • Track game deals and price drops
  • Access curated gaming news
  • Compare gaming libraries with friends
Features
Read full description

Vantage Point is a game tracker for people who actually play the games they say they'll play. Six lists, your call. Front Line for what you're playing right now. Chambered for what's locked in next. Sightlines for upcoming releases worth tracking. Watchlist for early-access bets. Out of Vision for the backlog (filterable by console). The Archive for everything you've crushed — with ratings, hours, played year, and per-slot reordering so the layout is yours. Bring your library in. — Steam import: link your profile, your full library shows up with playtime + last-played years. Pick which lands where, with an opt-in second step for your unplayed backlog. — Xbox import: sync your gamerscore + games to your profile and the Archive. — RetroAchievements import: paste your username, your retro library comes in with achievement points + earned-vs-total counts. Both softcore + hardcore banks tracked. Read your library, don't just stare at it. — Stats DNA radar: see exactly which genres AND themes shape what you actually finish (vs. just buy). Two radars, one-tap toggle, side-by-side compare with friends. — Year-by-year breakdown: filter your archive by playing year — including an "Unassigned year" bucket for older imports. — Platform mix: PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, Mobile, Retro — all tallied, each with their own filter. — Time invested totals: own up to where the hours actually went. Find your next game, the smart way. — Discover: smart picks seeded from your highest-rated archive games + a trending feed of what released this month. No generic algorithms — it learns from what YOU finished. — Oracle: an AI gaming advisor that nudges you with hints instead of spoiling solutions. Bring your own Gemini key; it stays on your device, never our servers. — Recon (PC): wishlist any Steam game, get flagged when its price drops to within 5% of the all-time low. Backed by IsThereAnyDeal + GG.deals — cheapest source wins. — Recon (Console): PS5, Xbox, and Switch deal tiles refreshed daily via PSPrices. PS Plus discount markers when applicable. One-tap deep-link to each storefront. Stay in the loop. — Sector Intelligence: gaming news from 14 outlets (IGN, Polygon, Eurogamer, Push Square, Pure Xbox, Nintendo Life, Pocket Tactics, RPG Site, more), refreshed hourly. Pro members can mute outlets they don't want to hear from. Stop playing alone. — Scout Network: paste a friend's scout code, pull their reports. See what they're playing, what they finished, and how their library overlaps with yours. — Compare DNA: side-by-side Genre and Theme radars, scaled honestly across library-size differences. "60% match with DW" is a real conversation starter. — Favorites showcase: every scout profile surfaces their 5-star games above the Archive. — Privacy-first: every list is gated by your own visibility flags. You decide what scouts can see. — Trusted Scout badge: honor-system signal that someone has consistent, organic play patterns. Earn what you've played. — The Gauntlet: 80 rotating challenges drawn from your library. Archive a 100-hour epic. Finish three indies in a row. Hit five different platforms. Eight different themes. Completions rank you up the tier ladder: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Master, God-like. What's free, what's Pro. Free does the daily job: 6 lists with up to 20 entries, basic stats, search, Discover preview, Scout Network browsing, full Intel news feed. Pro unlocks the depth: unlimited library, full Stats year filter, DNA radars (Genres + Themes), Discover smart picks, Oracle AI, DNA compare with scouts, Recon price-target alerts, Intel source muting, full Archive depth on scout profiles. Pro: $1.99/month or $17.99/year — Founder pricing locked in for subscriptions started before July 2027. No ads. Ever. Not free-tier ads. Not Pro ads. Pro pays for features, not "remove ads." Track what you play. Skip the noise. Terms of Use (EULA): https://vantage-point.online/terms-of-service

Screenshots

Smart Shades4 screens
Vantage Point4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Vantage Point at 100% against Smart Shades's 25%. Vantage Point also leads on rating (5.0 vs 2.1) and update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 2 months). Smart Shades's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and ratings volume (65 vs 4). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Vantage Point sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Smart Shades asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Vantage Point holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 2.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Smart Shades has 65 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 25% of Smart Shades's written reviews are positive against 100% of Vantage Point's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Smart Shades ships an update every 2 months, Vantage Point every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Smart Shades versus Vantage Point: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSmart ShadesVantage Point
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.1 (65 ratings)5.0 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews25.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings65 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 4 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFreemium — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size47 MB58 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperWazombiVantage Point Ventures LLC

Customer experience

Smart Shades

All ratings62 ratings
Positive17.7%
Neutral14.5%
Negative67.7%
Written reviews80 reviews
Positive25.0%
Neutral16.3%
Negative58.8%

Vantage Point

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Smart Shades

Reported bugs

32 issues
  • App crashes with Smart Shades 3
  • App crashes after update
  • App crashes instantly
  • App closes itself right away
  • App won't open at all
Show 27 more
  • App crashes before it even opens
  • Sunset function stopped working
  • Sunset trigger doesn't work
  • Bluetooth stopped working
  • Not responding to Alexa
  • Soma Connect not working
  • Soma Connect shows WiFi numbers, not names
  • Soma Connect connection failed
  • Shade control only works on Android
  • Next button missing during calibration
  • Calibration deviation over time
  • Blind drifts out of calibrated position
  • Cog works its way off spindle
  • Battery status inaccurate
  • Motor is slow
  • Units open at different speeds
  • Blinds lose their position
  • Hub setup programmed poorly
  • Voice commands limited
  • App not updated for over a year
  • Easy to interrupt movement
  • Device forgets min/max heights
  • Pairing Soma Connect is almost impossible
  • Blinds slip and need reconfiguring
  • Motor is slow to respond
  • Ripped the gear cog to shreds
  • App crashes halfway through firmware update

Requested features

24 requests
  • Matter support
  • Change app language
  • Change highest/lowest position
  • Recalibrate function
  • Simple up and down buttons
Show 19 more
  • Dusk to dawn automation
  • Sunrise/sunset schedule
  • Siri Shortcut integration
  • Group triggers
  • Confirmation dialog when cancelling setup
  • Manual adjustment offset
  • Notification for low battery
  • Single screen for all battery levels
  • Support for iPhone X screen size
  • Rename groups/individual units
  • Speed control for motors
  • Temperature setting (Fahrenheit)
  • Dusk/dawn open and close
  • Edit shade name
  • Continuous open/close feature
  • Update for iOS 11 group creation
  • iPad version
  • Live power meter for solar panel
  • Secure version of product

Vantage Point

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Smart Shades

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Vantage Point

Subscriptions2
  • Vantage Point Pro$1.991 Month
  • Vantage Point Pro$17.991 Year
One-time1
  • Founder Pin$29.99

Questions

Is Smart Shades free?
Smart Shades is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Vantage Point free?
Vantage Point is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Smart Shades or Vantage Point?
Vantage Point is rated higher. Smart Shades averages 2.1 out of 5 from 65 ratings, while Vantage Point averages 5.0 from 4 ratings.
Do Smart Shades or Vantage Point have ads?
Neither Smart Shades nor Vantage Point shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Smart Shades or Vantage Point?
Smart Shades ships an update every 2 months, and Vantage Point every 4 weeks. Most recently, Smart Shades was updated on October 22, 2026 and Vantage Point on October 8, 2026.

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