Smart Shades vs Vantage Point
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Turns regular shades into smart shades
- Solar-powered operation
- Wireless and easy installation
- Smartphone app control
- Automated patterns and schedules
- Bluetooth Low Energy communication
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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.
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.
- 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
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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
Verdict
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
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.
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.
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.
| Parameter | Smart Shades | Vantage Point |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.1 (65 ratings) | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 25.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 65 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 4 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Freemium — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 47 MB | 58 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Wazombi | Vantage Point Ventures LLC |
Customer experience
Smart Shades
Vantage Point
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 moreShow fewer
- 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 moreShow fewer
- 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
Smart Shades
No in-app purchases
Vantage Point
- Vantage Point Pro$1.991 Month
- Vantage Point Pro$17.991 Year
- Founder Pin$29.99
Questions
Is Smart Shades free?
Is Vantage Point free?
Which has better reviews, Smart Shades or Vantage Point?
Do Smart Shades or Vantage Point have ads?
Which is updated more often, Smart Shades or Vantage Point?
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