Comparison

TI SimpleLink™ Starter vs nRF Connect for Mobile

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

Head to head
About

TI SimpleLink™ Starter

Connects Simplelink™ Sensortags and Launchpads to your smartphone and the cloud via Bluetooth Low Energy and WiFi. Supports Over-the-Air upgrades and cloud connectivity through MQTT or dweet.io. Compatible with various development kits.

Highlights
  • Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity
  • WiFi support
  • Cloud connectivity (MQTT, dweet.io)
  • Over-the-Air upgrades
  • Supports multiple development kits
  • Smartphone integration
Features
Read full description

This app connects all your Simplelink(TM) Sensortags and Launchpads to your smartphone and the cloud with Bluetooth Low Energy and WiFi support. Includes support for Over-the-Air upgrades for all development platforms. Cloud connectivity is supported through MQTT to any cloudservice or with dweet.io. To learn more, see the web links to each development kit. The following development kits are currently supported: CC26xR LaunchPad CC1352R LauncPad CC2650 LaunchPad - www.ti.com/launchxl-cc2650 CC2650 SensorTag - www.ti.com/sensortag CC3200 SensorTag - www.ti.com/sensortag CC2650 Remote Control - www.ti.com/rc LPSTK

About

nRF Connect for Mobile

This app is a versatile tool for scanning, exploring, and communicating with Bluetooth Low Energy devices. It also enables your device to act as a peripheral and supports firmware updates for compatible devices.

Highlights
  • Scan and discover Bluetooth LE peripherals
  • Communicate with Bluetooth LE devices
  • Advertise as a Bluetooth LE peripheral
  • Update compatible device firmware (DFU)
  • Filter scanned peripherals
  • Live RSSI chart
  • Log BLE function calls
Read full description

nRF Connect is a powerful generic tool that allows you to scan and explore your Bluetooth Low Energy (henceforth Bluetooth LE, also called Bluetooth Version 4.0+ of the Bluetooth specification) devices and communicate with them. nRF Connect also allows your iOS device to advertise as a peripheral, with full support of many of Bluetooth SIG adopted profiles. Additionally, nRF Connect supports Nordic Semiconductor’s Device Firmware Update profile (DFU) capabilities, allowing you to update compatible peripherals! + Features: • Supports DFU on all Nordic Semiconducto-powered devices. • Supports Nordic Thingy™ from Nordic Semiconductor. • Scan and discover nearby Bluetooth LE peripherals. • Filter Scanned Peripherals by Name, Manufacturer, Services (Advertised & Connected) and RSSI Level. • Parsing Multiple Formats of Bluetooth LE Advertisement Data. • Live RSSI Chart of Scanned Bluetooth LE Peripherals. • Complete iPad Support, including Multi-Tasking and Mouse Support as of 13.4. • Logs: Including BLE Function calls, and Export Function as CSV and Text. • Privacy-Oriented: Full-Disclosure of Scanned Data, Advertised Data, and User-Performed Actions held by nRF Connect. • Connecting to Any Connectable Bluetooth LE Smart Device. • Discovery of Services, Characteristics and Descriptors. • Read and Write Characteristics and Descriptors. • Enable and Disable Notifications and Indications. • Advertising as a Bluetooth LE Peripheral. • Setting up a Bluetooth LE (Peripheral) Server and Notifying/Indicating back to connected Central(s). • Low-Fat: nRF Connect for iOS is Very Small, so You Can Always Keep Us With You! >= Requirements: • iOS 16.0 and above. - Notes: nRF Connect also works with our Development Kits, which you may acquire online here: https://www.nordicsemi.com/eng/buy-online

Screenshots

TI SimpleLink™ Starter2 screens
nRF Connect for Mobile4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: nRF Connect for Mobile at 71% against TI SimpleLink™ Starter's 0%. nRF Connect for Mobile also leads on rating (4.5 vs 2.1) and ratings volume (478 vs 7). TI SimpleLink™ Starter's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

nRF Connect for Mobile holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 2.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: nRF Connect for Mobile has 478 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 0% of TI SimpleLink™ Starter's written reviews are positive against 71% of nRF Connect for Mobile's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

TI SimpleLink™ Starter ships an update every 4 months, nRF Connect for Mobile every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
TI SimpleLink™ Starter versus nRF Connect for Mobile: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTI SimpleLink™ StarternRF Connect for Mobile
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.1 (7 ratings)4.5 (478 ratings) — better
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews70.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings7478 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size291 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTexas InstrumentsNordic Semiconductor ASA

Customer experience

TI SimpleLink™ Starter

All ratings7 ratings
Positive14.3%
Neutral14.3%
Negative71.4%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative80.0%

nRF Connect for Mobile

All ratings466 ratings
Positive85.2%
Neutral6.7%
Negative8.2%
Written reviews239 reviews
Positive70.7%
Neutral8.4%
Negative20.9%

Bugs and requests

TI SimpleLink™ Starter

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

nRF Connect for Mobile

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Can't read data from Bluetooth device
  • Tries to ask for Bluetooth connection when Bluetooth is off. Asks to connect to devices when Bluetooth is off. Who knows what this app is doing in the background without permission?! What ever it is , it ain't good
  • Tapping "tabs" doesn't work (nothing changes in the UI). To get some response from tapping UI controls typically requires (a) launching nRF Connect, (b) switching to another app, (c) switching back to nRF Connect. I've tried uninstalling and re-downloading. Same result. This used to be the bee's knees of BLE tools but it's only worth 1 star at the moment (v2.7.11).
  • Cant go past the initial announcement. The app is unresponsive to the taps.

Requested features

4 requests
  • Where's the mac addresses
  • Max rssi limit
  • Log view
  • We need macros in iOS version

In-app purchases

None

TI SimpleLink™ Starter

No in-app purchases

None

nRF Connect for Mobile

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is TI SimpleLink™ Starter free?
TI SimpleLink™ Starter is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is nRF Connect for Mobile free?
nRF Connect for Mobile is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, TI SimpleLink™ Starter or nRF Connect for Mobile?
nRF Connect for Mobile is rated higher. TI SimpleLink™ Starter averages 2.1 out of 5 from 7 ratings, while nRF Connect for Mobile averages 4.5 from 478 ratings.
Do TI SimpleLink™ Starter or nRF Connect for Mobile have ads?
Neither TI SimpleLink™ Starter nor nRF Connect for Mobile shows ads.
Which is updated more often, TI SimpleLink™ Starter or nRF Connect for Mobile?
TI SimpleLink™ Starter ships an update every 4 months, and nRF Connect for Mobile every 5 weeks. Most recently, TI SimpleLink™ Starter was updated on October 22, 2026 and nRF Connect for Mobile on October 31, 2026.

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