TI SimpleLink™ Starter vs nRF Mesh
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity
- WiFi support
- Cloud connectivity (MQTT, dweet.io)
- Over-the-Air upgrades
- Supports multiple development kits
- Smartphone integration
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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
nRF Mesh
Easily deploy and manage Bluetooth Mesh networks. Control individual nodes, configure network settings, and update device firmware remotely. Supports a wide range of BLE devices compatible with Bluetooth Mesh.
- Node provisioning and identification
- Remote provisioning capabilities
- Network and application key configuration
- Node control via various server models
- Device firmware updates
- Granular control over publication data and subscriptions
- Explore node capabilities and security settings
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nRF Mesh allows you to easily deploy nodes to any Bluetooth Mesh compatible Nodes, giving you flexibility to deploy many different Mesh network Setups. Features: • Identifying: Identify a node before provisioning it. • Provisioning: Deployment of a new Node is as simple as a press of a button. All Out-Of-Band (OOB) methods are supported. • Remote Provisioning: Allows provisioning Nodes that are too faw to reach them directly. • Configuration: Create Network and Application keys or use the randomly generated ones, subscribe to groups and setup your nodes for publishing. • Node Control: Control nodes with Generic OnOff Server, Generic Level Server, Generic OnPowerUp Server, Scene Server and many other models. • Device Firmware Update: Quickly send a new firmware to the Distributor and observe it slowly distributing it to all the nodes. Additionally, you may also run the following configuration commands on your network: • Fully control node publication data. All publication parameters are configurable. • Add/Remove one or more subscription addresses on a model. • Create own AppKeys, or generate them using the builtin crypto-safe generator. • Bind/unbind an Application Key to a specific model for full granular control of your networks' security. • Explore the nodes' capabilities to view all elements, models, provisioning time and date, Manufacturer and available vendor data. • Set the Default TTL on a per-node basis. • Manage global AppKey list on a node. • And much more... Hardware support: - This version of the app is capable of communicating with any BLE devices that speak Bluetooth Mesh! - We recommend nRF5 devices with our nRF SDK for Mesh or nRF Connect SDK.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: nRF Mesh at 4.0 against TI SimpleLink™ Starter's 2.1. nRF Mesh also leads on review sentiment (30% vs 0%) and update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 4 months). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
nRF Mesh holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 2.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 7 and 3 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 0% of TI SimpleLink™ Starter's written reviews are positive against 30% of nRF Mesh's.
TI SimpleLink™ Starter ships an update every 4 months, nRF Mesh every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on August 13, 2026 and August 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | TI SimpleLink™ Starter | nRF Mesh |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.1 (7 ratings) | 4.0 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | 30.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 7 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 291 MB | 12 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Texas Instruments | Nordic Semiconductor ASA |
Customer experience
TI SimpleLink™ Starter
nRF Mesh
In-app purchases
TI SimpleLink™ Starter
No in-app purchases
nRF Mesh
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is TI SimpleLink™ Starter free?
Is nRF Mesh free?
Which has better reviews, TI SimpleLink™ Starter or nRF Mesh?
Do TI SimpleLink™ Starter or nRF Mesh have ads?
Which is updated more often, TI SimpleLink™ Starter or nRF Mesh?
Other comparisons
