nRF Connect for Mobile vs Meshtastic
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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
Meshtastic
This app enables off-grid, decentralized communication via a low-power mesh network. Send text messages in areas lacking cellular or WiFi service.
- Off-grid communication
- Decentralized mesh network
- Low-power LoRa radio support
- Text messaging
- No cellular/WiFi required
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Meshtastic® is an open source, off-grid, decentralized, mesh network built to run on low-power Lora radios letting you send text messages in areas without reliable cellular or WiFi service.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: nRF Connect for Mobile at 71% against Meshtastic's 45%. nRF Connect for Mobile also leads on rating (4.5 vs 4.2). Meshtastic's advantage is update cadence (every 10 days vs monthly) and device support (4 vs 2). 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 Connect for Mobile holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 455 and 803 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of nRF Connect for Mobile's written reviews are positive against 45% of Meshtastic's.
nRF Connect for Mobile ships an update monthly, Meshtastic every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | nRF Connect for Mobile | Meshtastic |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (455 ratings) — better | 4.2 (803 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 70.7% of reviews — better | 45.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 455 | 803 — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 10 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 17.5 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 18 MB | 76 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Nordic Semiconductor ASA | Meshtastic LLC |
Customer experience
nRF Connect for Mobile
Meshtastic
User reviews
nRF Connect for Mobile
From 455 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Great product
- 🚀 Very handy
- 🚀 Amazing functionality
- 🚀 Love the technology
- 🚀 Versatile program
Room to improve
- 🐛 Doesn't seem to work on iOS 17
- 🐛 Can't really disconnect from peripherals
- 🐛 New update freezes on launch screen DON'T UPDATE!
- 🐛 Legacy DFU not working
- 🐛 Hitting terrible bug
Meshtastic
From 803 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Well-made app
- 🚀 Polished and intuitive interface
- 🚀 Powerful features for off-grid communication
- 👍 Great community and responsive developers
- 👍 Continuously improving with updates
Room to improve
- 🐛 Bluetooth connectivity issues
- 🐛 Unreliable messaging and node connections
- 🐛 Crashes and stability problems
- 🔋 High battery consumption
- 👎 Lacking feature parity with Android version
Bugs and 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
Meshtastic
Reported bugs
4 issues- Canned messages configuration issues
- Location sharing and traceroute functions not working
- Settings screen bugs and crashes
- Inconsistent behavior when switching between devices
Requested features
5 requests- Offline maps support
- Ability to customize notifications
- More sorting and filtering options for nodes
- Apple Watch and Shortcuts integration
- Improved documentation and user guidance
In-app purchases
nRF Connect for Mobile
No in-app purchases
Meshtastic
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is nRF Connect for Mobile free?
Is Meshtastic free?
Which has better reviews, nRF Connect for Mobile or Meshtastic?
Do nRF Connect for Mobile or Meshtastic have ads?
Which is updated more often, nRF Connect for Mobile or Meshtastic?
Other comparisons
