Comparison

nRF Connect for Mobile vs Magic Smoke

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

Head to head
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

About

Magic Smoke

Establish custom TCP connections to send specific commands. Save up to ten commands for quick access, or type any message directly. This utility is ideal for testing network connections and embedded systems.

Highlights
  • Custom TCP connection setup
  • Save up to ten custom commands
  • Send any typed message
  • Appends carriage return and linefeed
  • Supports IP address and port input
Features
Read full description

This app allows you to send custom commands via a TCP connection. You input the IP address and port number for the TCP connection you would like to create, and then you can customize the ten buttons to have ten saved commands. The “Any Command” text field can send any message that is typed into the text field. A carriage return and linefeed are appended to all messages. It was originally developed for the NCSU Embedded Systems course ECE 306, but it works for any TCP connection you would like to create!

Screenshots

nRF Connect for Mobile4 screens
Magic Smoke3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Magic Smoke at 5.0 against nRF Connect for Mobile's 4.5. Magic Smoke also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 71%) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). nRF Connect for Mobile's advantage is update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 5 months) and ratings volume (476 vs 11). 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

Magic Smoke holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: nRF Connect for Mobile has 476 ratings behind it against 11, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of nRF Connect for Mobile's written reviews are positive against 100% of Magic Smoke's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

nRF Connect for Mobile ships an update every 5 weeks, Magic Smoke every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
nRF Connect for Mobile versus Magic Smoke: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameternRF Connect for MobileMagic Smoke
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (476 ratings)5.0 (11 ratings) — better
Positive reviews70.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings476 — better11
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeks — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNordic Semiconductor ASACaleb Barnett Wheeler

Customer experience

nRF Connect for Mobile

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

Magic Smoke

All ratings10 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

Magic Smoke

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

nRF Connect for Mobile

No in-app purchases

None

Magic Smoke

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is nRF Connect for Mobile free?
nRF Connect for Mobile is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Magic Smoke free?
Magic Smoke is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, nRF Connect for Mobile or Magic Smoke?
Magic Smoke is rated higher. nRF Connect for Mobile averages 4.5 out of 5 from 476 ratings, while Magic Smoke averages 5.0 from 11 ratings.
Do nRF Connect for Mobile or Magic Smoke have ads?
Neither nRF Connect for Mobile nor Magic Smoke shows ads.
Which is updated more often, nRF Connect for Mobile or Magic Smoke?
nRF Connect for Mobile ships an update every 5 weeks, and Magic Smoke every 5 months. Most recently, nRF Connect for Mobile was updated on October 27, 2026 and Magic Smoke on October 24, 2026.

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