Adaptivity (A) vs RegEx Lab
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Adaptivity (A)
Visualize how app layouts adapt to different screen sizes, orientations, and dynamic text settings on iOS and iPadOS devices. Explore SF Symbols, system colors, fonts, and materials with detailed information and previews.
- Visualize layout sizes and margins
- Explore SF Symbols across iOS versions
- Preview Dynamic Type styles
- View System Colors, Fonts, and Materials
- Support for iPad multitasking and external displays
- Widget and Siri shortcut integration
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Adaptivity is an invaluable tool for developers and designers. Use it to visualize how Size Classes and margins for layout, readable content and the safe area look on real devices and how they change with respect to orientation, iPad multitasking and Dynamic Type size changes. A comprehensive System Images browser shows the different SF Symbols data sets across iOS versions with availability, localization and name change information. There are also views for visualizing Dynamic Type styles, System Colors, System Fonts and System Materials. TESTIMONIALS • “Adaptivity is not just highly recommended – it’s essential” — Paul Hudson, Hacking With Swift article “8 essential apps for iOS developers”, 30th March 2020. • “It's a very, very good tool as a reference for both developers and designers” — Gui Rambo, Stacktrace podcast episode #77, 1st April 2020. • “I'm not trying to spend your money, but to me this is a no-brainer” — Sean Allen YouTube video “Indie Dev Apps”, 12th April 2020. MAIN FEATURES • Visualize sizes for full view, layout margins, readable content guide and safe area layout guide. • Sizes displayed in points or pixels. • Regular or large navigation bar titles. • Toggle status bar and navigation bar/toolbar/tab bar visibility. • Activity View Controller support for sharing a snapshot image of each view. • iPad multitasking and multiple window support (see note). • Dark appearance support (requires iOS/iPadOS 13 or later). • Setting to force right-to-left layout. • Keyboard shortcuts. • Keyboard navigation (requires iPadOS 15 or later). • Handoff actions from Adaptivity (A), (B) or (C) on one device to Adaptivity (A) on another. • External display support. OTHER VIEWS • Popover, Form/Page Sheet, Full Screen and Automatic modal presentations. • Customise Sheet Presentations on iOS/iPadOS 15 or later. • Tab Bar Controller. • Table View Controller. • Classic style Split View Controller. • Double and triple column style Split View Controllers (requires iOS/iPadOS 14 or later). • Keyboard Dodging and Custom Keyboard. • Dynamic Type styles for the current Content Size Category. • Explore Pointer Interactions (requires iPadOS 13.4 or later and a trackpad or mouse). • Explore System Colors. • Explore System Fonts. • Explore System Images (requires iOS/iPadOS 13 or later). Choose which SF Symbols data set to view, configure rendering modes and much more. • Explore System Materials (requires iOS/iPadOS 13 or later). EXTENSION TARGETS • Siri shortcut with custom response UI (requires iOS 12 or later). • Pre- and post-iOS 14 style Widgets to show layout. • iOS 14 style Widgets to show random System Images. • iOS 14 style Widgets to show Dynamic Type text styles. • iOS 16 lock screen Widgets to show layout. • iOS 16 lock screen Widgets to show random System Images. • Notification Content Extension. • Watch App (requires watchOS 4 or later). • iMessage App. Note: Adaptivity (A) supports multiple windows on iPadOS 13 or later. On earlier iOS versions, Adaptivity (B) must also be downloaded to run Adaptivity twice using Split View or Slide Over iPad multitasking. Adaptivity (A) is a universal purchase and includes a Mac Catalyst version of the app. Buying one allows the other to be downloaded at no extra cost using the same Apple ID. Adaptivity (C) has the same reduced features as Adaptivity (B) but only supports iPhone. Use it to visualize how an iPhone‑only app appears on iPad. For more information see https://hacknicity.com/adaptivity
RegEx Lab
This app allows users to test and experiment with regular expressions. It offers syntax highlighting, customizable match colors, and a detailed results list. Features include a replace function, dark and light themes, and a helpful cheatsheet for quick reference.
- Regex syntax highlighting
- Match and capture group highlighting
- Customizable highlight colors
- Results list view
- Replace feature
- Dark and light themes
- Regular expression cheatsheet
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RegEx Lab - test regular expressions • Highlighting of regex syntax and of matches and capture groups. • Choose the color of the match highlights • Results List View which lists all the matches and capture groups. • Replace feature • Dark theme (by default) based on the Solarized color palette • Themes to choose from (light/dark) • A handy cheatsheet which tells you about the different operators, option flags and metacharacters. • An extra row of keyboard keys for common special characters • Undo / Redo quick access buttons • Support for Dynamic Type (iOS Settings Text Size) • Export / Import feature Questions, suggestions, issues? regexlab@sovio.co Made by Nikolay Suvandzhiev
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: RegEx Lab at none against Adaptivity (A)'s 4. RegEx Lab also leads on price ($0.99 vs $7.99). Adaptivity (A)'s advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.8) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 14.0). On review sentiment, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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
Adaptivity (A) costs $7.99 and RegEx Lab $0.99 up front. Adaptivity (A) sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. RegEx Lab asks for nothing beyond the download.
Adaptivity (A) holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 92 and 172 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 94% and 95% positive.
Adaptivity (A) ships an update every 3 weeks, RegEx Lab monthly. Both last shipped on October 26, 2026.
| Parameter | Adaptivity (A) | RegEx Lab |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $7.99 | $0.99 — better |
| Rating | 5.0 (92 ratings) — better | 4.8 (172 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 94.3% of reviews | 95.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 92 | 172 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #73 — better | #75 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 14.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 46 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Geoff Hackworth | sovio |
Customer experience
Adaptivity (A)
RegEx Lab
Bugs and requests
Adaptivity (A)
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
RegEx Lab
Reported bugs
14 issues- iPad's Files app cannot find the app or Regex files
- Export option creates messy files
- Mac version lacks developer effort
- Slow load screen when creating new expressions
- Select this match option is unreliable
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- Replace function is difficult to understand
- Cheat sheet accessibility issues
- Poor highlighting options
- Keyboard behavior issues
- Import functionality is broken
- Highlighted errors persist
- Difficulty with sequential regex application
- Lack of named group support
- Interface is entirely in English
Requested features
11 requests- Make app and Regex files visible in Files app
- Improve export option for Regex files
- Add a button to clear the text window
- Allow simultaneous viewing of text and replacement text
- Add a button to copy and replace text on the previous screen
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- Add more examples to the cheat sheet
- Add a user manual
- Automatically jump to matched text
- Add a Chinese language option
- Add 'snippets' or templates
- Add a special keyboard for common expressions
In-app purchases
Adaptivity (A)
- Small Tip$0.99
- Medium Tip$1.99
- Large Tip$4.99
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- Enormous Tip$9.99
RegEx Lab
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Adaptivity (A) free?
Is RegEx Lab free?
Which has better reviews, Adaptivity (A) or RegEx Lab?
Do Adaptivity (A) or RegEx Lab have ads?
Which is updated more often, Adaptivity (A) or RegEx Lab?
Which is more popular, Adaptivity (A) or RegEx Lab?
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