SmartApfel vs Matter
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SmartApfel
Stay updated on Apple HomeKit and Matter smart home technology. Get the latest news, device information, automation ideas, and warnings about problematic firmware updates. Perfect for both beginners and experienced users.
- Latest news on HomeKit & Matter
- Device overview
- Automation examples
- Firmware update warnings
- Beginner-friendly information
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SmartApfel is your source for the latest information and tips about Apple HomeKit & Matter. We not only provide you with all kinds of news, but also show you all available devices. Do you always want to be at the forefront or would you rather be on the safe side? We inform you about new features and warn you about firmware updates that you should rather not install. You need inspiration for new automations? Then we have more than 100 examples for you. Are you still wondering whether HomeKit is right for you or have you recently bought your first device? Even beginners don't miss out with us. With our app, you'll always have us with you and be one of the first to learn about news in the Apple HomeKit & Matter world. No matter if you want to browse through the device overview on the train or if you don't want to miss the latest news: The SmartApfel app is your constant companion! In our imprint you will also find the terms of use for the tip box: https://smartapfel.de/imprint/
Matter
Consolidate articles, newsletters, and PDFs into a single, elegant reading experience. Enjoy features like natural text-to-speech, fluid highlighting, and offline access. Sync your highlights to popular knowledge management tools.
- Save articles, newsletters, PDFs, and YouTube
- Natural text-to-speech for articles
- Fluid highlighting and note-taking
- Sync highlights to Notion, Obsidian, Readwise
- Send articles to Kindle
- Unified inbox for subscriptions
- Offline reading
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Finally, a better reading app. The internet is full of things you want to read – articles, newsletters, Twitter threads, PDFs. Matter brings them together in one place and gives you modern tools, like natural text-to-speech and fluid highlighting, to help you read more comfortably and effectively. "Matter improves vastly on earlier read-later apps like Pocket and Instapaper" – The Wall Street Journal Save anything: - Save full articles if you're within the paywall (eg. Bloomberg, NYT, WSJ) - Podcast transcriptions & synced playback - Save PDFs and YouTube Read across devices, including Kindle: - iPhone, iPad, Web - Send any article to Kindle in 2-taps Unified inbox for your subscriptions: - Sync your newsletters by connecting Gmail - Follow individual writers for their latest posts - Add any RSS feed The most elegant reading experience: - Best-in-class article parsing + readability - Available offline by default - Gorgeous night mode - Human-like text-to-speech - Fluid highlighting and note-taking Export your knowledge: - Sync your highlights to Notion, Obsidian, Roam, Readwise, and others Matter offers a free service and a Premium service. The free version of Matter includes: - Uncapped read-later library - Mobile & web extensions to save all types of content - Best-in-class parsing and readability - Unlimited tags - Full-text search - Customizable themes and fonts In addition to the free features, Matter Premium offers: - HD text-to-speech for all your articles - Seamless AI Co-Reader - Sync your newsletters, subscribe to writers, and add RSS feeds - Unlimited highlighting, note-taking, and integrations - Send to Kindle Payment for Matter Premium will be charged to your iTunes Account when you subscribe. Annual and monthly subscriptions automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Auto-renewal may be turned off at any time by going to your settings in the iTunes Store after purchase. Manage your Matter Premium subscription by going to Matter's Settings page. Terms of Use: https://hq.getmatter.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://hq.getmatter.com/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Matter at 4.6 against SmartApfel's 4.0. Matter also leads on ratings volume (1.2K vs 7) and chart position (#123 vs unranked). SmartApfel's advantage is review sentiment (65% vs 54%) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). On price, update cadence, 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. SmartApfel sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 per month and Matter sells 20 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Matter holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Matter has 1.2K ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 65% of SmartApfel's written reviews are positive against 54% of Matter's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
SmartApfel ships an update fortnightly, Matter weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SmartApfel | Matter |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (7 ratings) | 4.6 (1.2K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 64.5% of reviews — better | 54.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 7 | 1.2K — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Best chart rank | — | #123 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 26 MB | 121 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | acasa Software GmbH | Dig Wells, Inc. |
Customer experience
SmartApfel
Matter
Bugs and requests
SmartApfel
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Matter
Reported bugs
4 issues- Subscription issues and inability to cancel
- Delayed or missing newsletter delivery
- Syncing problems across devices
- Crashes and freezes on certain content
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to manually add blogs and RSS feeds
- Customizable highlighter colors
- Offline mode for audio playback
- Integration with more note-taking apps
- Improved search and filtering capabilities
In-app purchases
SmartApfel
- Small coffee (monthly)$1.491 Month
- Large coffee (monthly)$3.491 Month
- Espresso$0.99
- Cup of coffee$1.99
- Pot of coffee$3.99
Matter
- Matter Pro Weekly$2.997 Days
- Matter Premium (Monthly)$7.991 Month
- Matter Premium (Monthly)$9.991 Month
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- Matter Pro (Monthly)$12.991 Month
- Matter Premium (Monthly)$13.991 Month
- Matter Premium (Monthly)$14.991 Month
- Matter Premium (Monthly)$15.991 Month
- Matter Premium (Monthly)$19.991 Month
- Matter Pro (Annual)1 Year trial$59.991 Year
- Matter Pro (Annual)7 Days trial$59.991 Year
- Matter Pro (Annual)$59.991 Year
- Matter Premium (Annual)$69.991 Year
- Matter Premium (Annual)$79.991 Year
- Matter Premium (Annual)7 Days trial$79.991 Year
- Matter Premium1 Month trial2 variants$79.991 Year
- Matter Pro (Annual)$79.991 Year
- Matter Premium (Annual)$99.991 Year
- Matter Premium7 Days trial$99.991 Year
- Matter Patron Tier$149.99
- Matter Premium (3 years)$149.99








