Rain Bird vs Captain's Choice
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Rain Bird
Control your sprinklers remotely from your mobile device. Automate watering schedules and adjust for weather conditions to conserve water and reduce costs. Compatible with various Rain Bird controller models.
- Remote sprinkler control
- Customizable watering schedules
- Automated weather adjustments
- Water and money saving
- Controller model compatibility
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Smart Watering Made Simple. Connect your Rain Bird controller to your mobile device to turn on sprinklers, set up customized watering schedules, and automate weather adjustments, saving you water and money. Compatible with the following Rain Bird controller models: ST8-WIFI ESP-TM2 ESP-RZXe ESP-Me ESP-ME3 RC2 ARC8 For more information: http://wifi.rainbird.com 1-800-RAINBIRD
Captain's Choice
This utility app allows users to control their Captain's Choice boat-lift system via a Bluetooth connection. It offers a custom time preset for rising operations and a feature to view nearby compatible Bluetooth devices.
- Bluetooth boat-lift control
- Custom time preset for rising
- View nearby Bluetooth devices
- Connect to compatible systems
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Control your Captain's Choice boat-lift system over a Bluetooth connection Custom time preset: After establishing a connection, press and hold on the radial-timer to set your default timer value for rising up View bluetooth devices: Tap on the Bluetooth icon in the upper right to view a list of all compatible Bluetooth devices near you About: http://boatliftremotecontrol.com/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Rain Bird at 4.7 against Captain's Choice's 2.3. Rain Bird also leads on review sentiment (31% vs 0%) and ratings volume (70K vs 6). 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Rain Bird holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 2.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Rain Bird has 70K ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 31% of Rain Bird's written reviews are positive against 0% of Captain's Choice's.
Rain Bird ships an update every 2 months, Captain's Choice every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Rain Bird | Captain's Choice |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (70K ratings) — better | 2.3 (6 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 31.2% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 70K — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 14.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 48 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Rain Bird Corporation | Interactive Technologies, Inc. (KS) |
Customer experience
Rain Bird
Captain's Choice
Bugs and requests
Rain Bird
Reported bugs
5 issues- Constant connection errors
- App crashes frequently
- Date/time not syncing correctly
- Seasonal adjustment not working as expected
- Manual controls not functioning properly
Requested features
6 requests- Add water usage history and analytics
- Allow pausing of individual zones
- Improve manual control options
- Add weather integration and smart scheduling
- Improve notification system
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- Add ability to turn off entire system remotely
Captain's Choice
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Rain Bird
No in-app purchases
Captain's Choice
No in-app purchases
