Comparison

Blue Hound vs Beacon Alert

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

Head to head
About

Blue Hound

Easily scan and locate your Bluetooth-enabled devices, including smartwatches, fitness trackers, and tags. Find lost items like keys or drones using signal strength, heat maps, or direction finders. The app identifies devices by name, maker, and model, and allows you to search the cloud for previously found items.

Highlights
  • Real-time Bluetooth scanning
  • Signal strength meter
  • Heat map and direction finder
  • Cloud search for past devices
  • Smart device identification
  • Power saver mode
  • Audio alerts
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

The essential Bluetooth app for scanning and locating your smart devices from Apple, FitBit, Garmin, and many other companies. Scan and identify nearby devices. Locate devices by signal strength, heat map or direction finder. You can now find Fitbit and other Bluetooth devices that are paired with your iPhone. If the Bluetooth device is paired with another iPhone, turn off Bluetooth on that iPhone. Blue Hound is always scanning for Bluetooth devices. When a device is detected, Blue Hound identifies it by name, maker and model when possible. It does this using a large database of smart recognizers that are updated automatically. Devices you find are uploaded to the cloud to help you search for them later. Blue Hound works great with Bluetooth tags. If you attach one to your keys, you can locate them within 100 feet or more even outdoors in high grass. Attach one to your drone and you will be able to find it if it lands unexpectedly. Scanning for Bluetooth devices can be a fun outdoor activity. Take Blue Hound out for a walk. Enable Power Saver Mode for Blue Hound in Settings and put your iPhone in your pocket upside down. The screen will go dark and the app will enter power saver mode. If you wish, Blue Hound can even bark to alert you when a new device is found. Blue Hound has features not found in any other Bluetooth scanner or finder: • Real time Bluetooth scanner with signal strength and description • Sort the scanner list by age, distance or name • Filter the scanner list for matching text • List both active and inactive devices • Power saver option and audio alerts for scanning while walking • Search the cloud for devices you have found in the past • Search for past devices using an interactive map • Smart device identification using cloud updated recognizers • Display detailed information about a devices including is maker and model • Search Google for more information about the device • Get directions to the last known location of the device • Locate a device indoors using a signal strength meter • Locate a device outdoors using a heat map and signal graph • Outdoor direction finder saves time when searching • Display the directions on the map to triangulate the location

About

Beacon Alert

This app allows you to manage multiple beacons and receive notifications when they enter or exit your proximity. It supports adding up to 20 beacons through in-app purchases.

Highlights
  • Manage multiple beacons
  • Add up to 20 beacons
  • Receive entry/exit notifications
  • Beacon enabled device required
Features
Read full description

Never lose track of what matters. Beacon Alert helps you monitor Bluetooth beacons and records where they were last seen. Receive alerts when a beacon disappears and quickly navigate back to its last known location. Perfect for keys, bags, equipment, pets, vehicles, and anything equipped with a compatible Bluetooth beacon. FEATURES • Monitor multiple beacons • Instant alerts when a beacon goes out of range • Notifications when a beacon returns nearby • Save the last known location automatically • View lost locations by beacon name • Rename and organize beacons • Open saved locations in Apple Maps or Google Maps • Background monitoring support • Clean and easy-to-use interface • Privacy focused — your data stays on your device BEACON ALERT PRO Unlock even more features with Beacon Alert Pro: • Unlimited saved beacons • Lost location history • Custom beacon names • Advanced notifications Beacon Alert is designed to help you find and recover important items faster and with confidence.

Screenshots

Blue Hound4 screens
Beacon Alert2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Beacon Alert at Free against Blue Hound's $1.99. Beacon Alert also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 57%) and rating (5.0 vs 4.6). Blue Hound's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 48 months). On ads and device support 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

Beacon Alert is free to download; Blue Hound costs $1.99 up front. Beacon Alert sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Blue Hound asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Beacon Alert holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Blue Hound has 915 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 57% of Blue Hound's written reviews are positive against 100% of Beacon Alert's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Blue Hound ships an update every 5 weeks, Beacon Alert every 48 months. Both last shipped on October 26, 2026.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
Blue Hound versus Beacon Alert: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBlue HoundBeacon Alert
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating4.6 (915 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews56.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings915 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeks — betterEvery 48 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#149 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS11.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGrangerFXCarlos Chaparro

Customer experience

Blue Hound

All ratings912 ratings
Positive91.0%
Neutral3.1%
Negative5.9%
Written reviews44 reviews
Positive56.8%
Neutral4.5%
Negative38.6%

Beacon Alert

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Blue Hound

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Unable to detect nearby Bluetooth devices
  • Inconsistent performance, app not working at times
  • Inaccurate distance and location information

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to set device parameters and utilize scanned devices
  • Device details like MAC address, identifiers
  • Tutorial or onboarding for new users
  • Option to block outside device connections for security

Beacon Alert

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Blue Hound

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Beacon Alert

One-time1
  • Beacon Alert Pro$1.99

Questions

Is Blue Hound free?
Blue Hound costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Beacon Alert free?
Beacon Alert is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Blue Hound or Beacon Alert?
Beacon Alert is rated higher. Blue Hound averages 4.6 out of 5 from 915 ratings, while Beacon Alert averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Blue Hound or Beacon Alert have ads?
Neither Blue Hound nor Beacon Alert shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Blue Hound or Beacon Alert?
Blue Hound ships an update every 5 weeks, and Beacon Alert every 48 months. Most recently, Blue Hound was updated on October 26, 2026 and Beacon Alert on October 26, 2026.

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