Comparison

iDiff View vs Samurai Search

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

Head to head
About

iDiff View

Compare two text files side-by-side to see changes. It highlights character, word, and line differences, supporting various cloud document providers for easy file access.

Highlights
  • Side-by-side file comparison
  • Highlights character, word, and line changes
  • Supports iCloud Drive, Google Drive, OneDrive
  • Combined view on iPhone
  • Identifies additions and deletions
Features
Read full description

iDiff View highlights the difference between two versions of a text file. The left pane shows the older file and the right pane shows the more recent version. On the iPhone the differences are shown in a combined view. Files are chosen from document providers, such as iCloud Drive, Google Drive, OneDrive etc. iDiff shows which characters/words and lines have changed, highlighting additions and deletions.

About

Samurai Search

Efficiently search text and PDF files across your device, iCloud, and external storage. Preview matched files or open them in other applications. Supports advanced search options like regular expressions.

Highlights
  • Search text and PDF files
  • iCloud and external storage support
  • File preview
  • Regular expression support
  • Customizable file types
  • Saved search locations
Read full description

Search your iOS device or iCloud for text, source code, plain text files, and PDFs. Find matches inside files and preview results instantly, or open any matched file in your favourite editing or viewing app. Flexible search options: whole word, case sensitive (all file types), and regular expressions (for text files). Choose which files to include by selecting standard or custom text file types, or by searching filenames that match a pattern. Select where to search from On My iPad, iCloud Drive, or external file providers such as SMB and USB folders. When possible, the app retains saved search selections so you can quickly repeat the same searches later. If you search selected folders in iCloud Drive, matching iCloud files are synced to your device before searching, ensuring fast local results. Searching plain text files is extremely fast and memory efficient. PDF search speed depends on the document content and can be slow. Note also that PDF search may consume large amounts of memory which can cause Samurai Search to crash.

Screenshots

iDiff View1 screens
Samurai Search4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Samurai Search at 100% against iDiff View's 33%. Samurai Search also leads on rating (5.0 vs 3.4) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 17 months). iDiff View's advantage is iOS requirement (9.2 vs 16.0). 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

Samurai Search holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Samurai Search has 25 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 33% of iDiff View's written reviews are positive against 100% of Samurai Search's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iDiff View ships an update every 17 months, Samurai Search every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
iDiff View versus Samurai Search: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriDiff ViewSamurai Search
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.4 (5 ratings)5.0 (25 ratings) — better
Positive reviews33.3% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings525 — better
Update frequencyEvery 17 monthsEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS9.2 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size14 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperROCKETBOX LTDMichael Rourke

Customer experience

iDiff View

All ratings5 ratings
Positive60.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative40.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral16.7%
Negative50.0%

Samurai Search

All ratings25 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

iDiff View

No in-app purchases

None

Samurai Search

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is iDiff View free?
iDiff View is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Samurai Search free?
Samurai Search is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, iDiff View or Samurai Search?
Samurai Search is rated higher. iDiff View averages 3.4 out of 5 from 5 ratings, while Samurai Search averages 5.0 from 25 ratings.
Do iDiff View or Samurai Search have ads?
Neither iDiff View nor Samurai Search shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iDiff View or Samurai Search?
iDiff View ships an update every 17 months, and Samurai Search every 5 days. Most recently, iDiff View was updated on October 11, 2026 and Samurai Search on October 24, 2026.

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