Comparison

U vs Kompressed

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

Head to head
About

U

Expand your iOS device's storage with this portable flash drive. Seamlessly transfer, view, and manage files between your iPhone/iPad and Mac/PC without needing Wi-Fi or a network signal. Features include file encryption and contact backup.

Highlights
  • Memory expansion for iOS devices
  • Two-way storage transfer (iOS to Mac/PC)
  • No Wi-Fi or network signal required
  • Transfer, view, and share files
  • File encryption
  • Contacts backup and restore
  • Video streaming via Airplay
Read full description

The U-Disk is the ultimate solution for memory expansion on iOS device. It's provides two-way storage between iOS and MAC/PC without Wi-Fi, network signal or battery power. Compatible with virtually all devices featuring a Lightning connector, this ultra-slim and fast flash drive enables users to seamlessly transfer, view and share documents, images, video and audio files between a multitude of gadgets. Organize, edit and manage files across multiple platforms, including iPad, iPhone and more. Play music and videos directly from the freeing up space on your devices. Other features include file encryption, contacts backup-restore, and video streaming via Airplay, Whether traveling by airplane for a business trip, stuck in a remote location without reception, or wanting to share photos and videos of a recent vacation, U-Disk fits perfectly into any lifestyle.

About

Kompressed

This app compresses various file types, including photos, videos, and documents, to fit specific data budgets for transmission over low-bandwidth connections. It offers flexible size setting options and ensures data integrity through verification before allowing a compression ratio.

Highlights
  • Byte budget compression
  • Photo, video, voice memo compression
  • Data file compression
  • Multiple size setting methods
  • Binary-search quality encoder
  • Re-encoding for video
  • Presets for specific links
Features
Read full description

Kompressed gives you a byte budget instead of a quality slider, then finds the best photo, video, voice memo or data file that fits inside it. For every link that was never meant to carry pictures. WHEN THE CONNECTION IS THE PROBLEM Hotel and campground wifi, a shared satellite terminal, one bar of LTE, a Meshtastic mesh, HF, packet, Iridium SBD. On a link like that, a 4 MB photo is not slow — it never arrives. Kompressed makes it 24 KB and tells you how long that will take to send. Flying on slow WiFi on an airline but want to get the data out, Kompressed can help you with that. Say the size three ways: pick a radio and a transmit window and let the arithmetic hand you the budget, type a plain 200 KB, or set quality and bitrate by hand. Then it works backwards. Stills binary-search encoder quality to land just under the budget, giving up resolution only when quality alone cannot get there. Video encodes, measures, corrects and re-encodes until the file actually fits — because a bitrate setting is a request, not a promise. MESHTASTIC AND OTHER TINY LINKS Ships with presets for Meshtastic thumbnails, VARA HF recon photos, Iridium SBD single bursts and a one-QR handoff, so a net can agree on one set of numbers and export them as JSON. Text armor sends numbered Base64 blocks with a CRC, so the far end knows block 7 of 12 never arrived and asks for exactly that. Reed-Solomon FEC packets cover one-way links where there is nobody to ask. QR covers phone to phone with no network at all. TAK Results can even leave as an ATAK data package — a MANIFEST and a CoT event built from the photo's own EXIF position — so the picture lands on the map at its coordinates instead of in a downloads folder. One tap of the share sheet reaches ATAK, iTAK, TAKAware, Messages, AirDrop or Files. NOT JUST PHOTOS GPS tracks 246 KB to 2.0 KB with waypoint names intact. Telemetry and CSV 211 KB to 12 KB, cell for cell identical. Scanned pages 414 KB to 3.5 KB. Screenshots, short reports, any other file. Every package is decoded again and compared against the original before a ratio is allowed to be the headline. EVERYTHING RUNS ON THE PHONE No upload, no account, no server, no network calls of any kind. It works in airplane mode, in a valley, on a boat. What you compress never leaves the device until you choose where it goes — which is the point, on a connection even if it is the thinnest of IP pipes.

Screenshots

U1 screens
Kompressed4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: U at Free against Kompressed's $1.99. U also leads on ratings volume (17 vs 1) and device support (3 vs 1). Kompressed's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 2.3) and update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months). On 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

U is free to download; Kompressed costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Kompressed holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 2.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: U has 17 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

U ships an update every 3 months, Kompressed weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
U versus Kompressed: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUKompressed
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating2.3 (17 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews29.4% of reviews—
Number of ratings17 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS12.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size52 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer岚 丁MARSHALL TYLER FRITH

Customer experience

U

All ratings17 ratings
Positive29.4%
Neutral5.9%
Negative64.7%
Written reviews17 reviews
Positive29.4%
Neutral5.9%
Negative64.7%

Kompressed

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

U

No in-app purchases

None

Kompressed

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is U free?
U is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Kompressed free?
Kompressed costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, U or Kompressed?
Kompressed is rated higher. U averages 2.3 out of 5 from 17 ratings, while Kompressed averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do U or Kompressed have ads?
Neither U nor Kompressed shows ads.
Which is updated more often, U or Kompressed?
U ships an update every 3 months, and Kompressed weekly. Most recently, U was updated on October 8, 2026 and Kompressed on October 4, 2026.

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