phyphox vs BLExAR
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
phyphox
Unlock your phone's sensors for scientific exploration. Conduct pre-built experiments or create your own using accelerometers, magnetometers, and more. Analyze and export data in various formats for further study.
- Pre-defined experiments
- Data export (CSV, TSV, Excel)
- Web-based remote control
- Custom experiment editor
- Access to phone sensors
- Advanced analysis functions
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Did you know that you are carrying a 3D magnetometer? That you can use your phone as a pendulum to measure earth's local gravitational acceleration? That you can turn your phone into a sonar? phyphox gives you access to the sensors of your phone either directly or through ready-to-play experiments which analyze your data and let you export raw data along with the results for further analysis. You can even define your own experiments on phyphox.org and share them with colleagues, students and friends. Selected Features: • A selection of pre-defined experiments. Just press play to start. • Export your data to a range of widely used formats • Remote-control your experiment through a web interface from any PC on the same network as your phone. No need to install anything on those PCs - all you need is a modern web browser. • Define your own experiments by selecting sensor inputs, defining analysis steps and creating views as an interface using our web-editor (http://phyphox.org/editor). The analysis consists of just adding two values or using advanced methods like Fourier transforms and crosscorrelation. We offer a whole toolbox of analysis functions. Sensors supported: • Accelerometer • Magnetometer • Gyroscope • Pressure • Microphone • Proximity • GPS • Camera • LiDAR/ToF *some sensors are not present on every phone. Export formats • CSV (Comma separated values) • TSV (Tab-separated values) • Excel (if you need other formats, please let us know) This app has been developed at the 2nd Institute of Physics A at the RWTH Aachen University.
BLExAR
This app enables iOS devices to communicate with Arduino boards via Bluetooth Low Energy. It allows real-time control of Arduino pins, data logging with GPS coordinates, and serial text communication for makers and students.
- Real-time control of Arduino digital and analog pins
- Real-time data plotting
- Data logging to CSV files
- Capture GPS coordinates for data points
- Serial text communication terminal
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BLExAR turns your iPhone or iPad into a pocket bench instrument for Arduino-class boards over Bluetooth Low Energy. Connect to a board with an HM-10 style UART module (CC2541, AT-09, JDY-08, SH-M08), an nRF52840 MakerBLE board or a Seeed XIAO ESP32-C6, then switch pins, stream sensor values, plot and record them, all without writing an app of your own. BLExAR 3.0 is a complete rewrite that keeps working with the sketches and tutorials written for earlier versions: the same commands, the same pins and the same CSV files. CONTROL • Switch digital pins and set PWM from pin tiles laid out like your board's header • Analog sliders for the A-pins • Board profiles for Arduino Uno, Arduino Nano, MakerBLE (nRF52840), Seeed XIAO ESP32-C6 and the classic 2.7 layout • TX/RX activity lights show every message to and from the board DATA • Live chart of the comma-separated values your board sends, with Run/Hold and 10 s, 1 min and 10 min windows • Readout cards with min, max and standard deviation for each series, plus the incoming stream rate • Record sessions to CSV, optionally with your location on each row, and keep recording in the background • Browse, reopen and share recorded sessions; they also appear in the Files app CONSOLE • Serial terminal to send and receive text, with a hex view and quick command keys PANELS • Build your own control dashboards with buttons, toggles, sliders, a joystick and gauges bound to your board's commands and data columns • Share panels with others as files ALWAYS AT HAND • Live Activity on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island while connected or recording • Control Center controls to toggle a pin without opening the app • Scan list puts UART-ready boards first, ordered by signal strength • Automatic reconnect after a dropped link • Light and dark appearance and Dynamic Type BLExAR is made for makers, students, teachers and engineers. Tutorials and example sketches are at makersportal.com.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: phyphox at Free against BLExAR's $4.99. phyphox also leads on rating (4.6 vs 4.0) and ratings volume (276 vs 14). On review sentiment, 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
phyphox is free to download; BLExAR costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
phyphox holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: phyphox has 276 ratings behind it against 14, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 79% of phyphox's written reviews are positive against 75% of BLExAR's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | phyphox | BLExAR |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $4.99 |
| Rating | 4.6 (276 ratings) — better | 4.0 (14 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 78.7% of reviews — better | 75.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 276 — better | 14 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 19 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | RWTH Aachen University | Maker Portal LLC |
Customer experience
phyphox
BLExAR
Bugs and requests
phyphox
Reported bugs
21 issues- App crashes on older devices
- Barometer not working on iOS 17.4
- Network error: Generic error
- Sound measurement curve disappears
- App crashes frequently
Show 16 moreShow fewer
- Cannot be opened on iPhone 6
- Light sensor not implemented
- Recording stops when phone is locked or app is minimized
- Green lines on screen and faded to black after using barometer sensor
- WLAN not working after using the app
- Pressure no longer displayed on iOS 17.5
- Barometer not working on iOS 17.4
- Latest version cannot be opened on iPhone 6
- Sound chronometer reset button not working
- iPad destroyed after update
- App displays Russian language by default
- Experiments not working on iPhone 7
- Magnetometer not working after update on iPhone 5s
- GPS shows 0 satellites with 6m accuracy
- App claims iPhone 11 is comparable to a low-cost tablet
- App crashes every time
Requested features
33 requests- Add infrasound detector
- More units of measurement (G-force, PSI, feet)
- NFC/RFID support
- In-app bug report feature
- Allow other sensors via USB-C
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- Ability to plug in external sensors
- Slo-mo recording with timestamps
- Add attitude sensor (roll, pitch, yaw)
- Integration with Apple Shortcuts
- Ability to record audio/dB simultaneously with other sensors
- Adjustable sampling frequency for all sensors
- Dark mode option
- Experiment editor integrated into the app
- More documentation for the editor
- Ability to form averages
- Support for older iPhones (iPhone 6)
- Add GPS satellite count display
- Add speedometer functionality
- Add Lux measurement using light sensor/camera
- Ability to play recorded audio
- Limit input for sound analyzers (dB/Hz range)
- Wi-Fi and RF module access for EMF analysis
- iWatch integration
- Improve audio generator capability
- Allow background/screen locked recording
- Add light sensor functionality
- Change units of measurement
- Add more precise measurements for static cases
- Add FFT and spectral generation for accelerometer
- Support for older devices
- Improve UI/UX for new users
- Add support for more languages
- Add a donate option
BLExAR
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
phyphox
No in-app purchases
BLExAR
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is phyphox free?
Is BLExAR free?
Which has better reviews, phyphox or BLExAR?
Do phyphox or BLExAR have ads?
Which is updated more often, phyphox or BLExAR?
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