phyphox vs Rift Student
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
Read full descriptionHide full description
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.
Rift Student
This app offers an alternative interface and enhanced features for Infinite Campus users. It includes grade checking, inbox access, and customizable views to help students manage their academic performance.
- Alternative Infinite Campus UI
- Grade Checking
- Inbox features
- Quarterly Grade Checking
- Weighted Grades View
- Light & Dark Modes
Read full descriptionHide full description
Allows Infinite Campus® users to enjoy a different user interface and functions than the 1st party Infinite Campus® app. Use our checking feature to help you learn what you need to get to ace your classes. Additional Features include: - Grade Checking - Inbox features - Quarterly Grade Checking - Weighted Grades View - Light & Dark Modes and many, many more Rift is an independent software program and has not been authorized, endorsed, or otherwise approved by Infinite Campus, Inc. INFINITE CAMPUS® is a trademark of Infinite Campus, Inc. Look at https://riftapp.io/terms for our terms and conditions and trademark use.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: phyphox at Free against Rift Student's $0.99. phyphox also leads on rating (4.6 vs 3.6) and review sentiment (79% vs 50%). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases 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
phyphox is free to download; Rift Student costs $0.99 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 3.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: phyphox has 276 ratings behind it against 35, 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 50% of Rift Student's.
phyphox ships an update every 3 months, Rift Student every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and September 27, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | phyphox | Rift Student |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $0.99 |
| Rating | 4.6 (276 ratings) — better | 3.6 (35 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 78.9% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 276 — better | 35 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 19 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | RWTH Aachen University | Varun Chitturi |
Customer experience
phyphox
Rift Student
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
Show 28 moreShow fewer
- 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
Rift Student
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
phyphox
No in-app purchases
Rift Student
No in-app purchases
