FreeFlight Mini vs Sphero Play
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
FreeFlight Mini
Control Parrot Minidrones with your smartphone or tablet. Features intuitive piloting, easy connectivity, and advanced flight modes for acrobatic maneuvers. Capture photos and videos in real-time for an immersive FPV experience.
- Intuitive piloting interface
- Easy drone detection and connection
- Real-time HD video saving and transmission
- FPV racing pilot modes
- One-touch acrobatics and flips
- Customizable flight parameters
- Photo capture
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FREEFLIGHT MINI The official dedicated app for Parrot Minidrones*. PILOT YOUR DRONE VIA YOUR SMARTPHONE OR TABLET Download FreeFlight Mini free of charge in order to pilot Parrot Minidrones. INTUITIVE PILOTING FreeFlight Mini’s easy-to-use interface makes piloting simple, even for beginner pilots. The app connects to your Minidrone via Bluetooth Low Energy or Wi-Fi. EASY CONNECTIVITY The FreeFlight Mini App automatically detects which Parrot Minidrone you are using. Simply turn on your drone, activate Bluetooth on your smartphone/tablet and open the application. Select your drone from the list that appears on the screen. Your drone will then connect and you are ready for take-off! If you’re using Mambo FPV, activate wifi on your iDevice and connect to your drone in the app. List of drones compatible with this application: Parrot Mambo, Parrot Swing, Parrot Minidrones Airborne Night and Cargo, Hydrofoil*, and Rolling Spider. *For Hydrofoil: place the Airborne Minidrone into the Hydrofoil structure, select Hydrofoil mode in settings, and start sailing across the water. Parrot MAMBO FPV NEW FEATURES The application will instantly recognize the FPV camera that you have connected to your Parrot Mambo. You can now save and transmit HD video content in real time! To completely immerse yourself in the FPV experience, simply place your iDevice in your Parrot Cockpit Glasses 2. You’ll see exactly what your drone sees and discover new, thrilling sensations thanks to this innovative function. Become a FPV racing pilot using the three new pilot modes. Start with the Easy mode, which will keep your drone’s position in the air even after the controls have been released. Then, move on to Drift mode. This mode deactivates the horizontal stabilization, thus allowing for sharps turns and more complex maneuvers. Last but not least, push your piloting skills to the limit and try the new Racing mode. You’ll have complete control of the drone with no stabilization assistance. The possibilities are endless! ACROBATICS, FLIPS & TURNS From the home screen of the FreeFlight Mini app, you can easily access your settings for piloting, photos, and the "Parrot Cloud.” You can also customize flight parameters, including: altitude, speed and piloting mode (accelerometer, joypad). FreeFlight Mini app also includes fun features like one-touch flip: - Experience loops, barrel rolls, and high speed 180-degree turns with Parrot Swing - Front/back/side flips with Parrot Mambo, Airborne Minidrones, Rolling Spider and Hydrofoil* *Only when it’s removed from the Hydrofoil structure and in flight mode Parrot Minidrones are ultra-compact drones with impressive agility. They can fly both indoors and outdoors with great speed and stability. PHOTOS All Parrot Minidrones can take dronies of you and your friends. You can also store images from your drone races taken by Parrot Swing in plane mode. CUSTOMIZE YOUR FLYPAD SETTINGS The new Parrot Flypad allows you to pilot your Minidrone with extra-precision and control. There are two ways to connect the controller to the Minidrone: - Automatically and directly, without the use of a smartphone. This mode offers an increased flight range of up to 200 feet - Through your smartphone or tablet. This connection mode allows you to monitor your flight status on your device’s screen, and simultaneously pilot the Minidrone using the controller You can customize your Flypad controls to suit your piloting preferences through the use of the FreeFlight Mini app. Turn on your Parrot Flypad and select it in the “controller” section of the app. From there, you can modify the button mapping and check battery life. When you start piloting, enjoy the optimized display of flight information (flight time and drone battery percentage) on your smartphone. *To pilot Parrot Minidrone Jumping Night, Race, or Sumo, you need to download the FreeFlight Jumping app.
Sphero Play
Control and play with various Sphero robots using a single application. Explore multiple drive modes, engage in robot-controlled games, and learn basic programming through a block-based interface.
- Multiple drive modes (joystick, tilt, voice)
- Robot-controlled games
- Block Drive programming
- Sports-themed drive modes
- Voice control
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Drive and play games from ONE app with your Sphero Mini, Sphero 2.0, SPRK, SPRK+, BOLT, and BOLT+. Connect and control your robots with several exciting drive modes, use your robot as a controller to play games, or try out Block Drive for an intro to programming with colorful blocks. Features include: DRIVE MODES Drive your robots several ways with the Sphero Play app. Use the joystick and slingshot controls, tilt your device, or use your voice. Our sports-themed drive modes keep things fun with the ability to swing your device to "golf"*, or flick to "kick" your robot. BLOCK DRIVE PROGRAMMING Learn programming basics by controlling your robot with colorful movement and light blocks. GAMES Use your robot as a controller to shoot your way through space, race your vehicle through a tunnel avoiding obstacles and scoring points, or rotate your ball to destroy a polygon of bricks. Need robots? We know a guy. Visit sphero.com and order today. *This mode is not available on iPads.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Sphero Play at 4.8 against FreeFlight Mini's 3.7. Sphero Play also leads on review sentiment (69% vs 34%) and ratings volume (37K vs 513). FreeFlight Mini's advantage is iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.0). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Sphero Play holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sphero Play has 37K ratings behind it against 513, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 34% of FreeFlight Mini's written reviews are positive against 69% of Sphero Play's.
FreeFlight Mini ships an update every 5 weeks, Sphero Play every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | FreeFlight Mini | Sphero Play |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.7 (513 ratings) | 4.8 (37K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 34.2% of reviews | 69.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 513 | 37K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 141 MB | 193 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Parrot SA | Sphero, Inc. |
Customer experience
FreeFlight Mini
Sphero Play
User reviews
FreeFlight Mini
From 513 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Works well on iPhone
- 👍 Fun and enjoyable
- 🚀 Very nice and enjoyable for 10-year-olds
- 👍 More reliable than a McLaren
- 🚀 Camera works well
Room to improve
- 🐛 Broken app sign-up/login
- 👎 Built-in obsolescence
- 👎 Difficult to control
- 🔋 Short battery life
- 🐛 Connectivity issues
Sphero Play
From 37K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fun and engaging app
- 👍 Great controls and customization
- 🎮 Enjoyable games and activities
- 💡 Compatibility with multiple Sphero products
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional connectivity issues
- 🔧 Limited features compared to older apps
- 🔋 Concerns about battery life and durability
Bugs and requests
FreeFlight Mini
Reported bugs
4 issues- App crashes when trying to transfer photos
- Bluetooth connectivity issues
- Drone firmware update problems
- Drone goes out of control during flight
Requested features
4 requests- Automatic orientation adjustment for left-handed users
- Ability to change control mode
- Improved camera functionality
- Emergency stop button
Sphero Play
Reported bugs
2 issues- Joystick controls not working as expected
- Alignment issues causing unexpected movement
Requested features
4 requests- More games and activities
- Support for additional Sphero products (e.g. Ollie, BB-8)
- Improved aiming and control precision
- Camera integration to see the Sphero's view
In-app purchases
FreeFlight Mini
No in-app purchases
Sphero Play
No in-app purchases









