Comparison

FreeFlight Mini vs Sphero Play

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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.

About

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.

Highlights
  • Multiple drive modes (joystick, tilt, voice)
  • Robot-controlled games
  • Block Drive programming
  • Sports-themed drive modes
  • Voice control
Features
Read full description

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

FreeFlight Mini4 screens
Sphero Play4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

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

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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

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.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
FreeFlight Mini versus Sphero Play: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFreeFlight MiniSphero Play
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.7 (513 ratings)4.8 (37K ratings) — better
Positive reviews34.2% of reviews69.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings51337K — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS9.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size141 MB193 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperParrot SASphero, Inc.

Customer experience

FreeFlight Mini

All ratings512 ratings
Positive65.2%
Neutral10.5%
Negative24.2%
Written reviews351 reviews
Positive34.2%
Neutral12.8%
Negative53.0%

Sphero Play

All ratings36,681 ratings
Positive96.3%
Neutral2.1%
Negative1.7%
Written reviews517 reviews
Positive69.1%
Neutral6.2%
Negative24.8%

User reviews

FreeFlight Mini

From 513 App Store ratings

What 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 ratings

What 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

None

FreeFlight Mini

No in-app purchases

None

Sphero Play

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is FreeFlight Mini free?
FreeFlight Mini is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Sphero Play free?
Sphero Play is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, FreeFlight Mini or Sphero Play?
Sphero Play is rated higher. FreeFlight Mini averages 3.7 out of 5 from 513 ratings, while Sphero Play averages 4.8 from 37K ratings.
Do FreeFlight Mini or Sphero Play have ads?
Neither FreeFlight Mini nor Sphero Play shows ads.
Which is updated more often, FreeFlight Mini or Sphero Play?
FreeFlight Mini ships an update every 5 weeks, and Sphero Play every 2 months. Most recently, FreeFlight Mini was updated on October 24, 2026 and Sphero Play on October 28, 2026.

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