Comparison

RETRO FORTH vs Smart NFC

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

Head to head
About

RETRO FORTH

A compact and adaptable concatenative programming language designed for ease of learning and customization. It features a code editor, interactive listener, and support for Gopher servers, allowing for flexible development.

Highlights
  • Concatenative programming language
  • Code editor with Markdown subset
  • Literate programming style
  • Interactive listener interface
  • Gopher server data fetching
  • File manager
  • Documentation browser
Features
Read full description

RETRO FORTH is a concatenative programming language with roots in Forth. Designed to be compact, learnable, and easy to adapt to specific needs, it has been developed and refined through continual use by a small community over more than a decade. Forth is a stack based programming language created in the late 1960's by Chuck Moore. Over the intervening decades it has evolved through use, with many dialects along the way. The Retro dialect was created in the late 1990's, and has been continually developed and supported for over 15 years. It is a structured, imperative stack-based language with modern facilities including quotations and reflection. It features: - latest version of the RETRO language - a code editor using Markdown subset - literate programming style - code is extracted from fenced blocks in Markdown source allowing easy mixing of code and commentary - allows use of unicode & emoji in source & commentary - interactive listener interface for quick interactions - simple console output and text input - editor provides quick access to numbers and symbols - support for fetching textual data from Gopher servers - file manager - documentation browser It also includes documentation and several optional examples.

About

Smart NFC

This app allows users to read, write, and interact with NFC tags directly from their compatible iPhone. It supports various record types, tag formatting, and direct memory access for advanced customization. Background reading is also available on newer devices.

Highlights
  • Read, write, duplicate, erase, and lock NDEF tags
  • Format tags as NDEF
  • Interact with links and social media records
  • Background tag reading
  • Direct tag memory access
  • Send custom commands to tags
Features
Read full description

NFC is supported on iPhone 7 or newer only; iPad and iPod Touch do not have the hardware to interact with NFC tags. ----- Read, write, interact, and hack your NFC tags on your supporting iPhone! Smart NFC is one of the first apps to support native NFC writing directly from your device. With numerous custom records to get you started, you'll be writing to most NDEF-formatted NFC tags in no time. Don't have any NDEF-formatted tags? Format them in the Advanced section. Tag-specific features are being added that allow you to edit a tag's memory directly, which opens the doors to all kinds of new features! Tag not scanning? NDEF format new tags from the Advanced section to get them working right! An NFC tag is written with a single "Message" which contains any number of "Records." These records define text, links, and data to be stored on the tag. Most tags can be scanned by holding the top of your iPhone within a few centimeters. A chip is only limited only by its size. As long as the chip is NDEF-formatted (most are, and other formats will be supported in a later version) and it has enough space, the limits are endless! Features: - Read, write, duplicate, erase, and permanently lock NDEF-formatted tags - Monitor a tag's max capacity (usually somewhere between 256-1024 Bytes) - Read, write, and interact with links (https://, sms://, facetime://, mailto:, etc.) - Write a variety of pre-defined Social Media and website records - Read and write text records with multiple language localizations - Use Background Tag Reading to interact with NFC tags without an app. Write a link to a tag and then tap it to your phone. Voila! (Supported on iPhone XS and newer) - Review and rewrite previous messages from your History to another tag - Format factory-programmed tags as NDEF tags in-app (Supports most common tags such as Type 2 and Type 5 NFC tags) - Read and write directly to a tag's memory - Send custom commands directly to a tag - And of course, target your users better by using a tag's unique identifier Extras: - Dark Mode - Privacy: we collect nothing as you use the app. Supported Devices: - NFC scanning is available on iPhone 7 and newer. iPad and iPod Touch do not have the required hardware. - Background Tag Reading is available on iPhone XS and newer. iOS will present a notification for the first valid link stored on a tag. Supported Tags: - Any NDEF-formatted tags - MIFARE Ultralight - NTAG 213/215/216 - NXP ICODE® Tags, ISO 15693 Tags, and Type 5 Tags Future support for: - MIFARE DESFire Limitations: - MIFARE Classic tags are not currently supported by iOS Future features: - Include a tag's ID and/or its read count in a record - Password-protect an NFC chip - Connect to a Bluetooth device Feel free to Tweet feature requests to me at @0xA1EC

Screenshots

RETRO FORTH4 screens
Smart NFC4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: RETRO FORTH at Free against Smart NFC's $1.99. RETRO FORTH also leads on iOS requirement (12.4 vs 14.0). Smart NFC's advantage is ratings volume (92 vs 5) and review sentiment (48% vs 33%). On rating, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

RETRO FORTH is free to download; Smart NFC costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for RETRO FORTH against 4.5 for Smart NFC. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Smart NFC has 92 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 33% of RETRO FORTH's written reviews are positive against 48% of Smart NFC's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

RETRO FORTH ships an update monthly, Smart NFC fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 6, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
RETRO FORTH versus Smart NFC: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRETRO FORTHSmart NFC
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating4.4 (5 ratings)4.5 (92 ratings) — better
Positive reviews33.3% of reviews47.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings592 — better
Update frequencyMonthlyFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
Best chart rank—#36 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS12.4 — better14.0
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCharles ChildersAlec O'Connor

Customer experience

RETRO FORTH

All ratings5 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral66.7%
Negative0.0%

Smart NFC

All ratings92 ratings
Positive87.0%
Neutral2.2%
Negative10.9%
Written reviews21 reviews
Positive47.6%
Neutral14.3%
Negative38.1%

In-app purchases

None

RETRO FORTH

No in-app purchases

None

Smart NFC

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is RETRO FORTH free?
RETRO FORTH is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Smart NFC free?
Smart NFC costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, RETRO FORTH or Smart NFC?
Smart NFC is rated higher. RETRO FORTH averages 4.4 out of 5 from 5 ratings, while Smart NFC averages 4.5 from 92 ratings.
Do RETRO FORTH or Smart NFC have ads?
Neither RETRO FORTH nor Smart NFC shows ads.
Which is updated more often, RETRO FORTH or Smart NFC?
RETRO FORTH ships an update monthly, and Smart NFC fortnightly. Most recently, RETRO FORTH was updated on September 6, 2026 and Smart NFC on September 25, 2026.

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