Comparison

RETRO FORTH vs Web Inspector

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

Web Inspector

This app provides a suite of web development tools for Safari on mobile devices. Inspect and edit the DOM, view element styles, execute JavaScript commands, monitor network requests, and examine stored resources like cookies.

Highlights
  • DOM inspection and editing
  • Element style viewer
  • JavaScript console
  • Network request monitoring
  • Resource storage details
Features
Read full description

Web Inspector expands Safari on iPhone and iPad with a set of web development tools: Elements: Browse the DOM tree and tap elements on the page to inspect them. View node details, styles, and computed values. Search the DOM, edit an element's HTML, and copy or delete nodes. Console: Type JavaScript commands to debug, modify, and get information about your webpage. Sources: Read the webpage's source with syntax highlighting. Network: See a list of network requests made by the webpage, with headers and responses. Filter requests, or copy one as a cURL command. Resources: Find details about the data stored by a webpage, such as cookies, local storage, and session storage. Tip: If you tap the Web Inspector button and nothing happens, reload the page once..

Screenshots

RETRO FORTH4 screens
Web Inspector4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: RETRO FORTH at 4.4 against Web Inspector's 3.9. RETRO FORTH also leads on iOS requirement (12.4 vs 15.0). Web Inspector's advantage is review sentiment (65% vs 33%) and update cadence (weekly vs monthly). On price, 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

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

RETRO FORTH holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Web Inspector has 152 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 33% of RETRO FORTH's written reviews are positive against 65% of Web Inspector's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

RETRO FORTH ships an update monthly, Web Inspector weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 6, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
RETRO FORTH versus Web Inspector: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRETRO FORTHWeb Inspector
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (5 ratings) — better3.9 (152 ratings)
Positive reviews33.3% of reviews65.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings5152 — better
Update frequencyMonthlyWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
Best chart rank—#53 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.4 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCharles ChildersAnd a Dinosaur

Customer experience

RETRO FORTH

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

Web Inspector

All ratings152 ratings
Positive68.4%
Neutral9.2%
Negative22.4%
Written reviews221 reviews
Positive65.2%
Neutral13.6%
Negative21.3%

Bugs and requests

RETRO FORTH

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Web Inspector

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Disappears when reloading webpage
  • Doesn't work on newer iOS versions
  • Doesn't load on crashed tabs
  • Permissions issues

Requested features

4 requests
  • CSS editing capabilities
  • Resizable panel
  • Improved console functionality
  • Better integration with Safari

In-app purchases

None

RETRO FORTH

No in-app purchases

None

Web Inspector

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is RETRO FORTH free?
RETRO FORTH is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Web Inspector free?
Web Inspector is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, RETRO FORTH or Web Inspector?
RETRO FORTH is rated higher. RETRO FORTH averages 4.4 out of 5 from 5 ratings, while Web Inspector averages 3.9 from 152 ratings.
Do RETRO FORTH or Web Inspector have ads?
Neither RETRO FORTH nor Web Inspector shows ads.
Which is updated more often, RETRO FORTH or Web Inspector?
RETRO FORTH ships an update monthly, and Web Inspector weekly. Most recently, RETRO FORTH was updated on September 6, 2026 and Web Inspector on September 28, 2026.

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