Comparison

BlackBLE vs ScanAble

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

Head to head
About

BlackBLE

Control Arduino devices via Bluetooth Low Energy from your iPhone. Send characters to trigger actions, use your phone as a joystick, and receive data. A simple way to connect your microcontroller projects to your mobile device.

Highlights
  • Bluetooth LE connection to HC-08 modules
  • Send characters to microcontroller
  • Joystick mode for device control
  • Receive data from Bluetooth
  • Simple button interface
Features
Read full description

Finally you will be able to send information through Bluetooth to your Arduino using your iPhone! With this app, you can connect to a Bluetooth Low Energy module HC-08 and send characters to it. With these characters you can program actions in your microcontroller to be executed when receiving. On a very simple way, press the black Bluetooth icon on the upper right screen to see the list of every HC-08 available nearby. Press the name of your module and the app will automatically connect to it. When pressing each button of the app, the character present on button label will be send through Bluetooth and you can read it in a serial protocol on the module. Do you want more? What about rotating your iPhone and make it a joystick to control robots or whatever kind of system you want? If you rotate your device, screen will automatically changes to a joystick, with the same concept than the previous screen. And, of course, you can receive information from bluetooth and read on your screen (maximum of 20 bytes, or 20 chars). Now you can control whatever device using Bluetooth with your iPhone!

About

ScanAble

Features
Read full description

Scan wirelessly from old and modern network scanners and multifunction printers without installing manufacturer drivers. Bring old scanner back to life, this app quickly discovers old and new scanners that are wifi connected. We made this app as our Samsung and HP multifunction printer/scanners were no longer supported in macOS or iOS. We found out the scanners used common protocols so developed this app. It should support most modern and older scanners if they support AirPrint or Windows wireless scanning. This scanner app supports the two most common driverless scanning standards used by today’s wireless scanners: Apple AirScan/eSCL and Microsoft WSD/WS-Scan. In most cases, simply open the app and it will automatically detect compatible scanners on your network. Scan documents, letters, receipts, photos and paperwork directly from your iPhone, iPad or Mac. Choose colour or black-and-white scanning, automatically crop pages, and save your scans as PDF, PNG or JPG files. Works with many major scanner and MFP brands including Brother, Canon, Dell, Epson, HP, Kyocera, Lexmark, OKI, Panasonic, Pantum, Ricoh, Samsung, Sharp and Xerox. Features: * eSCL/AirScan and WSD/WS-Scan support; * Automatic scanner detection, colour or black-and-white scanning; * PDF/PNG/JPG saving; * Automatic document cropping; * Oo manufacturer scanner driver required; Compatibility: Most wireless scanners and multifunction printers that support eSCL/AirScan or WSD/WS-Scan are expected to work. Compatibility can vary by device model, firmware version and network setup. Supported scanner and MFP models include: Brother: ADS (2700W, 4300N), DCP (7055W, 7070DW, 9020CDW, J552DW, L2530DW, L2540DW, L2550DN/DW, L2660DW), HL-L2380DW, HL-L2395DW, MFC (7360N, 8710DW, J1012DW, J1300DW, J4410DW, J4540DW, J4620DW, J470DW, J485DW, J5730DW, J625DW, L2700DW, L2710DN/DW, L2720DW, L2750DW, L3740CDWE, L3750CDW, L3780CDW, T910DW). Canon: D570, G600, imageCLASS (MF642C/643C/644C, MF743cdw), imageRUNNER (2625/2630, ADVANCE 4545/4551, ADV C5550/5560, C3120L), i-SENSYS (MF4780w, MF641C), LiDE (300, 400), MB (5100, 5400), MF (110/910, 240, 260, 410, 440, 645Cx, 650C, 660C, 745C/746C), PIXMA/MG/MX/TR/TS ranges including G3000, G4010, MG3600, MG5500, MG7700, MX470, TR4527, TR4529, TR4700, TR7500, TR8600, TS3100, TS3300, TS3400, TS5000, TS6151, TS6200, TS6300, TS6400, TS8230 and TS9550. Dell: C1765nfw, C2665dnf, C3765dnf, E514dw. Epson: ET (2650, 2710, 2750, 2760, 2810, 2850, 3750, 4750, 4850, M2170), EW-M752T, L6570, Stylus SX535WD, WF (2760, 3620, 7710), XP (2100, 340, 352/355, 442/445, 5100, 6100, 7100, 8600). HP: Color LaserJet/Laser MFP (178, M178nw, M182nw, M281fdw, M283fdw, M477fdw), Color LaserJet Pro (M277dw, M478f-9f), DeskJet (2540, 2600, 2700, 3520, 3700, 4100, 5000, 5200), ENVY (4500, 5055, 5530, 5540, 5640, 6000, Photo 6200/7800, Pro 6400), LaserJet/Laser MFP (M130fn/fw, M140w, M227sdn, M426dw, M630, E62655, 131/133/135-138), LaserJet Pro (M28a/w, M329, M125, M127fn, M225dn, M428dw, M521, MFP 148fdw), OfficeJet (3830, 4630, 5740, 6970, 6978, 7740, 8010, 8020, 8730, 9010), ScanJet Pro (2000 s2, 3500 fn1, 4500 fn1), Smart Tank (5100, Plus 550), Neverstop 1202nw. Kyocera: ECOSYS (M2035dn, M2040dn, M2640idw, M5521cdw, M5526cdw), FS-1028MFP, TASKalfa 3051ci. Lexmark: CX310dn, CX317dn, MB2236adw, MC2535adwe, MC3224adwe, MC3326adwe. OKI: MB471, MC332dn, MC362dn, MC853. Panasonic: KV-S1058Y. Pantum: BM5100ADW, M6500W. Ricoh: MP C3003. Samsung: M2070, M267x/287x, M288x, M337x/387x/407x, SCX-3400. Sharp: MX-3060N. Xerox: B205, B215, C235, C315, VersaLink B405, WorkCentre (3025, 6027, 6515).

Screenshots

BlackBLE3 screens
ScanAble3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: ScanAble at Free against BlackBLE's $0.99. ScanAble also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 11 months) and device support (4 vs 2). BlackBLE's advantage is iOS requirement (10.0 vs 16). On 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

ScanAble is free to download; BlackBLE costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BlackBLE ships an update every 11 months, ScanAble every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
BlackBLE versus ScanAble: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBlackBLEScanAble
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating5.0 (4 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings4 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 11 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS10.0 — better16
Further details — not scored
Size16 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRoboCore Tecnologia LTDAPortable Ltd

In-app purchases

None

BlackBLE

No in-app purchases

None

ScanAble

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is BlackBLE free?
BlackBLE costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is ScanAble free?
ScanAble is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do BlackBLE or ScanAble have ads?
Neither BlackBLE nor ScanAble shows ads.
Which is updated more often, BlackBLE or ScanAble?
BlackBLE ships an update every 11 months, and ScanAble every 3 weeks. Most recently, BlackBLE was updated on October 24, 2026 and ScanAble on October 25, 2026.

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