# BLE Scanner 4.0 vs Joplin

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Joplin at none against BLE Scanner 4.0's 3. Joplin also leads on review sentiment (66% vs 58%). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. BLE Scanner 4.0 sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Joplin asks for nothing beyond the download.

BLE Scanner 4.0 holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 614 and 480 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 58% of BLE Scanner 4.0's written reviews are positive against 66% of Joplin's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

BLE Scanner 4.0 ships an update every 6 weeks, Joplin monthly. Both last shipped on October 29, 2026.

## The numbers

| Metric | BLE Scanner 4.0 | Joplin |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.3 (614 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ble-scanner-40-bluetooth-le/id1221763603/reviews)** | [4.1 (480 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/joplin/id1315599797/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **614** | 480 |
| Positive reviews | 57.6% of reviews | **66.5% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | **Monthly** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Free** |
| Size | 29 MB | 73 MB |
| Requires iOS | **14.0** | 15.6 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Bluepixel Technologies LLP](https://appshunter.io/developer/1221763602) | [Laurent Cozic](https://appshunter.io/developer/1315599796) |

## What reviewers say

### BLE Scanner 4.0

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ble-scanner-40-bluetooth-le/id1221763603)

Explore and manage Bluetooth Low Energy devices with this comprehensive utility. Discover, connect, and analyze BLE signals, including iBeacon and Eddystone data. Ideal for developers and users tracking smart gadgets.

**Highlights:** Instant BLE device discovery with RSSI, Radar view for device distance visualization, Smart filtering by name, UUID, RSSI, and more, iBeacon and Eddystone scanning, Data export to CSV, Custom BLE advertising packet creation, Secure GATT service and characteristic exploration

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Advertiser Plan | $2.99 | per month |
| Cloud Subscription | $4.99 | per month |
| Ultimate Subscription | $5.99 | per month |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Detects Bluetooth devices well
- 👍 Useful for development and testing
- 🔍 Helps find lost Bluetooth devices

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Crashes or doesn't work on some devices
- 🤔 Unclear or confusing user interface
- 🔋 Drains battery quickly
- 🔒 Privacy concerns with permissions

**Reported bugs**

- Stuck in update loop after latest version
- Search and filtering functions not working
- Crashes when trying to add new iBeacons

**Requested features**

- Add distance or location information for detected devices
- Improve filtering and sorting of detected devices
- Provide more detailed device information
- Add support for more Bluetooth device types


### Joplin

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/joplin/id1315599797)

A privacy-focused note-taking and to-do application that allows you to capture multimedia notes, organize them with notebooks and tags, and sync across devices. It offers end-to-end encryption and an offline-first approach for secure and accessible information management.

**Highlights:** Capture multimedia notes (speech, photos, videos, PDFs), Organize notes with notebooks and tags, Create to-dos and set reminders, End-to-end encryption for privacy, Cross-device synchronization (Joplin Cloud, Dropbox, OneDrive), Offline-first access, OCR search for text within images and PDFs

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Great app
- 🔒 End-to-end encryption
- 👍 Excellent cross-platform support
- 👍 Intuitive Markdown support
- 👍 Flexible sync options (Dropbox, OneDrive, WebDAV)

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Sync issues, especially on iOS
- 🐛 Buggy UI, especially on iOS
- 🐛 Crashes and freezes
- 🐛 Slow performance at times
- 🐛 Confusing interface, not very intuitive

**Reported bugs**

- Sync issues with WebDAV and Dropbox
- Crashes when creating new notes
- Keyboard issues, text getting obscured
- Rendering problems in dark mode
- Compatibility issues with older iOS versions

**Requested features**

- Add web clipper functionality on iOS
- Implement nested notebooks on iOS
- Allow password/biometric protection for notes
- Improve text editing experience on mobile
- Add more font and formatting options


## Frequently asked questions

### Is BLE Scanner 4.0 free?

BLE Scanner 4.0 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Joplin free?

Joplin is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, BLE Scanner 4.0 or Joplin?

BLE Scanner 4.0 is rated higher. BLE Scanner 4.0 averages 4.3 out of 5 from 614 ratings, while Joplin averages 4.1 from 480 ratings.

### Do BLE Scanner 4.0 or Joplin have ads?

Neither BLE Scanner 4.0 nor Joplin shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, BLE Scanner 4.0 or Joplin?

BLE Scanner 4.0 ships an update every 6 weeks, and Joplin monthly. Most recently, BLE Scanner 4.0 was updated on October 29, 2026 and Joplin on October 29, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*