Comparison

Pool Math by TroubleFreePool vs IDEA

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

Head to head
About

Pool Math by TroubleFreePool

Easily manage your swimming pool's water chemistry by tracking key levels like chlorine and pH. This app calculates the precise amounts of chemicals needed to maintain clear, algae-free water, offering a cost-effective alternative to pool store advice.

Highlights
  • Chemical level calculators (pH, Chlorine, Alkalinity, etc.)
  • Track pool maintenance tasks
  • Log chemical additions
  • Weather condition tracking
  • Chemical addition effect calculations
  • Bleach price comparison
  • Data backup and export
Features
Read full description

PoolMath makes swimming pool care, maintenance and management easy by tracking chlorine, pH, alkalinity and other levels to help calculate how much salt, bleach and other chemicals to add. Keep swimming in your TroubleFreePool with Pool Math. Crystal clear algae free pool water is what Trouble Free Pool Math is committed to. Pool Math performs all the calculations you need to keep your chlorine, pH, calcium, alkalinity, and stabilizer levels balanced. Why choose Pool Math over the others? Other apps claim to make testing easy by using test strips and your phone's camera. Unfortunately, this is simply too good to be true. Test strips are notoriously inaccurate and end up costing you much more money in both chemicals and the tests themselves in the long run. Trouble Free Pool believes using a proper test kit is much easier, effective, and economical in the long run. By following these calculations the pool owner achieves and maintains crystal clear water without reliance on the often unproductive advice and unneeded expense from pool stores. Pool Math's great features include: • Calculators for pH, Free Chlorine, Calcium Hardness, Salt, Total Alkalinity, Calcium Hardness, Borates, CSI • Track Maintenance: Backwashing, Vacuuming, Filter Cleaning, Filter Pressure, SWG Cell %, Flow Rate • Track Chemical Additions • Track Weather conditions with your logs • Calculate the Effects of Adding chemicals to your pool • Bleach Price Calculator - Find the best deals on bleach easily • Summary page to see an overview of test results and chemical additions • Data backup / Export Premium Subscribers get access to these additional features: • Unlimited Test Log History Storage • Maintenance Reminders • Cloud Sync/Backup • Sync across multiple devices • Unlimited Pool / Spa Configurations • Test Log CSV Import / Export Pool Math Premium Subscription details: • Auto-renewable subscription • 1 year for $7.99 USD • Your subscription will be charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase and will automatically renew (at the duration of 1 year) unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. • Current subscription may not be cancelled during the active subscription period; however, you can manage your subscription and/or turn off auto-renewal by visiting your iTunes Account Settings after purchase. • Privacy Policy & Terms of Use: http://poolmathapp.com/privacy/

About

IDEA

This intelligent operation app allows users to customize product usage and expand functionality. It provides a convenient way to interact with specific company products and gain a deeper understanding of their features.

Highlights
  • Intelligent operation
  • Product customization
  • Expandable functions
  • Enhanced product understanding
  • Convenient user interface
Features
Read full description

This software is a newly launched intelligent operation APP, aimed at providing users with more convenient operation methods and also allowing customers to have a better understanding of this product. APP can expand more functions and enable users to customize product usage. It is worth noting that the software is only applicable to our company's products

Screenshots

Pool Math by TroubleFreePool4 screens
IDEA3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: IDEA at 5.0 against Pool Math by TroubleFreePool's 3.7. IDEA also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). Pool Math by TroubleFreePool's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 6 months) and ratings volume (272 vs 1). On price, ads and device support 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. Pool Math by TroubleFreePool sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $7.99 per year. IDEA asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

IDEA holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pool Math by TroubleFreePool has 272 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 63% of Pool Math by TroubleFreePool's written reviews are positive against 50% of IDEA's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pool Math by TroubleFreePool ships an update fortnightly, IDEA every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Pool Math by TroubleFreePool versus IDEA: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPool Math by TroubleFreePoolIDEA
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.7 (272 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews63.4% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings272 — better1
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 6 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size314 MB43 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTroubleFreePool和平 陈

Customer experience

Pool Math by TroubleFreePool

All ratings262 ratings
Positive66.0%
Neutral7.3%
Negative26.7%
Written reviews123 reviews
Positive63.4%
Neutral11.4%
Negative25.2%

IDEA

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Pool Math by TroubleFreePool

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Subscription issues and inability to restore purchases
  • App crashes and freezes on certain actions
  • Incorrect chemical recommendations and calculations
  • Disappearing historical data after updates

Requested features

5 requests
  • Custom target ranges and alerts
  • Ability to log non-standard chemical additions
  • Export options for data analysis
  • Apple Watch integration
  • Improved user guidance and on-boarding

IDEA

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Pool Math by TroubleFreePool

Subscriptions1
  • Pool Math Premium Subscription$7.991 Year
None

IDEA

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pool Math by TroubleFreePool free?
Pool Math by TroubleFreePool is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is IDEA free?
IDEA is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pool Math by TroubleFreePool or IDEA?
IDEA is rated higher. Pool Math by TroubleFreePool averages 3.7 out of 5 from 272 ratings, while IDEA averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Pool Math by TroubleFreePool or IDEA have ads?
Neither Pool Math by TroubleFreePool nor IDEA shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pool Math by TroubleFreePool or IDEA?
Pool Math by TroubleFreePool ships an update fortnightly, and IDEA every 6 months. Most recently, Pool Math by TroubleFreePool was updated on October 7, 2026 and IDEA on October 2, 2026.

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