xArm vs Sphero Play
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
xArm
Control and program a robotic arm using your mobile device via Bluetooth. Save, download, and play custom actions to bring your robotic creations to life. This app offers an engaging way to interact with and explore the capabilities of the robotic arm.
- Bluetooth connectivity
- Robotic arm control
- Custom programming
- Action group management
- Action download and playback
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Open the Mobile phone App, and open Bluetooth after connected the X-Arm, you can achieve the interaction between the mobile phone and the X-Arm. You can control the X-Arm as you wish, you can program it by yourself and download the programming to the X-Arm. You can also check the action group that saved on the X-Arm and you can play or download the action too. Believe that this interesting robotic arm can allows you to achieve better ideas and bring more enjoyment .
Sphero Play
Control and play with various Sphero robots using a single application. Explore multiple drive modes, engage in robot-controlled games, and learn basic programming through a block-based interface.
- Multiple drive modes (joystick, tilt, voice)
- Robot-controlled games
- Block Drive programming
- Sports-themed drive modes
- Voice control
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Drive and play games from ONE app with your Sphero Mini, Sphero 2.0, SPRK, SPRK+, BOLT, and BOLT+. Connect and control your robots with several exciting drive modes, use your robot as a controller to play games, or try out Block Drive for an intro to programming with colorful blocks. Features include: DRIVE MODES Drive your robots several ways with the Sphero Play app. Use the joystick and slingshot controls, tilt your device, or use your voice. Our sports-themed drive modes keep things fun with the ability to swing your device to "golf"*, or flick to "kick" your robot. BLOCK DRIVE PROGRAMMING Learn programming basics by controlling your robot with colorful movement and light blocks. GAMES Use your robot as a controller to shoot your way through space, race your vehicle through a tunnel avoiding obstacles and scoring points, or rotate your ball to destroy a polygon of bricks. Need robots? We know a guy. Visit sphero.com and order today. *This mode is not available on iPads.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Sphero Play at 4.8 against xArm's 3.0. Sphero Play also leads on ratings volume (37K vs 3) and review sentiment (69% vs 50%). xArm's advantage is iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.0). 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Sphero Play holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sphero Play has 37K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of xArm's written reviews are positive against 69% of Sphero Play's.
xArm ships an update every 5 months, Sphero Play every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | xArm | Sphero Play |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.0 (3 ratings) | 4.8 (37K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | 69.2% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 3 | 37K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 193 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Shenzhen Hiwonder Technology Co.,Ltd | Sphero, Inc. |
Customer experience
xArm
Sphero Play
Bugs and requests
xArm
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Sphero Play
Reported bugs
2 issues- Joystick controls not working as expected
- Alignment issues causing unexpected movement
Requested features
4 requests- More games and activities
- Support for additional Sphero products (e.g. Ollie, BB-8)
- Improved aiming and control precision
- Camera integration to see the Sphero's view
In-app purchases
xArm
No in-app purchases
Sphero Play
No in-app purchases
