Comparison

Wilkes Shield vs Bad Elf Flex

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

Head to head
About

Wilkes Shield

This official university safety app allows users to quickly contact campus security in emergencies. It also enables sending crime tips with photos/videos, sharing location with friends, accessing campus resources, and viewing incident maps.

Highlights
  • Emergency contact with university safety
  • Send crime tips with photos/videos
  • Friend location tracking (FriendWatch)
  • Access campus resources and handbook
  • View incident maps and safe locations
Features
Read full description

Wilkes Shield is the official safety app of Wilkes University. If you're in a dangerous situation, use the Wilkes Shield application to quickly and easily contact university safety forces. Wilkes Shield also allows you to: -Send text messages, as well as photos and videos of crime tips and suspicious behavior directly to college safety forces. -Walking to class alone and want some additional safety? Use FriendWatch to allow your friends and family to track your location during that activity. -Access campus resources, such as the student handbook, and emergency procedures directly through the app. -View a map which displays recent incidents and safe locations on and around campus. GPS disclaimer: "Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life."

About

Bad Elf Flex

This utility app enhances the functionality of Bad Elf Flex and Flex Mini GNSS receivers. It allows users to monitor hardware health, adjust settings, and update firmware. For the Flex model, it also enables the purchase and application of tokens for advanced features and correction sources like SBAS and RTK.

Highlights
  • Monitor GNSS receiver health
  • Change hardware settings
  • Perform firmware updates
  • Purchase and load Flex Tokens
  • Enable hardware-based features
  • Access correction sources
Features
Read full description

This is the free companion utility app for the flexible, intuitive, and affordable Bad Elf Flex and Flex Mini GNSS receivers. Designed for GIS and survey professionals, the Bad Elf Flex and Flex Mini connect to your iPhone or iPad via Bluetooth and provide high-accuracy location data to ANY and ALL field data collection apps in your workflow. This app allows you to view the health of the Flex and Flex Mini hardware, change settings, and perform firmware updates. For the Bad Elf Flex, the app also supports purchasing and loading Flex Tokens into the hardware for enabling hardware-based features and correction sources. Several correction sources are supported including SBAS, RTK via NTRIP, and Atlas (L-band) satellite corrections. Visit https://bad-elf.com/ to learn more about the Bad Elf Flex and Flex Mini GNSS receivers. NOTES: * This app requires a Bad Elf Flex or Flex Mini to operate. * Our "Bad Elf GPS" companion app supports our legacy mapping-grade receivers: Bad Elf GPS Pro, GPS Pro+, Surveyor, and GPS for Lightning dongle. * Continued use of the GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.

Screenshots

Wilkes Shield3 screens
Bad Elf Flex4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Wilkes Shield at 4.7 against Bad Elf Flex's 3.6. Wilkes Shield also leads on iOS requirement (13.2 vs 15.5). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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

Wilkes Shield holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 7 and 14 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Wilkes Shield versus Bad Elf Flex: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWilkes ShieldBad Elf Flex
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (7 ratings) — better3.6 (14 ratings)
Positive reviews—40.0% of reviews
Number of ratings714 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.2 — better15.5
Further details — not scored
Size46 MB33 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperWilkes University- Teaching CommonsBad Elf, LLC.

Customer experience

Wilkes Shield

All ratings7 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bad Elf Flex

All ratings14 ratings
Positive57.1%
Neutral14.3%
Negative28.6%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive40.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative60.0%

In-app purchases

None

Wilkes Shield

No in-app purchases

None

Bad Elf Flex

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Wilkes Shield free?
Wilkes Shield is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Bad Elf Flex free?
Bad Elf Flex is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Wilkes Shield or Bad Elf Flex?
Wilkes Shield is rated higher. Wilkes Shield averages 4.7 out of 5 from 7 ratings, while Bad Elf Flex averages 3.6 from 14 ratings.
Do Wilkes Shield or Bad Elf Flex have ads?
Neither Wilkes Shield nor Bad Elf Flex shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Wilkes Shield or Bad Elf Flex?
Wilkes Shield ships an update every 2 months, and Bad Elf Flex every 2 months. Most recently, Wilkes Shield was updated on September 30, 2026 and Bad Elf Flex on October 12, 2026.

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