Sphero Play vs Robotics
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
Robotics
Control and program a 5-in-1 buildable drone kit with an HD camera. Capture photos and videos from various camera angles, or write visual programs for your robots. Learn about drone flight and robotic camera applications.
- Control drone and robots
- Visual programming language
- HD camera for photos/videos
- Multiple camera angles
- Learn about drone flight
- Hands-free photo capture
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This app is used to control and program the drone and other robots built using the Robotics: Smart Machines – 5-in-1 Buildable Drone with HD Camera kit from Thames & Kosmos. Build a high-tech, flying camera drone and four other camera-enabled robotic models. Control your robots using the remote-control interface in this app, which you can install on your tablet or smartphone, or write programs for your drone using an easy, visual programming language in this app. The onboard HD camera lets you capture photos and video from the moving robots. The robotic camera car allows you to get zooming and panning shots, depending on how you angle the camera. A 360-degree camera allows you to see all around you and a turntable camera lets you take a rotating shot. The hands-free camera mounting lets you take photos by simply saying “photo.” Four electric motors, a central controller unit, and an included lithium battery, as well as over one hundred building pieces, make it all possible. Learn about how drones fly and how robotic devices can be used to get the perfect shot every time with this innovative engineering kit! ***** Questions or suggestions for improvements: https://thamesandkosmos.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new *****
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Sphero Play at 69% against Robotics's 0%. Sphero Play also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.3) and ratings volume (37K vs 8). Robotics's advantage is iOS requirement (8.0 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 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sphero Play has 37K ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 69% of Sphero Play's written reviews are positive against 0% of Robotics's.
| Parameter | Sphero Play | Robotics |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (37K ratings) — better | 4.3 (8 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 69.1% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 37K — better | 8 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 8.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 193 MB | 115 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Sphero, Inc. | Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co. KG |
Customer experience
Sphero Play
Robotics
Bugs and 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
Robotics
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Sphero Play
No in-app purchases
Robotics
No in-app purchases
