Max vs WLED
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Max
Control hardware to capture photos and record videos wirelessly. Adjust resolution settings to optimize storage for your media.
- Wireless photo and video capture
- Hardware control
- Wi-Fi protocol integration
- Resolution switching
- Media storage optimization
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This app can be used to control hardware to take photo and record video by via wifi protocol, at the same time, it can also switch resolution to save photo and video .
WLED
Control and manage all your WLED light devices from your iPhone or iPad. This companion app works with the open-source WLED software for microcontrollers, offering automatic device detection, customizable names, and software update assistance.
- Automatic device detection
- Centralized light list
- Software update assistant
- Customizable device names
- Hide or delete devices
- Light and dark mode
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With the WLED app, you can easily and efficiently manage and control all your WLED light devices from your iPhone or iPad. This is a companion app for the free and open source WLED software for ESP8266/32 microcontrollers. WLED automatically detects and updates the device list, and offers customizable names, a hide or delete feature, and a light and dark mode. It can also help you install new software updates to your devices. Plus, it supports both phones and tablets. Main Features: - Automatic device detection (mDNS) - All lights are accessible from one list - Software Update Assistant - Custom names - Hide or delete devices - Light and dark mode
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: WLED at 4.0 against Max's 2.4. WLED also leads on review sentiment (51% vs 25%). Max's advantage is ratings volume (280 vs 10) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 16.0). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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.
WLED holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 2.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Max has 280 ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 25% of Max's written reviews are positive against 51% of WLED's.
Max ships an update every 5 weeks, WLED every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on August 16, 2026 and August 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Max | WLED |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.4 (280 ratings) | 4.0 (10 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 24.7% of reviews | 50.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 280 — better | 10 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 11 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Shenzhen Joyhonest Technology Co., Ltd | Christophe Gagnier |
Customer experience
Max
WLED
User reviews
Max
From 280 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use
- 🚀 Works well
- 💡 Great for seeing things up close
Room to improve
- 🐛 Connectivity issues
- 🐛 App crashes or freezes
- 🐛 Compatibility problems with newer devices
- 🔒 Security concerns with unsecured WiFi
WLED
From 10 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Works flawlessly for some
- 👍 Free and does the job
- 👍 Great for managing multiple devices
- 👍 Responsive and stable (for some)
- 👍 Cleaner and modern UI
Room to improve
- 🐛 Connectivity issues
- 🐛 Randomly turns on/off
- 🐛 Not user friendly
- 🐛 Glitchy and poorly built
- 🐛 Flickering lights after update
Bugs and requests
Max
Reported bugs
3 issues- App not recognizing connected microscope
- Constant prompts to connect to WiFi even when connected
- Distorted or stretched image quality
Requested features
3 requests- Add image/video saving and editing capabilities
- Improve instructions and onboarding
- Add support for Bluetooth connectivity
WLED
Reported bugs
42 issues- Unable to connect to LEDs
- Lights randomly turn on
- Connectivity issues, needs re-pairing
- App doesn't work, glitchy
- Brightness control issues
Show 37 moreShow fewer
- Lights flicker after update
- Cannot find discover lights option
- Not connected to iPhone, setup issues
- App won't load, vanishes
- None of my devices show up
- Shows up blank, manual add only
- No longer finds WLED devices
- App doesn't work, no devices showing
- Confusing app, turns off
- App is unusable after update, errors
- App stopped picking up signal
- Only connects when at home
- Doesn't pick up esp8266
- Sound react option missing
- Time and macros section not working
- Update won't update
- Goes offline from time to time
- Update breaks app, beta works
- Drops connection, cannot adjust lights
- Latest release freezes, unstable wifi
- Loading WLED UI stuck
- Inconsistent connection after new update
- Lost all config after update
- Lost all presets after update
- Devices missing and disappearing
- Update ruined everything, random disconnects
- App constantly crashes, won't load
- Stopped working after update
- New upgrade feature killed device
- Inconsistent, can't find boards
- Cannot connect lights, IP address doesn't work
- Missing schedule function
- App doesn't work at all
- Doesn't work properly with WLED 0.14
- App won't allow changing anything, freezes
- Hidden devices reappear
- App goes offline and never connects again
Requested features
6 requests- User-friendly interface
- Simple interface with advanced option
- Widget features for Home Screen
- Sound react option
- Remote control when away from WiFi
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Timer or schedule function
In-app purchases
Max
No in-app purchases
WLED
No in-app purchases
