Comparison

Beacon Alert vs QRLume

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

Head to head
About

Beacon Alert

This app allows you to manage multiple beacons and receive notifications when they enter or exit your proximity. It supports adding up to 20 beacons through in-app purchases.

Highlights
  • Manage multiple beacons
  • Add up to 20 beacons
  • Receive entry/exit notifications
  • Beacon enabled device required
Features
Read full description

Never lose track of what matters. Beacon Alert helps you monitor Bluetooth beacons and records where they were last seen. Receive alerts when a beacon disappears and quickly navigate back to its last known location. Perfect for keys, bags, equipment, pets, vehicles, and anything equipped with a compatible Bluetooth beacon. FEATURES • Monitor multiple beacons • Instant alerts when a beacon goes out of range • Notifications when a beacon returns nearby • Save the last known location automatically • View lost locations by beacon name • Rename and organize beacons • Open saved locations in Apple Maps or Google Maps • Background monitoring support • Clean and easy-to-use interface • Privacy focused — your data stays on your device BEACON ALERT PRO Unlock even more features with Beacon Alert Pro: • Unlimited saved beacons • Lost location history • Custom beacon names • Advanced notifications Beacon Alert is designed to help you find and recover important items faster and with confidence.

About

QRLume

A specialized QR code scanner designed for law enforcement and cybersecurity professionals, offering zero-telemetry scanning and forensic analysis. It operates off-grid with encrypted synchronization to a desktop application for seamless data transfer and analysis.

Highlights
  • Zero-Telemetry Engine
  • Cryptographic Logging (SHA-256)
  • Immutable PDF Evidence Exports
  • Off-grid Operation
  • Encrypted iCloud CloudKit Sync
  • Sandboxed Operational Tiers
Read full description

Point a normal camera at a QR code and it acts on whatever is inside — a spoofed login page, a silent download, a premium-rate dialer — before you can read a single character of it. QRLume reads it safely instead of running it. It decodes the code on iPhone and iPad, examines it, and turns the result into a PDF exhibit recording what it found and what it could not see. IN THE FIELD The live camera detects the code, with a 1x-5x zoom for a sticker across the room and a front/back switch. A screenshot comes in from Photos, an image file through the picker. WHAT IT READS QR, Micro QR, Data Matrix, Aztec and PDF417 — no UPC, EAN, Code 128 or other 1D barcodes. Live detection is limited to what the device reports it supports; an imported image is not. READ, NEVER RUN A payload is data here, not an instruction. Nothing is opened, dialed, messaged or fetched while it is examined — every check is static, on the device, inside the app sandbox. Photos come through the system picker, which hands over only what you pick; a file only where you point the importer. Acting on one is a separate, deliberate step: a dialog naming the destination in full, warning again if it flagged a dangerous scheme, executable hook or null bytes. SIX LOCAL CHECKS, AND WHAT THEY MISS Every payload is tested for a dangerous URI scheme, an executable or shell hook, null bytes, bare-IPv4 routing, terminal escapes and overflow padding — all on device. Three read the payload's text form; where that form is not all of the payload, or the symbol's bytes were never obtained, QRLume says so, raises the verdict to caution and prints the limit onto the exhibit. A payload passes all six only when all six saw it whole. THE SYMBOL'S OWN BYTES For QR codes, QRLume parses the payload out of the symbol's error-corrected codeword stream (ISO/IEC 18004) rather than off a decoded string, recovering bytes a text decode drops. The other four fall back to the decoded text, as does any QR stream it cannot parse, and every record says which of the two it holds. THE EXHIBIT Export a PDF carrying the decoded payload, the six results and a SHA-256 digest naming what it covers — the stored capture image or the imported file's bytes, never the payload or the PDF. A provenance block prints record ID, times, engine version, examiner, how the bytes were obtained, and whether the stored image still matches its digest. The exhibit and the stored evidence image leave by share sheet or Files. Imported files keep their original bytes; camera captures store at up to 800 px. EVIDENCE LOG AND SYNC At setup you choose whether records stay on this device or replicate through your Apple Account's private database. End-to-end encryption requires Advanced Data Protection; without it Apple holds the keys. QRLume cannot detect whether it is on. ZERO TELEMETRY No analytics, no crash reporting, no ProfWorkBench servers. The only connections QRLume makes are Apple's: the App Store and iCloud while sync is on. ACCESSIBILITY Reduce Motion is an in-app setting as well as a system preference: ambient backdrops stop drifting and stay on screen. Verdict severity is spoken, not left to color. The hex dump reads line by line, each check row as one sentence, and the danger verdict's color meets AA contrast. FORENSIC PRO Forensic Pro unlocks the report — verdict, decoded payload, media details, entropy, hex dump, the six check rows, the SHA-256 anchor — plus the evidence log, PDF export and acting on a payload. Every scan is written to the evidence log, unlocked or not. Sold as an annual auto-renewing subscription or a one-time lifetime purchase; either covers iPhone, iPad and Mac. The annual plan renews unless turned off at least 24 hours before the period ends; manage it in Apple Account settings. Terms: https://profworkbench.com/#terms Privacy: https://profworkbench.com/#privacy ALSO ON MAC QRLume for Mac adds USB cameras, a camera-source picker and manual capture. QRLume is made by ProfWorkBench, LLC.

Screenshots

Beacon Alert2 screens
QRLume4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: QRLume at every 6 months against Beacon Alert's every 48 months. Beacon Alert's advantage is iOS requirement (18.6 vs 26.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. Beacon Alert sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and QRLume sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Beacon Alert against 5.0 for QRLume. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 4 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Beacon Alert ships an update every 48 months, QRLume every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Beacon Alert versus QRLume: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBeacon AlertQRLume
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings24 — better
Update frequencyEvery 48 monthsEvery 6 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS18.6 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCarlos ChaparroProfWorkBench, LLC

Customer experience

Beacon Alert

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

QRLume

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Beacon Alert

One-time1
  • Beacon Alert Pro$1.99
3 purchases

QRLume

Subscriptions1
  • Forensic Pro Annual$19.991 Year
One-time2
  • Basic Consumer Unlock$4.99
  • Forensic Pro Lifetime$49.99

Questions

Is Beacon Alert free?
Beacon Alert is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is QRLume free?
QRLume is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Beacon Alert or QRLume?
Beacon Alert and QRLume are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 4 ratings respectively.
Do Beacon Alert or QRLume have ads?
Neither Beacon Alert nor QRLume shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Beacon Alert or QRLume?
Beacon Alert ships an update every 48 months, and QRLume every 6 months. Most recently, Beacon Alert was updated on October 24, 2026 and QRLume on October 19, 2026.

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