SAS WIRe vs Smoke Tunnel
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side ā with what reviewers say about each.
SAS WIRe
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The Small Arms Survey is a global centre of excellence whose mandate is to generate impartial, evidence-based, and policy-relevant knowledge on all aspects of small arms and armed violence. It is the principal international source of expertise, information, and analysis on small arms and armed violence issues, and acts as a resource for governments, policymakers, researchers, and civil society. It is located in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a project of the Graduate Institute of Inter- national and Development Studies. Accurately documenting and identifying weapons and ammunition is paramount to telling a story. Accurately documenting and identifying weapons and ammunition is paramount to telling a story. Nonetheless, it can be a challenging task. The Weapons Identification and Reporting App is specifically designed to help practitioners, researchers, and journalists to accurately report on small arms, light weapons, and ammunition that they come across in the course of their work. The app guides users to take photos of materiel in a way that will facilitate the identification process by ensuring that the relevant information is collected (including markings and distinctive physical features), offers secure storage space for photos taken or received by users, and allows for geotagging these pictures. Once the information is entered into the app, the user can choose to send a simple request to Small Arms Survey experts who can provide timely identification of the weapon and/or ammunition. The user can also choose to simply use the app as a way to organize their files and retrieve them later. If you have any questions or suggestions for improvements, please get in touch through the "Send Feedback" link in the app settings.
Smoke Tunnel
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SmokeTunnel for iOS is a client implementation of the Smoke Tunnel protocol. It gives developers, administrators and authorized users a focused way to add a configuration and connect to a compatible Smoke Tunnel server deployed independently by them or their organization. SmokeTunnel is not a subscription or connectivity provider. It does not operate a public server network, issue accounts, sell access, provide a server directory or automatically connect to any commercial provider. ⢠Add or import a server configuration ⢠Set the hostname, port and TCP transport ⢠Configure TLS Server Name (SNI) and proxy-routing options ⢠Set DNS and tunnel-interface values ⢠Enable Connect on Demand where supported ⢠Connect directly to the server you selected ⢠Review, copy and clear temporary on-device session diagnostics The client is an implementation of the protocol rather than a hosted connectivity service.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Smoke Tunnel at every 3 months against SAS WIRe's every 14 months. Smoke Tunnel also leads on device support (4 vs 2). SAS WIRe's advantage is iOS requirement (13.4 vs 15.0). On price, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
SAS WIRe ships an update every 14 months, Smoke Tunnel every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SAS WIRe | Smoke Tunnel |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 14 months | Every 3 months ā better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac ā better |
| Requires iOS | 13.4 ā better | 15.0 |
| Further details ā not scored | ||
| Size | 86 MB | 25 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 12+ |
| Developer | PASTPRESENTFUTURE | iElement B.V |
In-app purchases
SAS WIRe
No in-app purchases
Smoke Tunnel
No in-app purchases









