Comparison

URC Mobile 2.5 vs Ember

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

Head to head
About

URC Mobile 2.5

Transform your smartphone or tablet into a powerful remote for your URC Total Control 2 home automation system. Effortlessly manage entertainment, lighting, security, and climate control from any location. Enjoy intuitive swipe, tap, and rotate gestures for seamless operation.

Highlights
  • Smartphone/tablet as handheld controller
  • Control entertainment, lights, security, thermostats
  • Swipe, tap, and rotate gestures
  • Access from multiple locations (home/vacation home)
  • Global control via internet/cell phone access
  • Full Total Control 2 system functionality
Features
Read full description

Leverage the power of your smartphone or tablet by turning it in to an amazing handheld controller for your URC® Total Control® 2 home automation system. Right from your mobile device easily control and monitor things such as entertainment, lights, security systems, thermostats and more in fast, new ways. Swipe, tap and rotate your way to securely control your equipment! This app gives you full control of all the features and full functionality afforded by a Total Control 2 system installation and more from multiple locations! Your main home and your vacation home can all be accessed from within one app. This version of URC Mobile requires a Wi-Fi connection to the local area network that is host to the Master Base Station / Central Processor and other system devices. Control is possible within the home or from anywhere in the world where internet or cell phone access is available. PLEASE NOTE: An installed Total Control 2 system is required to enjoy and access the features above. A new app installation or reset of the app requires the iOS device to be on-site with the Total Control Base Station. For more information please visit: https://www.urc-automation.com

About

Ember

Features
Read full description

Some people count the days without even meaning to. Ember counts with you. Ember puts the person you lost on your home screen — their photo, softly lit, and the days: "1,204 days loved and missed." Not another app to open. It lives where you already look, a hundred times a day. THE WIDGET • Their photo and the counter, on your home screen in every size. • A quiet text counter for your lock screen. • The count turns over at midnight, on its own. • Choose the wording: "days loved and missed," "days since we said goodbye," "days of missing you," or a plain count. THE HARD DAYS, HELD Some days arrive like weather — the first birthday without them, the first holiday season, each anniversary. Ember knows the dates and tells you two weeks ahead, so no hard day lands unannounced. Alerts are off by default for everything except the birthday and the anniversary. This is a keepsake, not a notification machine. EVERYONE YOU CARRY Grief rarely comes one at a time. Ember keeps a page for each person — their own photos, their own dates, their own widget. NOTHING LEAVES YOUR PHONE No account. No cloud. No tracking. No analytics. The photos and dates stay on your device. This is between you and them. PRICING — ONCE, ON PURPOSE The free app is a real memorial: one person, one widget, the first milestone. Ember — Forever is $9.99, once. Every person, every photo, every widget size, the whole milestone arc, all four themes. No subscription — ever. A memorial that expires when a payment lapses is obscene. Pay once, and it's yours for good. QUIET BY DESIGN Nothing gamified, nothing loud, no confetti, no therapy-speak. Four muted themes — Warm Slate, Candlelight, Linen, Night — a serif numeral, and the days. The app gets out of the way. SUPPORT Email: help@emberwidget.app Web: https://emberwidget.app/support

Screenshots

URC Mobile 2.54 screens
Ember4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: URC Mobile 2.5 at none against Ember's 1. URC Mobile 2.5 also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price 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. Ember sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. URC Mobile 2.5 asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
URC Mobile 2.5 versus Ember: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterURC Mobile 2.5Ember
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.4 (145 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews25.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings145 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeks—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size83 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperUniversal Remote ControlLance Merrill

Bugs and requests

URC Mobile 2.5

Reported bugs

75 issues
  • Never stays connected
  • Always have to restart and reinstall
  • System cannot be found
  • Problem reappears
  • Intermittent, some days it works
Show 70 more
  • Clunky, unoptimized app
  • Does not connect well
  • Looks like app hasn't been updated
  • Not working for iPhone
  • Unable to access features
  • Latest version buggy
  • App opens 4-5 times
  • Not very responsive
  • Controls open delayed
  • React slowly
  • Frequent connection issues
  • Completely useless 95% of the time
  • Very buggy
  • Always gives an error
  • Try again does nothing
  • Stopped working with latest Apple update
  • Screen freezes, doesn't respond
  • Unreliable, rarely works first time
  • Screen never shuts down
  • Stops phone from sleeping
  • Problem on home screen
  • Unexpected response from base station
  • Horrible system, breaks down constantly
  • Brutal, crashes all the time
  • Not intuitive
  • Glitch or failure
  • Super glitchy
  • Screens change without prompting
  • Crashes constantly
  • Poorly programmed
  • System not updated often enough
  • Not working with iOS 16
  • Freezes often
  • Not just one screen, all of them
  • App auto closes
  • Needs work
  • Cannot see all devices on iOS
  • Delays
  • Frequent rebooting of the app
  • Dimming light switches don't cooperate
  • Terrible, has to be reset every day
  • Once happy, now cannot recommend
  • Discontinued media streaming device
  • Amp out of warranty
  • App only good for on/off
  • System not found error
  • System Update error
  • Rendered whole system unusable
  • Error messages all over the place
  • Unresponsive and useless
  • Cannot change volume
  • App crashes every 5-7 mins
  • So 2010, clunky connecting
  • Awful app
  • Worst app ever
  • Loses connection every night
  • Worse system EVER
  • Highly unstable
  • Do not buy URC
  • Frustrated for ever
  • Not managed to make it work
  • Buttons do not work
  • Bad, won't start
  • Slow and unresponsive
  • Graphics are old school
  • Worst customer service
  • Terrible, clunky, not user friendly
  • Many bugs
  • Needs testing and polish
  • Lutron and Sonos interfaces unusable

Requested features

5 requests
  • Widgets
  • Siri Shortcuts
  • Add own images
  • See Doorbird from mobile app
  • Change background without service call

Ember

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

URC Mobile 2.5

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Ember

One-time1
  • Ember — Forever$9.99

Questions

Is URC Mobile 2.5 free?
URC Mobile 2.5 is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Ember free?
Ember is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do URC Mobile 2.5 or Ember have ads?
Neither URC Mobile 2.5 nor Ember shows ads.

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