BirdRing vs pippyg
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
BirdRing
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BirdRing is intended for bird observers that read colour rings, bands and metal rings for scientific purposes. With BirdRing you can easily save your observation. BirdRing will help you with Location, Date, Time and determining the correct ring code. You can email observations to yourself in Excel (csv) format. Optionally, the app can upload observations of geese to your account on www.geese.org, submit.cr-birding.org and www.griel.nl. You can view the life history of the observed bird in the app.
pippyg
Configure your bat recording devices remotely using your phone. Set device IDs, wake/sleep times, and location data. The app uses your phone's microphone to transmit settings to the recorder.
- Configure real-time clock
- Set device ID
- Define deployment latitude and longitude
- Set wake and sleep times
- Configure PIPPYG bat recorder
- Configure π•pistrelle bat detector
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This tool gives you a convenient and reliable method to set the real-time clock, device ID, deployment latitude and longitude, and wake and sleep times for the PIPPYG bat recorder bat detector, in the field, using just your phone and the PIPPYG's onboard microphone. To use the app, set up the configuration you want in terms of Device ID and sleep/wake times, turn your phone volume up to between 1/4 and 1/3 full volume and place your phone's speaker about 4 - 6 inches your PIPPYG's microphone. Now press the Configure / Deploy. SInce the PIPPYG red LED responds to sound after power-up, it flash when your phone makes the "triple chirp" sound. If the LED flashes just when it is responding to the sound, the PIPPYG did not successfully decode the data packete encoded into the chirp, so you need to try again - try changing the phone volume (typically quieter is better), adjust and the distance from the microphone, or positioning the phone more carefully relaive to the PIPPYG - it helps if you point the phone's bottom speakers right at the microphone hole, from a few inches away. If the PIPPYG's red LED flashes 8 times in rapid succession, you have successfully programmed your device, and it will enter a wake/sleep cycle, recording bats (or birds) when it is awake. Note that this app works with both self-build PIPPYG units and with commercially-produced Apodemus PIPPYG and PIPPYG2 devices.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is device support: pippyg at 3 against BirdRing's 1. pippyg also leads on iOS requirement (15.6 vs 18.6). 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.
BirdRing ships an update monthly, pippyg every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | BirdRing | pippyg |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Number of ratings | — | 2 — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | — | Free |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 15.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 8 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Mario Huizinga | Phil Atkin |
In-app purchases
BirdRing
No in-app purchases
pippyg
No in-app purchases









