Comparison

BirdRing vs pippyg

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

Head to head
About

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.

About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
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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

BirdRing4 screens
pippyg2 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BirdRing ships an update monthly, pippyg every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
BirdRing versus pippyg: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBirdRingpippyg
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.615.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMario HuizingaPhil Atkin

In-app purchases

None

BirdRing

No in-app purchases

None

pippyg

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is BirdRing free?
BirdRing is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is pippyg free?
pippyg is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do BirdRing or pippyg have ads?
Neither BirdRing nor pippyg shows ads.
Which is updated more often, BirdRing or pippyg?
BirdRing ships an update monthly, and pippyg every 2 months. Most recently, BirdRing was updated on October 14, 2026 and pippyg on October 11, 2026.

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