BLE Spy vs TransparentBLE
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
BLE Spy
This utility allows users to discover, connect to, and interact with Bluetooth Low Energy devices. It offers standard features for browsing services and characteristics, alongside smart capabilities for customizing UUIDs and formatting data with JavaScript.
- Discover BLE devices
- Connect to multiple peripherals
- Browse services and characteristics
- Read and write characteristic values
- Log and export data to CSV
- Customize UUIDs
- Format characteristic data with JavaScript
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A professional utility to examine and control Bluetooth Low Energy devices. Apart from standard features BLE Spy has some unique capabilities in particular for developers. Standard features: • Find all Bluetooth Low Energy devices around you • Sort devices by name or rssi • Connect to multiple peripherals at the same time • Browse services and characteristics • Read and write characteristic values • Register for Notifications, log data and export to CSV Smart features: • Replace vendor specific UUIDs with a descriptive name • Add a description for characteristics • Format characteristic data with JavaScript BLE Spy requires iOS 11.
TransparentBLE
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TransparentBLE is a local-first Bluetooth Low Energy utility for discovering, inspecting, logging, and controlling BLE devices from iPhone or iPad. Use it to scan nearby BLE peripherals, connect to devices, inspect GATT services and characteristics, read values, write payloads, subscribe to notifications, and debug raw BLE traffic in console and terminal-style views. TransparentBLE also supports reusable BLE profile files. A profile can describe how a device should be matched, which services and characteristics it uses, how notification payloads should be parsed, and which controls should appear in the app. This lets makers, developers, and hardware owners create an iOS control surface for BLE devices without building a custom Swift app. Features: - BLE device scanning with configurable refresh intervals - GATT service and characteristic inspection - Read, write, and notify support - Console and terminal-style BLE debugging - RSSI tracking and RSSI history graph - JSONL diagnostic log recording - Log history with filtering, timeline view, export, and share support - Optional background recording for diagnostics - Live Activity and Dynamic Island status while recording - Import local .bleprofile.json files - Import profiles from supported TransparentBLE links - Profile-based controls including switches, sliders, RGB controls, and option pickers - Local-first design with no ads, analytics, tracking SDKs, or developer-operated cloud service TransparentBLE is useful for BLE debugging, hardware testing, IoT projects, ESP32 experiments, embedded devices, meters, sensors, chargers, and custom BLE hardware where you understand the device protocol. Safety note: BLE profiles and write commands can affect connected hardware. Only import profiles you understand and trust, and test control commands carefully.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: TransparentBLE at Free against BLE Spy's $4.99. BLE Spy's advantage is chart position (#89 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 26.0). On ads, in-app purchases and device support 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
TransparentBLE is free to download; BLE Spy costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
| Parameter | BLE Spy | TransparentBLE |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.8 (4 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 4 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 8 months | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Best chart rank | #89 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 10 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Peter Gasche | Artur Pilavetz |
In-app purchases
BLE Spy
No in-app purchases
TransparentBLE
No in-app purchases









