piDisplay vs PiFi
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ with what reviewers say about each.
piDisplay
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Control your official Raspberry Pi Foundation 7" touchscreen display backlight and brightness from any iOS device. Toggle power and activity LEDs if you want. Shell command utility to run commands on your pi from iOS. Optional SwiftServer (Swift on Linux) for blazing fast response - you can still use SSH if you want though. The server-side software (on the raspberry pi) has only been tested on Raspbian Stretch and pi 3B+ The installer for the pi server software will install Swift on your pi then build and install the server for you but you can modify and/or run it manually. The Apple Watch app will still work when the iPhone app is not in the foreground but only ssh communication works in background mode.
PiFi
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No need for terminal, SSH or even LuCI. PiFi has all of pro features you love from OpenWrt, reimagined to be more capable, more simple and even more fun. So things like blocking trackers and ads, connecting or switching VPN profiles and accessing your network-stored documents, photos or videos are now just a tap away on iPhone and iPad. NETWORK SETTINGS - Customize network settings, setup a travel router, and more with just a few taps WIREGUARD & OPENVPN CLIENT - Easily upload and manage multiple VPN profiles directly from your iPhone or iPad. Create a VPN network for ALL your devices in seconds ADGUARD HOME - Access AdGuard Home software for network-wide ad and tracking blocking NETWORK STORAGE - Easily expand your network storage capacity (USB storage, SSD, or SD Card) and access your files from anywhere on the network ** COMPATIBILITY NOTICE This app WILL ONLY work if your Raspberry Pi 4 or 5 has been flashed with PiFi firmware, either downloaded from the PiFi website or through a pre-configured SD Card. Standard OpenWrt builds that are not optimised for PiFi are not compatible with this app. For full compatibility details, see pifi.org TRADEMARK NOTICE Raspberry Pi is a trademark of Raspberry Pi Ltd, AdGuard and AdGuard Home are trademarks of Adguard Software Ltd, WireGuard is a registered trademark of Jason A. Donenfeld, OpenWrt is a trademark owned by Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC). All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. PiFi firmware, software, and accessories are developed by PiFi Ltd, an independent project.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: PiFi at every 6 weeks against piDisplay's every 3 months. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
piDisplay ships an update every 3 months, PiFi every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | piDisplay | PiFi |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 6 weeks โ better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch โ better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.1 | 12.0 โ better |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 10 MB | 93 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ian Jones | PiFi Ltd |
In-app purchases
piDisplay
No in-app purchases
PiFi
No in-app purchases






