# BG Home vs Synapse

The clearest difference is update cadence: BG Home at every 2 months against Synapse's every 7 months. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

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

BG Home ships an update every 2 months, Synapse every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | BG Home | Synapse |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[5.0 (5 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bg-home/id1449578712/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **5** | — |
| Positive reviews | 43.2% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 2 months** | Every 7 months |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Size | 228 MB | 78 MB |
| Requires iOS | **11.0** | 12.1 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Luceco plc](https://appshunter.io/developer/1449578711) | [Zinc Digital](https://appshunter.io/developer/1147605401) |

## What reviewers say

### BG Home

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bg-home/id1449578712)

Control and automate your smart home devices with custom timers, scenes, and delays. Secure your settings with a parental lock and share access with household members. Integrate with voice assistants for hands-free operation.

**Highlights:** Device automation with timers and scenes, Parental lock for settings, Household member sharing, Voice control via Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri, Geolocation and weather-based automation, IFTTT integration

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Siri integration, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Works well
- 👍 Easy to use
- 👍 Great features
- 👍 Excellent product
- 👍 Fantastic

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Connection issues
- 🐛 Unreliable app
- 🐛 Difficult to set up
- 🐛 Buggy
- 🐛 Clunky interface

**Reported bugs**

- Inability to change timer settings
- App crashes
- Connectivity issues
- Incompatibility with newer iOS versions

**Requested features**

- Sunrise/sunset timer option
- Power metering
- Improved timer functionality
- Matter protocol support
- Modernized GUI


### Synapse

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/synapse-graff/id1567939772)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is BG Home free?

BG Home is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Synapse free?

Synapse is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Do BG Home or Synapse have ads?

Neither BG Home nor Synapse shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, BG Home or Synapse?

BG Home ships an update every 2 months, and Synapse every 7 months. Most recently, BG Home was updated on October 20, 2026 and Synapse on October 10, 2026.

---

*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*