Chirp Access vs Magic Smoke
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Chirp Access
This app allows residents of multifamily and student housing to open doors, gates, and garages using their mobile device. It also enables remote access granting for guests and service providers, eliminating the need for physical keys and fobs.
- Open doors, gates, and garages with mobile device
- Remotely grant access to guests
- Grant access to service providers
- Eliminates key and fob requirements
- Smart access for multifamily housing
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Chirp is a smart access solution for individuals living in multifamily and student housing communities. Chirp enables you to open any door, gate or garage using a mobile device and makes it easy to remotely grant access to friends, guest and service providers. Chirp liberates both residents and property management from the key and fob access nightmare. Use of the app requires Chirp-compatible hardware to be installed at your building. To learn more about our products visit www.chirpsystems.com.
Magic Smoke
Establish custom TCP connections to send specific commands. Save up to ten commands for quick access, or type any message directly. This utility is ideal for testing network connections and embedded systems.
- Custom TCP connection setup
- Save up to ten custom commands
- Send any typed message
- Appends carriage return and linefeed
- Supports IP address and port input
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This app allows you to send custom commands via a TCP connection. You input the IP address and port number for the TCP connection you would like to create, and then you can customize the ten buttons to have ten saved commands. The “Any Command” text field can send any message that is typed into the text field. A carriage return and linefeed are appended to all messages. It was originally developed for the NCSU Embedded Systems course ECE 306, but it works for any TCP connection you would like to create!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Magic Smoke at 100% against Chirp Access's 9%. Magic Smoke also leads on rating (5.0 vs 2.0) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.1). Chirp Access's advantage is ratings volume (655 vs 11) and update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 5 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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.
Magic Smoke holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 2.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chirp Access has 655 ratings behind it against 11, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 9% of Chirp Access's written reviews are positive against 100% of Magic Smoke's.
Chirp Access ships an update every 6 weeks, Magic Smoke every 5 months. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.
| Parameter | Chirp Access | Magic Smoke |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.0 (655 ratings) | 5.0 (11 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 9.5% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 655 — better | 11 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks — better | Every 5 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 45 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Chirp | Caleb Barnett Wheeler |
Customer experience
Chirp Access
Magic Smoke
Bugs and requests
Chirp Access
Reported bugs
4 issues- App frequently freezes or becomes unresponsive
- Spaceship mode rarely works as intended
- Favorites list doesn't always load properly
- Inconsistent Bluetooth detection and connectivity
Requested features
5 requests- Apple Watch app support
- CarPlay integration for gate access
- Siri/voice control for door/gate opening
- Ability to add front door to favorites
- Improved UI/UX, especially for frequently used actions
Magic Smoke
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Chirp Access
No in-app purchases
Magic Smoke
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Chirp Access free?
Is Magic Smoke free?
Which has better reviews, Chirp Access or Magic Smoke?
Do Chirp Access or Magic Smoke have ads?
Which is updated more often, Chirp Access or Magic Smoke?
Other comparisons
