FTA Buddy vs Lovat Dashboard
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
FTA Buddy
This utility app assists volunteers in specific roles at FIRST Robotics Competition events. It provides quick access to a field monitor, technical flashcards, and a reference guide for helpful information.
- Embedded field monitor browser
- Technical flashcards
- Quick reference guide
- Assists FTA/FTAA roles
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This app is for volunteers at FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) events in the FTA (FIRST Technical Adviser) or FTAA (FIRST Technical Adviser Assistant) roles. It's a small app that serves three main purposes: display the field monitor in an embedded browser, show flashcards (like the FTA Notepad app), and show a quick reference page with some helpful technical tidbits.
Lovat Dashboard
This app facilitates collaborative strategy for FIRST Robotics Competition teams by providing team-specific metrics, predictions, and customizable picklists. It allows users to share data, analyze team performance, and optimize alliance strategies for matches.
- Collaborative strategy planning
- Team-specific metrics and predictions
- Picklist generation and sharing
- Alliance and match level analysis
- Auto path collision avoidance
- Customizable team weighting sliders
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Lovat Dashboard makes it easy to collaboratively strategize in the FIRST Robotics Competition using a variety of statistics and predictions. Lovat Dashboard users can share picklists, notes and scouter schedules with others on their team. However, users not currently affiliated with an FRC team are also able to use Lovat Dashboard. The app uses data recorded on Lovat Collection to make a set of 22 team-specific metrics. Each team specific metric features an average, a graph, and comparison to the average of all teams. Beyond looking at individual teams analytics, you can view the data on the alliance or match level through the My Alliance and Match Prediction pages. Test out different combinations of auto paths on the My Alliance page to avoid collisions and score the most points. Easily flip between the red and blue alliances, and view the likelihood an alliance will win on the Match Prediction page. When it’s time to pick alliance partners, generate a picklist by adjusting the weights of the 11+ sliders. Once the picklist has been calculated, share it with others on your team and convert it to a mutable picklist to fine-tune the order.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: FTA Buddy at none against Lovat Dashboard's shown. FTA Buddy also leads on monetization model (free vs ad-supported). Lovat Dashboard's advantage is update cadence (every 8 days vs every 8 months) and ratings volume (11 vs 1). On price, rating, review sentiment 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for FTA Buddy against 5.0 for Lovat Dashboard. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Lovat Dashboard has 11 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
FTA Buddy ships an update every 8 months, Lovat Dashboard every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on September 20, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | FTA Buddy | Lovat Dashboard |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) | 5.0 (11 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 11 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 8 months | Every 8 days — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Ad-supported |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 10 MB | 24 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ken Schenke | Piedmont Makers |
Customer experience
FTA Buddy
Lovat Dashboard
In-app purchases
FTA Buddy
No in-app purchases
Lovat Dashboard
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is FTA Buddy free?
Is Lovat Dashboard free?
Which has better reviews, FTA Buddy or Lovat Dashboard?
Do FTA Buddy or Lovat Dashboard have ads?
Which is updated more often, FTA Buddy or Lovat Dashboard?
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