Spotty vs Hotspot Guide
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Spotty
Easily mark and share specific locations on a map, even without an address. This app focuses on simplicity for bookmarking places you discover, especially useful during travel. Share locations via unique links or QR codes.
- Mark places on map without address
- Share locations via link or QR code
- Recall and organize important places
- Simple and focused user interface
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Spotty is a super simple app to precisely place a marker on a map, and then share its location with your friends. Spotty differentiates itself from other map bookmarking apps by being super easy to use and focused on the task at play. I’m finding myself using it extensively during my travels and I hope you will be too. With Spotty you can: · Mark any place on a map without specifying an address (such as street food) · Share that location as simply as sharing its unique link or QR code · Recall and organize important places and much much more is in the pipeline ...
Hotspot Guide
This app helps travelers troubleshoot Wi-Fi connection issues, especially with captive portals and VPNs. It provides quick diagnostics, step-by-step solutions, and venue-specific tips to get you online faster.
- Captive portal detection
- iCloud Private Relay troubleshooting
- VPN and proxy bypass
- Offline troubleshooting guides
- Venue-specific Wi-Fi tips
- Network performance diagnostics
- Saved portal autofill
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You can't Google your way online when you're not online. You're at the gate. Meeting in four minutes. The hotel Wi-Fi connected, but the login page won't open. Safari spins. Your VPN icon is still on. Somewhere, iCloud Private Relay is silently breaking everything; and you can't look up how to fix it, because you're not online. Hotspot Guide is built for that moment. Install it once. The next time a captive portal won't load, open the app and it tells you exactly what's wrong and exactly how to fix it. WHAT IT CHECKS, IN UNDER 5 SECONDS • Captive portal detection, is the login page even reachable? • iCloud Private Relay, the #1 silent culprit on hotel Wi-Fi • Custom DNS (1.1.1.1, 8.8.8.8) bypasses the portal redirect • Active VPN and proxy blocks portal traffic before it reaches you • MDM and managed profiles locks you out of fixes • Real internet vs. portal HTML verifies you're truly online WHAT YOU GET FOR THE MOMENT IT MATTERS • One-tap deep links into System Settings - fix in two clicks, not ten • Built-in portal browser - auto-detect when login completes • Saved-portal autofill - re-join the same Hilton or American Airlines network without retyping your name and email every time (stored in your Mac's Keychain only) • Six offline troubleshooting guides - readable with zero connectivity • Curated database of major hotels, airports, airlines, and cafés with venue-specific tips • Speed, latency, packet loss, and jitter - know whether the Wi-Fi is slow or just flaky • Nearby networks scanner - see channel congestion, signal strength, and security at a glance • Connection history with average speeds per network - know which lounge has the fastest Wi-Fi • Public IP, ISP, signal, channel, and protocol - power-user info, one tab away ENGINEERED FOR MAC Native SwiftUI. App Sandbox. No background processes. No tracking. Diagnostic data never leaves your Mac. Credential vault uses the same Keychain that stores your Safari passwords. Works the moment you launch it, including when you're completely offline. WHO THIS IS FOR • Frequent business travelers who burn an hour a month on bad hotel Wi-Fi • Remote workers who hop between cafés, coworking spaces, and airports • IT admins who want a portable, sandbox-safe tool for diagnosing field issues • Anyone who's ever tethered to a phone just to fix a captive portal DISCLAIMER Hotspot Guide diagnoses device-level network blocks and provides step-by-step solutions. It cannot, however, resolve physical hardware failures or venue-wide service outages. For those issues, please contact the venue's management. Built by a frequent traveler who got tired of tethering every time a Marriott portal misbehaved.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Spotty at Free against Hotspot Guide's $7.99. Spotty also leads on ratings volume (51 vs 1). Hotspot Guide's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and update cadence (every 9 days vs monthly). On review sentiment, ads, in-app purchases and iOS requirement 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
Spotty is free to download; Hotspot Guide costs $7.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Hotspot Guide holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Spotty has 51 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.
Spotty ships an update monthly, Hotspot Guide every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Spotty | Hotspot Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $7.99 |
| Rating | 4.7 (51 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 51 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 9 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 40 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Alexandre Ksikes | Daniel Gauthier |
Customer experience
Spotty
Hotspot Guide
In-app purchases
Spotty
No in-app purchases
Hotspot Guide
No in-app purchases









