Comparison

Hexer vs PotoHEX

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Hexer

Inspect any file with a powerful hex viewer designed for iOS and iPadOS. Features include customizable color highlighting, advanced search and analysis tools, and seamless integration with the Files app for easy access to your documents.

Highlights
  • Customizable byte highlighting
  • Advanced search with regex
  • File signature detection
  • Integer decoding
  • Keyboard navigation
  • Integration with Files app
Features
Read full description

Hexer is a desktop level hex viewer packed with features. It was developed from the ground up for iOS and iPadOS. It is natural and intuitive to use for everyone. It is integrated with the Files app. So you can browse Dropbox, Google Drive, your git repositories, your downloads, your documents in iCloud Drive or your desktop. Or you can just share any file to it. Bytes are highlighted in different colors: Printable characters are cyan, spaces blue, null bytes grey, control characters pink and so on. The colors appear across the binary, hexadecimal, and ascii column — or can just be turned off completely. ▶ Many advanced options • Many popular themes from text editors and terminals • Line numbers (offsets) • Overscroll • Complete control over the formatting of what you copy or share • Column counts in powers of two (8 bytes, 16, 32, ...) or in any number that fits • Interpret bytes as ASCII, ISO Latin 1 or EBCDIC • The UI is navigable by keyboard and there are keyboard shortcuts to toggle almost everything • Further features for you to discover ▶ Search • Search for content in the hexadecimal, ASCII or binary column • Preview results with context and jump to and highlight them in the document • Filter results with Regular Expression and based on case sensitivity • Jump between results with arrow keys ▶ Analysis • Get information about the selection or the entire document • Decode to integers • See byte frequencies • See detected file signatures (magic numbers) • Read metadata like creation date and Unix permissions ▶ The App is made by a real person out of love When you buy the app (no hidden in app purchases) the money goes straight to me to support development. If you have any questions or feature requests you can just write me an email and let me know. I will continue development with many more planned features like editing. ▶ The App is friendly There are no in app purchases, ads, tracking, nor is there any data collected. You buy it once and then use it. Nothing more. Nothing less.

About

PotoHEX

This tool allows users to inspect and modify any file on their iOS device at the byte and character level. It supports numerous encodings, offers a wide range of checksum and hash calculations, and includes various encryption, compression, and encoding/decoding functionalities.

Highlights
  • Byte and character level inspection/editing
  • Extensive encoding support
  • Checksum and hash calculations
  • Encryption and decryption
  • Compression and decompression
  • Multi-tab interface
  • Undo/Redo functionality
Features
Read full description

The PotoHEX is an application that is used to create, explore and modify arbitrary files on your iOS device. MAIN FEATURES: • Byte and Character level inspecting and editing • Select any from UTF-7/8/16/32/BE/LE or 100+ other encodings for character-level inspecting & editing • Use predefined encoding groups for simplifying the search for an encoding • Search for the desired encoding by name • Quick view of selected bytes/characters directly in the encoding selection table • Replace or Insert bytes and characters • Inspect and modify integer types at the cursor position • Select a byte or text region for the subsequent actions: • Convert text to another encoding. • Сalculate checksums: Adler-32, BSD checksum, CRC-8, CRC-16, CRC-32, CRC-64, CRC-8/CDMA2000, CRC-8/DARC, CRC-8/DVB-S2, CRC-8/EBU, CRC-8/I-CODE, CRC-8/ITU, CRC-8/MAXIM, CRC-8/ROHC, CRC-8/WCDMA, CRC-16/CCITT_FALSE, CRC-16/AUG_CCITT, CRC-16/BUYPASS, CRC-16/CDMA2000, CRC-16/DDS-110, CRC-16/DECT-R, CRC-16/DECT-X, CRC-16/DNP, CRC-16/EN-13757, CRC-16/GENIBUS, CRC-16/MAXIM, CRC-16/MCRF4XX, CRC-16/RIELLO, CRC-16/T10-DIF, CRC-16/TELEDISK, CRC-16/TMS37157, CRC-16/USB, CRC-A, CRC-16/KERMIT, CRC-16/MODBUS, CRC-16/X-25, CRC-16/XMODEM, CRC-32/BZIP2, CRC-32C, CRC-32D, CRC-32/MPEG-2, CRC-32/POSIX, CRC-32Q, CRC-32/JAMCRC, CRC-32/XFER, CRC-64/WE, and CRC-64/XZ. • Сalculate hashes: BLAKE/BLAKE2, MD2, MD4, MD5, MD6, SHA1, SHA2 (SHA-224, SHA-256, SHA-384, SHA-512, SHA-512/256, SHA-512/224), SHA3-224, SHA3-256, SHA3-384, SHA3-512, SHAKE128, SHAKE256, RIPEMD-128/160/256/320, Tiger/Tiger2, Whirlpool and STREEBOG (Стрибог, ГОСТ 34.11-2018) • Encode or Decode from or to Base16, Base32(RFC 4648, hex, Crockford's, and z-base-32 alphabets), Base58(BITCOIN, RIPPLE, FLICKR, and GMP alphabets), Base64, Ascii85, and Z85(ZeroMQ) encodings • Encrypt or Decrypt using AES 128/192/256, BLOWFISH, DES, 3DES, RC2, and RC4 algorithms • Compress or Extract by Deflate/Inflate, BZIP2, and LZMA/LZMA2 algorithms. • Export the selected region as a QR code. • Fill the region with a given multibyte pattern • Cut the region • Copy and Paste the region • Undo/Redo • Clone or delete files INTERFACE • Multi-tab interface • Tabs can be reordered or removed by long pressing on them and dragging • Change the width of an arbitrary column in the file data table • Jump to arbitrary file offset by tapping on the Offset column • Choose from Decimal or Hexadecimal formats for the file offset values by tapping on the Offset column header • The space occupied by the file data table and the property sheet (or their relative arrangement) can be tuned by dragging (or double-tapping) the delimiter handle between them • Zoom in/out almost every part of the user interface • Light and Dark themes depending on the device settings AUXILIARY • File renaming • Change the size of the file • Select the number of bytes in a row • Find & replace an arbitrary text or byte fragment with an arbitrary text or byte fragment • Access the App's Document folder through a Web Browser LIMITATIONS • Undo/Redo works for modifications up to 16Mb This app by default has restrictions on file content visibility. The visible content of any file is restricted by the first 256 bytes. To remove those restrictions you can start a monthly auto-renewable subscription or buy permanent full access. Privacy Policy: https://apotocki.github.io/potohex/privacy.pdf Terms of Use: https://apotocki.github.io/potohex/terms-of-use.pdf

Screenshots

Hexer4 screens
PotoHEX4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: PotoHEX at Free against Hexer's $3.99. PotoHEX also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 10 months). Hexer's advantage is rating (4.1 vs 3.6) and in-app purchases (none vs 2). On ratings volume, ads and device support 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

PotoHEX is free to download; Hexer costs $3.99 up front. PotoHEX sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Hexer asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Hexer holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 3.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 26 and 17 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 63% of Hexer's written reviews are positive against 33% of PotoHEX's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hexer ships an update every 10 months, PotoHEX every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on October 25, 2026.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Hexer versus PotoHEX: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHexerPotoHEX
Price$3.99Free — better
Rating4.1 (26 ratings) — better3.6 (17 ratings)
Positive reviews62.5% of reviews — better33.3% of reviews
Number of ratings26 — better17
Update frequencyEvery 10 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#67 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB20 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHans SchuleinAlexander Pototskiy

Customer experience

Hexer

All ratings26 ratings
Positive80.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative19.2%
Written reviews24 reviews
Positive62.5%
Neutral8.3%
Negative29.2%

PotoHEX

All ratings16 ratings
Positive56.3%
Neutral6.3%
Negative37.5%
Written reviews21 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral14.3%
Negative52.4%

In-app purchases

None

Hexer

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

PotoHEX

Subscriptions1
  • Monthly$0.991 Month
One-time1
  • Permanent$9.99

Questions

Is Hexer free?
Hexer costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is PotoHEX free?
PotoHEX is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Hexer or PotoHEX?
Hexer is rated higher. Hexer averages 4.1 out of 5 from 26 ratings, while PotoHEX averages 3.6 from 17 ratings.
Do Hexer or PotoHEX have ads?
Neither Hexer nor PotoHEX shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Hexer or PotoHEX?
Hexer ships an update every 10 months, and PotoHEX every 2 weeks. Most recently, Hexer was updated on October 25, 2026 and PotoHEX on October 25, 2026.

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