Hexer vs Simple Server
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Customizable byte highlighting
- Advanced search with regex
- File signature detection
- Integer decoding
- Keyboard navigation
- Integration with Files app
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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.
Simple Server
Easily share files and folders from your iPhone or iPad to other devices on the same local network. Browse and manage your files through a web browser, with optional username and password protection. Access logs provide detailed request information.
- Share folders and files locally
- Browse and manage files via web browser
- Username/password protection
- Access logs
- Static HTML preview on iPad
- iCloud folder sharing
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Simple Server is a small web server in your pocket. - Share your folders/files from your iPhone/iPad to other devices in the same local network. - Browse your shared folders and files via browsers easily. - Manage your folders/files on your iPhone/iPad via browsers. - Set a username/password for sharing/managing files. - Support Access Logs displaying HTTP method, URL, remote IP address, and access time of requests and responses. - On iPad, you can preview your static HTML files in Safari with Split View while the web server runs on the same iPad. Two steps to share your folder: 1. In the app, tap "Select folder" and select a folder to be shared. You can choose a folder on your device or iCloud. 2. Tap the "Start Server" button. It's done! Then, connect to the address in a browser on any device in the same network. (e.g., A device that uses the same WiFi router.) Also, you can allow remote users can manage folders and files if you want. Caution: - Simple HTTP Server should be running in the foreground. It cannot be run in the background. If you change to another app or turn off the screen, the web server will stop. - On iPad, you can browse files/folders via Safari with running the web server on the same device, thanks to multitasking. - However, if you switch to another app on your iPhone, the web server will stop. The server status will be automatically recovered when you return to the app. On iPhone, browsing files from other devices is only meaningful. - It works only in a local WiFi network or local wired network. You cannot connect to the web server via a cellular network.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Simple Server at monthly against Hexer's every 10 months. Simple Server also leads on rating (4.3 vs 4.1) and chart position (#18 vs #61). Hexer's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads 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
Hexer costs $3.99 and Simple Server $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Simple Server holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 26 and 11 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 63% of Hexer's written reviews are positive against 56% of Simple Server's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Hexer ships an update every 10 months, Simple Server monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Hexer | Simple Server |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 | $3.99 |
| Rating | 4.1 (26 ratings) | 4.3 (11 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 62.5% of reviews — better | 55.6% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 26 — better | 11 |
| Update frequency | Every 10 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #61 | #18 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 6 MB | 14 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Hans Schulein | Bitsbaker LLC. |
Customer experience
Hexer
Simple Server
In-app purchases
Hexer
No in-app purchases
Simple Server
No in-app purchases









