Comparison

References vs PlanMeasure

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

Head to head
About

References

Browse and interact with your BibTeX libraries on your mobile device. View references, follow links, and access file attachments like PDFs. Supports both classic BibTeX and BibLaTeX formats.

Highlights
  • Browse BibTeX libraries
  • Search references
  • Follow links (DOIs, URLs)
  • View file attachments (PDFs)
  • Supports BibLaTeX
  • Group by keywords
Read full description

Carry your BibTeX libraries with you on your iPad and iPhone! A BibTeX library is a collection of bibliographic references (papers, books, reports, etc.), designed to work with the LaTeX typesetting system. Each library is stored in a specially-formatted text file (typically ending in .bib), which you can create with your favourite text editor. The References app gives you an easy way to browse through and interact with your BibTeX libraries. You can scroll, search, follow links, and view file attachments. In particular: - The app creates links from DOIs, MathSciNet references, ACM IDs, and of course URLs. - The app understands elementary LaTeX, so if your titles and/or abstracts contain markup or mathematics (and if your LaTeX is simple enough) then the app can display them nicely. - If you used BibDesk or JabRef to create your library, the app can view your file attachments (e.g., PDFs that you have attached to your references). - You can view references grouped by keywords, if you use the Keywords field in your BibTeX libraries. You can also view all of your smart/static groups from BibDesk, and your dynamic/static groups from JabRef. - The app supports BibLaTeX libraries as well as classic BibTeX. The References app can open BibTeX libraries from anywhere on your device. In particular, you can use iCloud Drive to keep them synchronised between your devices. This app is read-only, not an editor. It takes great care in helping you view and explore BibTeX libraries and their links and file attachments; however, it does not provide a way to modify your libraries. References is lovingly created by human hands. FILE ATTACHMENTS: To view file attachments (e.g., PDFs), the path to each file should be included in the corresponding entry in your BibTeX library. You can do this using the specially encoded Bdsk-File-* fields (as used by BibDesk), or the plain text File field (as used by JabRef). If you are writing your BibTeX files by hand, just add a File field giving the location of the attachment, such as File = {../PDFs/foo.pdf}. You can tell References where to find these attachments by linking folders in your app settings. The app will look for your attachments within these folders – for example, if you link your Documents folder then the app will be able to match the BibTeX field {../PDFs/foo.pdf} to a real location such as Documents/PDFs/foo.pdf or Documents/foo.pdf. The app is able to read attachments stored on your device, or on iCloud Drive, or on third-party providers including Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, Nextcloud or OneDrive. If you are having trouble viewing attachments from a third-party provider, please mail the References developer with the details. FURTHER INFORMATION: To learn more about BibTeX, see http://www.bibtex.org/ .

About

PlanMeasure

Features
Read full description

Turn any floor plan, blueprint, site map, or aerial photo into a precision measuring tool. Import a plan from Files, Photos, or directly from Apple Maps, set the scale with two taps on a known reference, and then measure every distance, area, and angle without leaving your iPad or iPhone. CALIBRATE ONCE, MEASURE FOREVER PlanMeasure works on any image. Drop in a PDF blueprint, a photo of a printed plan, or pull a satellite view straight from the map. Tap two points on a known reference (a door, a parking space, a property edge), enter the real-world length, and every following measurement is calibrated to the same scale. EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO MEASURE • Ruler — tap two points, see the distance instantly with unit-correct labels • Polyline — measure complex paths and chained distances point by point • Area — trace a polygon, get the total area with Shoelace-formula precision • Angle — tap three points to measure any angle, with live arc preview • Protractor — drop a draggable, rotatable protractor anywhere on the plan • Apple Pencil ruler — draw straight lines along the native iOS ruler ANNOTATE WITHOUT LEAVING THE PLAN Add lines, rectangles, ellipses, freehand sketches, and industry-standard symbols (furniture, machinery, solar arrays) directly on your plan. Organize them in layers — show, hide, or fade individual layers as needed. The wipe-eraser carves through anything (drawings, symbols, measurements) with clean masking, not destructive deletes. BUILT FOR REAL WORK PlanMeasure is the tool architects, builders, solar installers, surveyors, landscapers, and real estate professionals use on site: • Quick wall-to-wall checks during a survey • Solar panel area calculations on satellite imagery • Square footage estimates for offers and quotes • Site distance planning for landscaping • Furniture placement on existing floor plans EXPORT & SHARE Export your annotated plan as PDF or PNG with a clean footer showing scale, date, and project name. Send it via Mail, Files, AirDrop — or feed it into your usual workflow. PRIVACY FIRST Your projects stay on your device by default. iCloud sync is opt-in during onboarding — you decide whether your plans live only on this iPad/iPhone or sync between your devices via your private iCloud account. No analytics, no third-party tracking, no servers in the middle. FREE TIER Start for free with up to 3 projects. Unlock unlimited projects, PDF and PNG export, and all advanced annotation features with PlanMeasure Pro (subscription, cancel anytime). WHAT'S INCLUDED • Multi-project organization with search • Unlimited measurement annotations per project • Layer-based annotation stack • Undo / redo everywhere • Units: meters, centimeters, millimeters, feet, inches, yards, miles • Universal iPad + iPhone, designed for Apple Pencil and finger input • Optional iCloud sync (no third-party cloud) • Localized: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Arabic, Danish Privacy Policy: https://planmeasure.nordicdatahub.de/en/privacy-app.html Terms of Use: https://planmeasure.nordicdatahub.de/en/terms.html LICENSED APPLICATION END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

References4 screens
PlanMeasure4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: PlanMeasure at Free against References's $4.99. PlanMeasure also leads on update cadence (every 11 days vs monthly). References's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and device support (4 vs 2). On ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

PlanMeasure is free to download; References costs $4.99 up front. PlanMeasure sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $0.99 per month. References asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

References ships an update monthly, PlanMeasure every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
References versus PlanMeasure: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterReferencesPlanMeasure
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.9 (25 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews88.6% of reviews—
Number of ratings25 — better—
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 11 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.0 — better26.2
Further details — not scored
Size87 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBenjamin BurtonNiklaus Olsen

In-app purchases

None

References

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

PlanMeasure

Subscriptions1
  • PlanMeasure Pro$0.991 Month

Questions

Is References free?
References costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is PlanMeasure free?
PlanMeasure is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do References or PlanMeasure have ads?
Neither References nor PlanMeasure shows ads.
Which is updated more often, References or PlanMeasure?
References ships an update monthly, and PlanMeasure every 11 days. Most recently, References was updated on October 14, 2026 and PlanMeasure on October 3, 2026.

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