Hawkeye Sidekick vs Head Tracker
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Hawkeye Sidekick
Control your Mac hands-free using head movements and facial expressions from your iPhone or iPad. This app utilizes the TrueDepth camera for intuitive cursor control, clicks, drags, and scrolls, making Mac usage accessible for everyone.
- Head movement mouse control
- Facial expression clicks and drags
- Hands-free Mac operation
- TrueDepth camera integration
- Customizable expression assignments
- Works with all Mac apps
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Hawkeye Sidekick lets you control your Mac using head movements. Rotate your head to move the mouse and make facial expressions to click, drag, and scroll. Powered by your iPhone or iPad's TrueDepth camera. NOTE: Hawkeye Sidekick requires an iPhone or iPad with a TrueDepth camera. This includes iPhone X, XS, XR, 11, 11 Pro, and the new iPad Pro. Using your iPhone or iPad's TrueDepth camera, Hawkeye Sidekick lets you control your Mac hands-free using head movements. Intuitive controls let you perform common actions using facial expressions. Best of all, Hawkeye Sidekick works with every app on your Mac so you can browse the web, play games, edit videos, and much more. For people with motor impairments, this makes using a Mac far easier. How it Works: - Open the Hawkeye Access app on your Mac - Open the Hawkeye Sidekick app on your iPhone or iPad - The apps will instantly connect using Bluetooth, no setup required. - Rotate your head to move the cursor - Smile, pucker your lips, raise your eyebrows, or stick out your tongue to perform clicks, drags, and scrolls. Customizable: - Pick the expressions that work best for you - Assign expressions to actions - Adjust cursor and expression sensitivity - Or, use your Mac's built-in Dwell Control And much more... - Shake your head to undo - Open with "Hey Siri..." - No external hardware needed To get started, download Hawkeye Access on your Mac and Hawkeye Sidekick on your iPhone or iPad. We'd love to hear what you think of Hawkeye Sidekick! Email us at access@usehawkeye.com or tweet us @HawkeyeAccess.
Head Tracker
This app provides responsive 6DOF head tracking for PC games using your iPhone's camera. Enjoy immersive flight and driving simulations without expensive hardware or uncomfortable headsets.
- 6DOF head tracking
- Wireless Wi-Fi connection
- No external hardware needed
- Accurate and responsive tracking
- Easy setup
- Compatible with opentrack
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Head Tracker uses iPhone’s front-facing TrueDepth camera to provide responsive and accurate 6DOF (degree of freedom) head tracking input to opentrack. Allowing users to enjoy flight and driving simulation games without expensive hardware or wearing uncomfortable headsets. ================================== Supported Devices (iPhone 11 and newer) ================================== This app requires device with TrueDepth camera or Devices with A12 or later processors: iPhone 11, iPhone SE(2nd Gen), iPad (8th Gen), Pro (2nd Gen) and later are supported. ================= Features ================= - 6 DOF - Connects over wifi network, no need for cables - No need to wear any uncomfortable head tracking headsets - Accurate and responsive (up to 60fps) - simple to setup ================================== opentrack supported games includes: ================================== - Microsoft Flight Simulator - FSX - DCS World - Star Citizen - Elite: Dangerous - IL2 - Euro Truck - and more. ================= Customer Reviews ================= "Installation took a couple of minutes on the PC and after the latest update is now smooth as butter. Looking forward to more improvements! Works perfectly on Euro Truck and other racing sims I play like Assetto Corsa etc" "I sold my TrackIR headset some years ago and missed it now in the new Flight Simulator - and guess what: this is combined with opentrack the ideal replacement. It “just works” and is easy to set up. Fair pricing. 5 stars. Thank you, John." ================= How to use: ================= - Open Head Tracker app on your iPhone, set your PC's IP address, then start - Launch opentrack application on your PC, select "Network over UDP" and the "freetrack 2.0" protocol, and press start - Start your favourite simulator game, it will now follow you head movements in the virtual cockpit. Visit https://jbcconsulting448679429.wordpress.com/head-tracking-quick-start/ for detailed instructions and download opentrack preset profile. ================================== Versions (Free and in-app purchase) ================================== Try out the free version. The free version allows you to play for 10 minutes per session, you can restart to extend the trial. Upgrade to the full version via in-app purchase to remove trial limit and automatic screen dimming to reduce battery usage. ================================== More Information and Support ================================== Visit https://jbcconsulting448679429.wordpress.com for more tips, network setup and troubleshooting instruction on configuring head tracking, and contact me for support.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Hawkeye Sidekick at none against Head Tracker's 1. Hawkeye Sidekick also leads on iOS requirement (13.2 vs 15.6). Head Tracker's advantage is review sentiment (70% vs 50%) and ratings volume (62 vs 7). On price, rating, 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
Both are free to download. Head Tracker sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Hawkeye Sidekick asks for nothing beyond the download.
Hawkeye Sidekick holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Head Tracker has 62 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 50% of Hawkeye Sidekick's written reviews are positive against 70% of Head Tracker's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
| Parameter | Hawkeye Sidekick | Head Tracker |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (7 ratings) — better | 4.1 (62 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | 70.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 7 | 62 — better |
| Update frequency | — | Fortnightly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.2 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Hawkeye Labs, Inc. | John Yu |
Customer experience
Hawkeye Sidekick
Head Tracker
Bugs and requests
Hawkeye Sidekick
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Head Tracker
Reported bugs
10 issues- Pitch flips upside down when yawing
- Purchase not restoring after reinstall
- Camera always in portrait mode
- Image gets dark after a few seconds
- Tracking is shaky and buggy
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- Connection drops and won't reconnect
- Does not work with iPhone SE
- Does not work with iPhone 7
- Does not work with iPhone 8
- Roll axis detects other axis components
Requested features
5 requests- Option to turn off screen when tracking
- Always visible rotation button for landscape camera
- Ability to brighten screen for better tracking
- Use IR camera for low-light conditions
- Option to make screen black to reduce battery/screen burn
In-app purchases
Hawkeye Sidekick
No in-app purchases
Head Tracker
- Full Version$1.99








