Comparison

Bluetooth Inspector vs Subtext

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

Head to head
About

Bluetooth Inspector

Explore nearby Bluetooth devices and examine their services and characteristics. View real-time signal strength, battery levels for your own devices, and identify model names. Extract software versions and read or write characteristic values.

Highlights
  • Real-time signal strength and device information
  • Apple device battery level monitoring
  • Device model identification
  • Software and firmware version extraction
  • Read and write characteristic values
  • Characteristic value history
  • Log and export data
  • Background scanning with Live Activity
Features
Read full description

Discover nearby Bluetooth peripherals and inspect their services for information and characteristics. • View information and signal strength for all peripherals and devices, updating in real time as you move around. • Get battery level for your own Apple devices — no need to install the app on all your devices. • See model identification broadcast by devices around you, mapping device identifiers to the marketing name. • Extract software and firmware version strings from devices broadcasting this information. • Read any characteristic's value, even for services not well known and are custom to the device being interrogated. • Write characteristic values back to the peripheral as string, numeric or hex. • See a history of the value of a characteristic since the session started, timestamped to when the value changed. • Log found peripherals, services, characteristics and values, and export a .log file of timestamped events for your analysis. • Shortcuts integration with actions for scanning and interrogation, enumerating services and characteristics, and reading values. • Background scanning by advertised service IDs with device count mapped by location found and status shown in a Live Activity. Get support @grgarside or georgegarside.com/apps/bluetooth-inspector Constant use of Bluetooth connectivity can drain your device's battery. Bluetooth connectivity is only used when this app is in the foreground and up to a few seconds after being backgrounded to safely disconnect from peripherals being interrogated, unless Background Scanning is enabled in the app and the Live Activity is running.

About

Subtext

A straightforward text editor for iPhone and iPad, allowing direct creation and editing of files within iCloud. It offers advanced controls for line endings and character encoding, ideal for on-the-go code or data file modifications.

Highlights
  • Direct iCloud file editing
  • No import/export required
  • Line ending control
  • Character set encoding control
  • Quick edits for code and data
Read full description

Subtext is a simple, no-frills text editor for iPhone and iPad. Create or edit files directly on your device or in iCloud, with no need to import or export. Includes advanced features such as line ending and character set encoding control. Perfect for making quick edits to code or data files on the go!

Screenshots

Bluetooth Inspector4 screens
Subtext4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Subtext at none against Bluetooth Inspector's 1. Subtext also leads on review sentiment (83% vs 58%) and iOS requirement (14.4 vs 26.0). Bluetooth Inspector's advantage is ratings volume (1.5K vs 79). On price, rating, update cadence 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Bluetooth Inspector sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Subtext asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Bluetooth Inspector against 4.5 for Subtext. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bluetooth Inspector has 1.5K ratings behind it against 79, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 58% of Bluetooth Inspector's written reviews are positive against 83% of Subtext's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bluetooth Inspector ships an update monthly, Subtext every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on September 22, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Bluetooth Inspector versus Subtext: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBluetooth InspectorSubtext
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (1.5K ratings) — better4.5 (79 ratings)
Positive reviews58.5% of reviews83.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.5K — better79
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#46 — better#91
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TViPhone, iPad, iPod, Vision Pro
Requires iOS26.014.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size17 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGeorge GarsideCharcoal Design

Customer experience

Bluetooth Inspector

All ratings1,535 ratings
Positive88.4%
Neutral5.3%
Negative6.3%
Written reviews171 reviews
Positive58.5%
Neutral12.9%
Negative28.7%

Subtext

All ratings79 ratings
Positive84.8%
Neutral8.9%
Negative6.3%
Written reviews95 reviews
Positive83.2%
Neutral10.5%
Negative6.3%

User reviews

Bluetooth Inspector

From 1.5K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Accurate Bluetooth detection
  • 🔍 Useful for finding lost devices
  • 👍 Clean and intuitive interface

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
  • 🔍 Difficulty identifying unknown devices
  • 🔋 High battery consumption
  • 🔒 Privacy concerns with device interrogation

Subtext

From 79 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Simple and efficient
  • 🚀 Fast and lightweight
  • 🆓 Free and no ads
  • ✨ Clean and intuitive UI
  • 📂 Seamless Files app integration

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Fails on network drives
  • 🐛 Data corruption risk
  • 🐛 Difficulty unselecting text
  • 🐛 Buggy Chinese input method
  • 🐛 Random capitalization issues

Bugs and requests

Bluetooth Inspector

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Inability to refresh device list without reinstalling
  • Inconsistent behavior when selecting devices
  • Mapping feature not functioning as expected

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to rename detected devices
  • Option to filter or hide known devices
  • Integration with device location tracking
  • Support for other wireless protocols (Wi-Fi, etc.)

Subtext

Reported bugs

11 issues
  • Fails to save work
  • Jumps to top of document on blank lines
  • Poor network behavior leading to data corruption
  • Cannot open or create new text files
  • Error when saving to network drive
Show 6 more
  • Cannot edit .tex files without renaming
  • Chinese input method errors
  • Random capitalization after paste
  • Large text files cause errors
  • File saving issues, creates extra copies
  • Bug when using Chinese input method with delete key

Requested features

20 requests
  • Add 'Unselect all' option
  • Add 'Replace all' function
  • Add font size settings
  • Add tab key
  • Allow editing of non-text files
Show 15 more
  • Improve network drive handling
  • Option to disable auto-save
  • Add highlighter
  • Add character count
  • Add JetBrains Mono font
  • Add 'reopen last file' option
  • Add widget support
  • Add highlighting
  • Add font and background color settings
  • Add distraction-free mode
  • Add swipe to close gesture
  • Option to release focus for collapsing skb
  • Fix Chinese input method bugs
  • Allow editing of files with arbitrary extensions
  • Add Chinese input method bug fixes

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Bluetooth Inspector

One-time1
  • Bluetooth Inspector Pro$3.99
None

Subtext

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Bluetooth Inspector free?
Bluetooth Inspector is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Subtext free?
Subtext is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Bluetooth Inspector or Subtext?
Bluetooth Inspector is rated higher. Bluetooth Inspector averages 4.6 out of 5 from 1.5K ratings, while Subtext averages 4.5 from 79 ratings.
Do Bluetooth Inspector or Subtext have ads?
Neither Bluetooth Inspector nor Subtext shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Bluetooth Inspector or Subtext?
Bluetooth Inspector ships an update monthly, and Subtext every 3 weeks. Most recently, Bluetooth Inspector was updated on September 22, 2026 and Subtext on September 22, 2026.
Which is more popular, Bluetooth Inspector or Subtext?
Bluetooth Inspector currently peaks at #46 in the App Store charts, and Subtext at #91. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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