Comparison

Bluetooth Inspector vs OnlineNow

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

OnlineNow

Features
Read full description

OnlineNow helps you check internet access, troubleshoot a connection, and keep a local history of your results. CHECK YOUR CONNECTION See whether your device has a Wi-Fi, cellular, or Ethernet connection and whether internet access can be verified. Refresh checks access without running a speed test. TEST DOWNLOAD SPEED Choose Test Speed to measure a short HTTPS download from Cloudflare. Tests use up to 10 MB of sample data and run only when you request them. Results estimate performance to that server and vary with your connection. UNDERSTAND THE RESULTS View separate TCP connection setup and HTTP response timings, a connection quality estimate based on available measurements, and a possible VPN tunnel indicator. These are troubleshooting estimates rather than guaranteed line speed, radio signal strength, or authoritative VPN status. KEEP AND SHARE HISTORY Review the latest checks, see statistics across up to 100 retained samples, and export history as CSV. Clear saved history whenever you choose. Success rates describe recorded samples, not uninterrupted uptime. EVERY FEATURE IS FREE No purchase or account is required. This version does not offer in-app purchases. PRIVACY No account is required. Connection history stays on your device unless you choose to export it. The app has no advertising or usage analytics. Connectivity checks contact Google, Cloudflare, and Apple; those providers receive standard network information such as your IP address. Monitoring runs while the app is active and pauses when it becomes inactive. Requires iOS 17 or later.

Screenshots

Bluetooth Inspector4 screens
OnlineNow2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: OnlineNow at none against Bluetooth Inspector's 1. OnlineNow also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). Bluetooth Inspector's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 5 months) and chart position (#47 vs unranked). On price 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. OnlineNow asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bluetooth Inspector ships an update monthly, OnlineNow every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Bluetooth Inspector versus OnlineNow: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBluetooth InspectorOnlineNow
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (1.6K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews58.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings1.6K — better—
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
Best chart rank#47 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size20 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGeorge GarsideGuillaume Demay

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.)

OnlineNow

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Bluetooth Inspector

One-time1
  • Bluetooth Inspector Pro$3.99
None

OnlineNow

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Bluetooth Inspector free?
Bluetooth Inspector is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is OnlineNow free?
OnlineNow is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Bluetooth Inspector or OnlineNow have ads?
Neither Bluetooth Inspector nor OnlineNow shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Bluetooth Inspector or OnlineNow?
Bluetooth Inspector ships an update monthly, and OnlineNow every 5 months. Most recently, Bluetooth Inspector was updated on October 29, 2026 and OnlineNow on October 25, 2026.

Other comparisons