Comparison

Pi vs Pool Notes

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

Head to head
About

Pi

Manage your Pi-hole network ad blocker from any Apple device. Monitor DNS queries, control blocking, and manage lists and settings. Offers interactive widgets and Siri integration for quick access.

Highlights
  • Remote Pi-hole management
  • DNS query monitoring
  • Ad blocking control
  • List and domain management
  • Interactive widgets
  • Siri integration
  • Multi-device support
Features
Read full description

Take full control of your Pi-hole from your iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV. Monitor your network, inspect DNS queries, manage blocking and lists, and control multiple Pi-hole instances from anywhere in the Apple ecosystem. *Disable Blocking* Quickly disable blocking from the app, interactive Home Screen widgets, your Apple Watch, or Siri. You'll see a Live Activity for the duration to remind you blocking is disabled! *Statistics & Queries* Look up what domains are queried most on your network, as well as clients that send out the most requests. View your Query Log as well as a 'Live Log' which shows queries on your network in real time. *Blocked Services* Want to quickly restrict access to Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, Roblox, and more? Block all kinds of services effortlessly with just one tap. *Manage Your Pi-hole* Manage Clients & Groups, Domains & Adlists, and change all kinds of Pi-hole settings such as DNS/DHCP settings. *Interactive Widgets & Live Activity* Choose from a wide range of Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets that show your Pi-hole status or statistics. There are also interactive widgets to disable blocking without opening the app! When you disable blocking, you will even see a Live Activity on your Lock Screen, Dynamic Island, and Smart Stack. *Controls* Quickly toggle blocking right from your Lock Screen, Control Center, or Action Button. *Made for the Apple Ecosystem* Use Pi-hole Remote across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV. Your instances and preferences stay available across your devices through iCloud. Purchase Pi-hole Remote+ once and unlock it on every supported platform. == iPhone, iPad, and Mac features: - Enable or temporarily disable Pi-hole blocking - View detailed statistics and combined data from multiple instances - Search and filter your Query Log or watch queries appear in real time - Add domains to your allowlist or denylist, individually or in bulk - Block entire services such as social networks, streaming platforms, and games - Manage clients, groups, domains, adlists, DNS, and DHCP settings - Update Gravity and manage your Pi-hole configuration - Add and control an unlimited number of Pi-hole instances - Choose where each instance appears based on your Wi-Fi network - Connect securely using HTTPS, reverse proxies, custom paths, and custom headers - Use interactive widgets, Live Activities, and Lock Screen or Control Center controls - Control Pi-hole with Siri, App Shortcuts, Spotlight, and the Action Button - Sync settings and selected Pi-hole data between instances - Personalize the app with custom colors and alternative icons - Enjoy dedicated layouts for iPhone, iPad, and Mac - Full VoiceOver and Dark Mode support Apple Watch features: - View status and statistics, control one or all instances, access Blocked Services, and use complications and Live Activities Apple TV features: - View statistics and queries, control blocking and services, and switch between or combine instances on the big screen == Note: You need at least one working Pi-hole instance running on another device for this app to function and you must use Pi-hole Version 6.0 or up. Pi-hole Remote is a third-party app which uses the Pi-hole API and is in no way affiliated with Pi-hole. Find out more about Pi-hole at https://pi-hole.net/. This app offers a "Pi-hole Remote+" version with additional features, in the form of a lifetime purchase, a monthly subscription, or a yearly subscription. Subscriptions will automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period and will be charged to your App Store account. You can turn off auto-renew or manage subscriptions in your App Store account settings after purchase. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Pool Notes

This app simplifies pool maintenance by converting water test readings into precise chemical dosage instructions. It automatically adjusts targets based on stabilizer levels and offers guided algae treatment. All data is stored locally on your device for privacy.

Highlights
  • Precise chemical dosage instructions
  • Automatic chlorine target adjustment
  • Trend tracking over time
  • Test reminders
  • Guided algae treatment
  • Local data storage
Features
Read full description

Pool Notes turns a water test into plain instructions: log your readings and get exact doses in the units of the chemicals you actually own — "add 42 fl oz of 12.5% liquid chlorine," not vague advice. Chlorine targets adjust to your stabilizer level automatically. Watch trends over time, get test reminders, and when the water goes green, sound the Mayday: a guided rescue that walks you through knocking out algae step by step. Everything stays on your phone — no accounts, no cloud, no nonsense.

Screenshots

Pi4 screens
Pool Notes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Pool Notes at none against Pi's 7. Pool Notes also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.8) and review sentiment (100% vs 88%). Pi's advantage is ratings volume (1.3K vs 1) and device support (5 vs 1). On price, update cadence, 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

Both are free to download. Pi sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Pool Notes asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pool Notes holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pi has 1.3K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 88% of Pi's written reviews are positive against 100% of Pool Notes's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pi ships an update every 2 weeks, Pool Notes fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Pi versus Pool Notes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPiPool Notes
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (1.3K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews88.1% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.3K — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.016.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size85 MB37 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRocketScience ITJONATHON TIMOTHY MORTON

Customer experience

Pi

All ratings1,257 ratings
Positive94.9%
Neutral1.4%
Negative3.7%
Written reviews412 reviews
Positive88.1%
Neutral4.4%
Negative7.5%

Pool Notes

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Pi

Reported bugs

7 issues
  • Crashes when pressing certain options
  • Unable to reach Pi Hole after configuration
  • Statistics screen crashes the app
  • Widgets not working
  • Live Logs not working properly
Show 2 more
  • Login screen freezes
  • Incompatible with older devices

Requested features

13 requests
  • Add and remove adlists from the internet
  • DHCP management, like assign static IPs, change host names of devices
  • Change other pihole settings, like upstream DNS servers
  • A command line interface
  • Group management, I.e. the ability to whitelist or blacklist certain domains only for certain groups of devices, and to be able to create new groups and edit which devices are in each group
Show 8 more
  • Option to style query bar graph as stacked bar graph colored by client
  • Notification to update pihole
  • Ability to update the OS and pihole from the app
  • Wildcard support for the whitelist
  • View DHCP Leases or add reservations
  • Query Log
  • Dark mode option
  • Advanced analytics dashboard

Pool Notes

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Pi

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly PHR+$0.991 Month
  • PHR+ Yearly$4.991 Year
One-time5
  • Small Tip$0.99
  • Medium Tip$3.99
  • Large Tip$6.99
Show 2 more
  • PHR+ Lifetime$11.99
  • Huge Tip$17.99
None

Pool Notes

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pi free?
Pi is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pool Notes free?
Pool Notes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pi or Pool Notes?
Pool Notes is rated higher. Pi averages 4.8 out of 5 from 1.3K ratings, while Pool Notes averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Pi or Pool Notes have ads?
Neither Pi nor Pool Notes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pi or Pool Notes?
Pi ships an update every 2 weeks, and Pool Notes fortnightly. Most recently, Pi was updated on November 7, 2026 and Pool Notes on October 31, 2026.

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