Comparison

WidgetLink vs MXa

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

Head to head
About

WidgetLink

Create custom home screen widgets to launch any URL or app URL scheme with a single tap. Personalize the appearance of your links with various customization options. Open links directly in your preferred third-party browser.

Highlights
  • Add any URL to home screen widgets
  • Launch app URL schemes
  • Open links in third-party browsers
  • Customize link display (colors, shapes, icons)
  • Quickly access and launch links
Read full description

WidgetLink lets you add any URL to your home screen widgets to be able to quickly access and launch them. - Supports any URL including apps' URL schemes. This enables you to launch any app using widgets or perform any action with them. - Supports opening links in third-party browsers. - Customization for how your links are displayed including colors, shapes, link icons and more.

About

MXa

Features
Read full description

MXa turns your iPhone or iPad into a screen and a keyboard for a computer you own. You see the whole desktop, exactly as it is on the machine itself, and you drive all of it: move the pointer, click, scroll, type, send keyboard shortcuts, copy and paste between the two devices. Nothing is installed into the apps you work with over there. Getting in takes two numbers. The other machine shows a 9-digit ID and a 6-digit code; you type them here once. No account to create, no email to leave, no VPN to configure, no router port to open. On the same Wi-Fi the two devices talk directly and the picture never leaves your network. Over distance they meet at a relay that only moves bytes — the 6-digit code never crosses the wire, and the keys are derived at the two ends, so what passes through the middle cannot be read there. The picture is H.264 at 30 frames per second, encoded by the hardware at the far end. On a thin connection the bitrate drops instead of the picture freezing. Lose signal, switch Wi-Fi, lock the screen and come back: the session rebuilds itself. Made for a finger, not for a mouse pretending to be one. Tap where you want the pointer, drag to scroll, pinch to zoom into a corner of a large desktop. The shortcut row sits on the software keyboard, so Command-Tab and Command-Q are one tap away instead of a hunt. Also here: a clipboard shared both ways, several displays to switch between, and text in Vietnamese or any other Unicode script typed straight through. WHAT YOU NEED A computer you own, running macOS 14 Sonoma or later, with the free MXa desktop app on it — and this device. Both ends are the same connection: no server to rent, no ports to open. On your own network there is no time limit. Over the internet a session ends after a while unless the machine you are reaching has been activated.

Screenshots

WidgetLink4 screens
MXa4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: WidgetLink at 15.0 against MXa's 17.0. On price, ads, in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
WidgetLink versus MXa: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWidgetLinkMXa
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.6 (18 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews52.9% of reviews—
Number of ratings18 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 22 months—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB3 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperVatthikorn ApiratithamDuy Pham

In-app purchases

None

WidgetLink

No in-app purchases

None

MXa

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is WidgetLink free?
WidgetLink is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is MXa free?
MXa is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do WidgetLink or MXa have ads?
Neither WidgetLink nor MXa shows ads.

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