Comparison

Scaniverse vs A«iD

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

Head to head
About

Scaniverse

Capture your surroundings in high-quality 3D using your phone. Process scans directly on your device for privacy and speed. Share your creations globally on a map or export them for further use in 3D software.

Highlights
  • On-device 3D Gaussian splatting
  • Fast and unlimited scanning
  • High-fidelity detail capture
  • Privacy-focused processing
  • Global sharing map
  • Multiple export formats (OBJ, FBX, GLB, USDZ, LAS, PLY, SPZ)
  • Explore 3D scans worldwide
Read full description

3D mapping, reconstruction, and visual positioning from Niantic Spatial Scaniverse captures, reconstructs, and localizes physical environments — on your phone, and now in the cloud. It’s a foundation for AR, robotics, spatial computing, construction planning, and other apps and workflows that require high-fidelity 3D digital twins. Capture: Point your phone at any space and turn it into 3D data. - Scan spaces indoors and out, from a single room to a warehouse - Works with your mobile device’s cameras and sensors - Combine scans from multiple users and devices into one unified site project Reconstruct: Process scans into detailed, responsive 3D images. - State-of-the-art cloud processing turns your scans into immersive Gaussian splats for planning and simulations - Precise meshes for robotics simulation and collision geometry - Export in SPZ, PLY, GLB and FBX Localize: Test Niantic VPS 2.0 in app, deploy with NSDK. - Better than GPS everywhere, precise where you've mapped. - Works indoors, in urban canyons, and GPS-denied environments - Integrate via NSDK 4.0 for Unity, Swift, and Kotlin Accounts: Free tier for personal scanning and testing, with limited cloud processing and multi-user collaboration. Paid plans unlock more processing, bigger teams, 360° camera scans, and enterprise support. Still the world's best free 3D scanner: The classic Scaniverse experience you know is still here — unlimited on-device Gaussian splat capture and processing, several export formats including SPZ, and the shared global map. Nothing's changed. Scaniverse is built on the legacy of 25 years of geospatial innovation, including Google Earth and Google Maps. It’s the gateway to Niantic Spatial’s Large Geospatial Model, which builds on the same mission of making the world navigable and understandable, this time through a spatial AI for machines. Learn more: scaniverse.com Terms of use: scaniverse.com/terms Privacy policy: https://www.nianticspatial.com/privacy-consumer and scaniverse.com/privacy

About

A«iD

This app synthesizes video in real time, reacting to audio input. It offers a modular chain of effects to manipulate visuals, allowing for custom masks and intricate distortions. Create unique, psychedelic visual experiences inspired by vintage video synthesizers.

Highlights
  • Audio-reactive video synthesis
  • Modular effects chain
  • Customizable masks (SVG, PNG, PDF)
  • Real-time feedback and distortion
  • Color manipulation and remap
  • CRT phosphor and DV tape emulation
  • Edge detection and raster effects
Features
Read full description

A«iD is an audio-reactive video synthesizer inspired by Eric Siegel's legendary EVS Electronic Video Synthesizer from the 1970s. ——— THE CHAIN ——— Modules process the video signal in real time. Stack them in any order, tap to open controls, drag to reorder, long-press to bypass. GEOMETRY SOURCE — Generate a synthetic shape and composite it over the signal. Circle, diamond, bar, cross, ring, triangle, hexagon — or load your own SVG, PNG, or PDF as a custom mask. Position, size, hue, and edge softness are all independently audio-modulatable. FEEDBACK — Route the processed signal back into itself. Pinch and rotate on the canvas to control zoom and spin in real time. KEYER — Unified luma and chroma key in a single module. Cut foreground from background by luminance or isolate a color as a matte. Tap the eyedropper to sample any color directly from the screen. Pairs visually with COMPOSITE in the chain — the signal knows where it's going. COMPOSITE — Layer the processed chain behind a clean camera cut using luma and chroma mattes simultaneously. COLOR MATRIX — Rotate, invert, and cross-channel the RGB color space. Strange colors guaranteed. HUE LFO — Oscillate the hue channel at tempo-synced rates. Psychedelic pulsing locked to the beat. PHOSPHOR DECAY — Emulate CRT phosphor persistence. Past frames linger like burned afterimages. BURN ECHO — Additive frame echo that saturates toward white. Motion leaves a scorched trail. DV TAPE — Analog dropout and compression artifacts from the era of consumer DV camcorders. HALATION — Film halation glow on bright areas. Warm blooming on highlights. CHROMA SMEAR — Horizontal chroma bleed and compression fringing. SCAN DISPLACE — Rutt/Etra-inspired raster displacement. Each scanline shifts horizontally by audio frequency content mapped to vertical position — bass warps the bottom, treble the top. The entire frame becomes a spectrum warp field. EDGE OUTLINE — Sobel edge detection with colored glow, inspired by Stephen Beck's Direct Video Synthesizer. Flat areas go dark; edges light up in the chosen hue and bloom outward. COLORMAP — Remap luminance to color. Five palettes: Thermal (heat vision), Psychedelic (full hue rotation, classic Siegel PCS), Phosphor (P1 green CRT), Ice, and Neon. Every pixel's brightness becomes a new color. RASTER BEND — Distort the scan lines. Warp the geometry of the image itself. MIRROR — Fold, flip, and tile the frame into kaleidoscopic symmetry. TILE — Repeat, scale, and rearrange the frame in a grid. POSTERIZE — Reduce color depth. Hard edges, flat planes, screen-print aesthetics. TRANSFORM — Rotate, scale, and reposition with full affine control. CHANNEL MIX — Blend and cross-route RGB channels independently. ENCODER — NTSC-style composite encoding. Color bleeding and luminance separation. ——— AUDIO REACTOR ——— Every knob can be wired to the live audio signal. A»iD listens constantly and extracts amplitude, bass, mid and treble bands, beat phase, BPM, onset triggers, and spectral centroid. Seven LFOs run at BPM subdivisions. Open the Patch Bay to wire any source to any parameter in any module. Stack multiple sources on one knob. Set amount and polarity per patch. ——— RANDOMIZE ——— Shake the device (or hit the die) to randomize the whole chain. Palette Lock freezes hue and saturation through dice rolls. Sleeper Mode locks each module's bypass state — sleeping modules stay asleep, active modules stay awake. Everything re-rolls around your intention. ——— SYNC & CONTROL ——— ABLETON LINK — Lock BPM and beat phase with Ableton Live, AUM, Loopy, and any Link-compatible app on your network. MIDI — Auto-learns CC from any wired or Bluetooth MIDI controller. Long-press any knob to assign. OSC — Receive /aid/ messages from TouchOSC or Max/MSP over Wi-Fi.

Screenshots

Scaniverse4 screens
A«iD4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Scaniverse at 12K against A«iD's 3. A«iD's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 82%) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

A«iD holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Scaniverse has 12K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 82% of Scaniverse's written reviews are positive against 100% of A«iD's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Scaniverse ships an update every 3 weeks, A«iD every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Scaniverse versus A«iD: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterScaniverseA«iD
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (12K ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews82.5% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings12K — better3
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 8 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.6 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size227 MB68 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNiantic Spatial, Inc.JOEL CHRISTOPHER RAKOWSKI

Customer experience

Scaniverse

All ratings11,824 ratings
Positive95.1%
Neutral2.4%
Negative2.4%
Written reviews742 reviews
Positive82.5%
Neutral4.9%
Negative12.7%

A«iD

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Scaniverse

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Compatibility issues with newer devices
  • Crashes or freezes during scanning

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add measuring tools
  • Improve texture mapping
  • Enable desktop/web app support
  • Provide more editing/post-processing tools

A«iD

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Scaniverse

No in-app purchases

None

A«iD

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Scaniverse free?
Scaniverse is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is A«iD free?
A«iD is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Scaniverse or A«iD?
A«iD is rated higher. Scaniverse averages 4.8 out of 5 from 12K ratings, while A«iD averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Scaniverse or A«iD have ads?
Neither Scaniverse nor A«iD shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Scaniverse or A«iD?
Scaniverse ships an update every 3 weeks, and A«iD every 8 days. Most recently, Scaniverse was updated on October 21, 2026 and A«iD on October 7, 2026.

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