Comparison

Airthings vs Smell Annotator

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

Head to head
About

Airthings

Monitor and improve your home's air quality with smart devices and a connected app. Get insights into air quality trends, receive alerts for poor conditions, and control air purifiers remotely for a healthier living environment.

Highlights
  • Quick device setup
  • AirGlimpse™ color indicators
  • Detailed air quality graphs
  • Customizable device focuses
  • Remote air purifier control
  • 5-day pollen forecast
  • Air quality alerts and tips
Features
Read full description

Breathe better with Airthings! Smart air quality monitors & purifiers you can trust. Shift your state of being with Airthings. Our products can help you improve indoor air quality leading to better focus, calming of allergies, and enhancement of sleep while ensuring an overall more healthy home. It features: • Quick and easy device setup • AirGlimpse™: Color-coded indicators give you at-a-glance information about your air quality • Access to the detailed graphs to help you track and find trends over time • Set focuses for your devices - air quality data broken down into high engagement problems that you care about • Control your Renew air purifier from anywhere • 5-day pollen forecast for your location with actionable advice • Notifications inform you of poor air quality and suggest ways to improve it, fast • Tips for addressing common indoor air quality problems and how to make the most of your device • Recommendations on the best Airthings monitor for your needs • Subscribe to Air Reports - We’ll send you a monthly update which summarises all the sensor data for your location. This app supports all Airthings products. If you have questions about using the app or any of our monitors, please refer to the Airthings Help Center or contact support@airthings.com.

About

Smell Annotator

This application enables machines to digitally sense and analyze smells using nanomaterial-based technology. It allows users to view, annotate, and recognize smell measurements in real-time, functioning as part of a developer kit.

Highlights
  • Smell recognition
  • Smell digitalization and annotation
  • Saving and loading measurements
  • Real-time measurement visualization
  • Offline data collection
  • Graph synchronization
Features
Read full description

Today, machines can see, hear, feel, and even learn. But smell? Not really! Our nanomaterial-based technology enables machines to use an electronic sense of smell. Smell Annotator app is an AI-based software program which is used to view, annotate and analyze smell measurements taken with the Smell Inspector and to recognize annotated smells in real time. The Smell Annotator app is a part of the Smell Inspector Developer Kit. The Smell Annotator gives you access to the smell sensors of your Smell Inspector developer kit. APP FEATURES * Smell recognition [NEW] * Smell digitalization and annotation * Saving measurements and loading saved data * Visualization of real-time and saved measurements with temperature and humidity data * Collect measurement data with or without internet access * Sync graphs for better clarity of data SENSORS * 4 Smell iX16 detector chips * Temperature sensor * Humidity sensor SMELL INSPECTOR The Smell Inspector is a ready-to-use device for anyone and a developer kit. It is suitable for testing and exploring different smell-related applications in the fields of product quality, safety & security, life & care, air quality, and many others. It has four Smell iX 16 detector chips inside, can be connected to a PC, tablet, or smartphone, and can be operated with Smell Annotator software. USER MANUAL For more information about how to use the App and the Smell Inspector device, go to: http://smart-nanotubes.com/downloads/ ABOUT US Along with a great community of industry experts and researchers, SmartNanotubes Technologies shares the vision of digital smell recognition. Our goal is to enable digital smell recognition in a fast and easy way and help our customers to develop product solutions for their own smell and gas detection applications. Visit us at: http://smart-nanotubes.com

Screenshots

Airthings4 screens
Smell Annotator3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Airthings at 4.4 against Smell Annotator's 1.0. Airthings also leads on ratings volume (3K vs 1) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs monthly). Smell Annotator's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.6). 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

Airthings holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Airthings has 3K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Airthings ships an update every 2 weeks, Smell Annotator monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Airthings versus Smell Annotator: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAirthingsSmell Annotator
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (3K ratings) — better1.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews33.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings3K — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS17.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size105 MB53 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAirthings ASASmartNanotubes Technologies

Customer experience

Airthings

All ratings3,024 ratings
Positive83.7%
Neutral3.4%
Negative12.9%
Written reviews467 reviews
Positive33.2%
Neutral9.0%
Negative57.8%

Smell Annotator

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Bugs and requests

Airthings

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • App crashes frequently
  • Unable to add new devices or accounts
  • Incorrect color coding and data display
  • Delayed or missing sensor data updates
  • Bluetooth connectivity issues
Show 1 more
  • Unexplained battery drain on devices

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add HomeKit integration
  • Allow custom thresholds and notifications
  • Improve data visualization and historical trending
  • Add more detailed information on air quality issues and remedies
  • Provide an iPad-optimized version of the app
Show 1 more
  • Improve syncing and connectivity reliability

Smell Annotator

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Airthings

No in-app purchases

None

Smell Annotator

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Airthings free?
Airthings is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Smell Annotator free?
Smell Annotator is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Airthings or Smell Annotator?
Airthings is rated higher. Airthings averages 4.4 out of 5 from 3K ratings, while Smell Annotator averages 1.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Airthings or Smell Annotator have ads?
Neither Airthings nor Smell Annotator shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Airthings or Smell Annotator?
Airthings ships an update every 2 weeks, and Smell Annotator monthly. Most recently, Airthings was updated on November 7, 2026 and Smell Annotator on October 27, 2026.

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