NetDose vs OpenManual
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
NetDose
This mobile application acts as a gateway to synchronize device dose history and configuration with a cloud-based web interface. It requires a valid login and only communicates with devices linked to the user's account. The app can also be used to update the device's firmware.
- Synchronize dose history with cloud
- Synchronize device configuration
- Requires valid login/password
- Communicates with linked devices only
- Update device BLE firmware
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NetDose Mobile App performs the function of a Gateway on a smart phone and is used to synchronize the NetDose Dosimeter dose history and configuration with the cloud WebUI. The NetDose Mobile App requires a valid login/password to function and will only communicate with the NetDose Dosimeter belonging to the same account as the user login. NetDose Mobile App does not store any dose history or NetDose Dosimeter configuration on the smart phone NetDose Mobile App can be used to update the NetDose Dosimeter BLE firmware.
OpenManual
Locate lost or inaccessible product manuals by scanning device labels or barcodes. It searches manufacturer sites, archives, and the open web to find documentation, even for discontinued items. Saved manuals are available offline and can be queried for specific answers.
- Scan labels and barcodes to identify products
- Search manufacturer sites and archives
- Offline access to saved manuals
- Query saved manuals for specific answers
- Handles discontinued products
- Supports various household and professional equipment
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The manual is never around when you actually need it. It came in a box you recycled years ago, or it's in a drawer somewhere, or the company that made the thing doesn't even exist anymore. Meanwhile the thing is sitting right in front of you blinking and all you want to know is what the light means. So OpenManual starts where you already are, which is standing next to it. Point your camera at the label. Everything has one somewhere, whether it's a sticker on the back, a plate screwed to the side, or tiny type stamped into the plastic. OpenManual reads it and figures out which part is the brand and which part is the model, because those two are almost never labeled and the whole search depends on getting them right. If you can't get to the label, take a photo of it, scan the barcode on the box, or just type in what you know. Then it goes looking where manuals live. The maker's support site, the Internet Archive, which keeps documents long after a product is gone, and the open web get asked, so one engine having a bad day doesn't sink it. If the first pass comes up short, it reads what went wrong and searches again. The maker's own copy comes first. With Apple Intelligence, the phone's model reads the label, and Refine searches locally lets it sort results and plan a harder search. It finds documents but it never decides for you, and that's on purpose. Every result shows you the cover of the actual file, tells you what site it came from, and says in plain words how well it matches. If a document only half fits your device it says so instead of handing it over and hoping you don't notice. Nothing gets saved until you say yes. Sometimes the manual is real and sitting behind a login or a paywall. OpenManual won't sign in, pay, or sneak around a gate, so it just tells you where the document is and lets you go get it yourself. That felt more honest than pretending nothing turned up. Anything you keep stays on your phone (and in any backup of it) and works offline, which matters when you're in a basement and the signal gives up. Ask a question about a manual you saved and the answer comes straight from the document with the page shown, so you can check that it really says that. It works on the stuff that fills a house, a shop, or a building: • Washers, dryers, fridges, dishwashers, ovens • Furnaces, heat pumps, water heaters, thermostats • Drills, saws, mowers, pressure washers, generators • Printers, routers, TVs, cameras • The mystery unit in the garage that was already there when you moved in It also does medical and lab equipment, which is honestly why I built it. I spend my days supporting operating rooms, and I've spent a lot of that time hunting down IFUs for devices that went out of production a decade ago. So scan the UDI barcode on a device label and the whole device lands on one page: what it is, verified against the FDA's public registry, this unit's lot, serial and expiry, the instructions for use, recalls, adverse event reports split by what happened, and its class and regulation. It knows a REF from a serial from a lot number, and an IFU from a service manual from a cleaning guide. A few things worth knowing before you download it: • Three saved devices are free, no account, no sign up • One purchase lifts the limit forever and nothing renews • Saved manuals work offline • You confirm every document before it gets kept • It runs on iPhone and iPad One last thing, because it matters. OpenManual finds documentation and quotes it. It doesn't diagnose problems, it doesn't tell you whether something is safe to run, and it's not a substitute for someone who actually knows the machine. When it can't find your manual it says so, because being confidently wrong is worse than being honest.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: OpenManual at 5.0 against NetDose's 4.2. OpenManual also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 2 months). NetDose's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ratings volume (5 vs 1). On price, ads, monetization model 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
Both are free to download. OpenManual sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. NetDose asks for nothing beyond the download.
OpenManual holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: NetDose has 5 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
NetDose ships an update every 2 months, OpenManual every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | NetDose | OpenManual |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.2 (5 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 5 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 23 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Thermo Fisher Scientific | Gunnar Hostetler |
Customer experience
NetDose
OpenManual
In-app purchases
NetDose
No in-app purchases
OpenManual
- Lifetime Unlock$4.99
Questions
Is NetDose free?
Is OpenManual free?
Which has better reviews, NetDose or OpenManual?
Do NetDose or OpenManual have ads?
Which is updated more often, NetDose or OpenManual?
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