Comparison

Kernels vs Advanced Search Smart Options

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

Head to head
About

Kernels

This app acts as a personal search engine, allowing you to index and quickly find your saved text, web pages, images, emails, and documents. It prioritizes user privacy and synchronizes your data across devices for easy access anywhere. It helps boost productivity by making your digital information instantly searchable.

Highlights
  • Personal search index
  • Save text, web pages, images
  • Search emails and documents
  • Privacy-focused indexing
  • Cross-device synchronization
  • Boost productivity and organization
Features
Read full description

Hello, we are Kernels Your personal search engine for all your stuff. Only you decide what's indexed. Imagine being able to easily find a specific article you saw on a website a few weeks ago or quickly access an important presentation you gave last year. Kernels enable this functionality. Unlike traditional search engines that search the entire web, Kernels focuses on information you save in your personal search index. This can include your emails, text messages, documents, free text notes, browsing history, and even images and screenshots. • Unleash the Power of Personal Search with Kernels While Kernals excels at capturing ideas and boosting productivity, it shines as a powerful Personal Search Engine (PSE) for your digital life. • Go Beyond Notes: Search Made Simple Forget scouring endless folders. Kernals lets you save articles, web clips, and screenshots alongside your notes. Our intuitive search enables you to find exactly what you need instantly. • Privacy First: Your Data, Your Control Unlike traditional search engines, Kernals keeps your information secure and private. You can focus on your thoughts, not on who might be tracking them. • Access Anywhere: Unleash the Power of Synchronization Your notes and searches are always at your fingertips. Kernals seamlessly sync across devices, so you can pick up where you left off, whether on your phone, tablet, or computer. • Your PSE Evolves with You: Constant Innovation We're constantly improving Kernals based on user feedback. Our commitment is to provide the best possible PSE experience, empowering you to take control of your digital world. Join us on this note-taking journey and unlock your potential for creativity, productivity, and organization. Download Kernels today and experience the convenience of quickly capturing and organizing your ideas.

About

Advanced Search Smart Options

Simplify complex web searches by inputting keywords. This tool automatically generates advanced search queries with operators for precise results. Explore options like exact matches, date ranges, and specific file types.

Highlights
  • Keyword-based advanced search
  • Automatic search operator generation
  • AND, OR, and exclusion searches
  • Numerical and date range filtering
  • Specify site, domain, and file type
  • Search scope selection (title, content, URL)
Features
Read full description

This app allows you to perform advanced web searches with just inputting keywords. Web searches can be conducted using search operators, enabling various search options. However, using search operators often requires combining alphabets and symbols with spaces, which can become cumbersome. For instance, When you want to search for "Apple Inc." articles within Wikipedia's page content, you would need to input the following: allintext: apple -fruit site:wikipedia.org The app automatically generates such commands, enabling you to perform advanced searches by just inputting keywords. The search engine used is Google. Available Search Criteria ・AND search, including all keywords ・Exact match search for keywords ・OR search, including any of the keywords ・Exclusion search, excluding certain keywords from results ・Numerical ranges (e.g., from $1,000 to $5,000, from 3kg to 10kg) ・Range of update dates ・Language ・Region ・Specific sites or domains ・Related sites ・File formats (pdf, doc, xls, ppt, etc.) ・Search scope (page title only, page content only, page URL only, etc.)

Screenshots

Kernels4 screens
Advanced Search Smart Options4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Kernels at none against Advanced Search Smart Options's 1. Kernels also leads on ads (none vs shown) and rating (4.7 vs 4.3). Advanced Search Smart Options's advantage is ratings volume (30 vs 10). On price, update cadence 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. Advanced Search Smart Options sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Kernels asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Kernels holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 10 and 30 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 83% of Kernels's written reviews are positive against 67% of Advanced Search Smart Options's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and August 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Kernels versus Advanced Search Smart Options: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterKernelsAdvanced Search Smart Options
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (10 ratings) — better4.3 (30 ratings)
Positive reviews83.3% of reviews — better66.7% of reviews
Number of ratings1030 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size30 MB7 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperFunnls LLCmanabu ueda

Customer experience

Kernels

All ratings10 ratings
Positive90.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative10.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive83.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative16.7%

Advanced Search Smart Options

All ratings30 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative16.7%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

In-app purchases

None

Kernels

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Advanced Search Smart Options

One-time1
  • Ad-Free Plan$3.99

Questions

Is Kernels free?
Kernels is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Advanced Search Smart Options free?
Advanced Search Smart Options is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Kernels or Advanced Search Smart Options?
Kernels is rated higher. Kernels averages 4.7 out of 5 from 10 ratings, while Advanced Search Smart Options averages 4.3 from 30 ratings.
Do Kernels or Advanced Search Smart Options have ads?
Advanced Search Smart Options shows ads; Kernels does not.
Which is updated more often, Kernels or Advanced Search Smart Options?
Kernels ships an update every 2 months, and Advanced Search Smart Options every 2 months. Most recently, Kernels was updated on September 19, 2026 and Advanced Search Smart Options on August 29, 2026.

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