Comparison

Banner vs LaMetric Smile

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

Head to head
About

Banner

Create custom LED-matrix-style displays for messages, time, date, tweets, and music information. Personalize your display with adjustable speeds, orientations, and element styles. Ideal for unique visual notifications and information sharing.

Highlights
  • Customizable messages
  • Display time and date
  • Show tweet feeds
  • Display music info
  • Adjustable scroll/blink speed
  • Customizable LED appearance
Features
Read full description

Banner is an LED-matrix-like display with which you can show custom messages. The following items can be shown: - 5 user-defined messages - 35 types of symbol characters - Date (3 formats) - Time (3 formats) - Bluesky (3 defined feeds based on user's timeline or keyword search) - Music (Artist, Song, Album) The application has the following settings: - Scroll speed - Blink speed - Landscape-only mode - Upside-down display - Mirror display - Double-tap editing - Sleep disable - Character size (3 sizes) - Element (LED) size (3 sizes) - Element (LED) shape (6 shapes) - Element (LED) color (Hue, Saturation) - Element (LED) color randomization Note - Bluesky posts will be updated every minutes or every posts displayed. - "Banner Basic" is a free version with ads; "Banner" and "Banner Extreme" are paid versions with no ad. - "Banner Extreme" has a little bit different from the others on the style and the speed.

About

LaMetric Smile

Express yourself with a vast collection of pixel art stickers and animations. Create your own unique pixelated designs or share existing ones through messaging apps. Enhance your smart clock display with custom pixel art.

Highlights
  • Pixel art sticker collection
  • Animation sharing
  • Built-in creator tool
  • Customizable clock faces
  • Messaging app integration
  • DIY pixel art creation
Features
Read full description

Share your pixelated emotions! Pixel art is a culture that has created a whole generation. Do you feel nostalgic for that time? Try out the collection of stickers and animations, created by the pixel art community or create your own. Now everyone can share pixelated emotions in Hangouts and other messengers using the LaMetric Smile app. Share your feelings or mood by choosing among thousands of pixelated stickers or create your own with a built-in creator. - Send your favorite pic to a friend to recall the same feeling, festive mood or express your emotions. - Be funny and quirky — express yourself with pixelated stickers - Show your creativity with 8x8 Do-It-Yourself pixelated stickers or animations and send your masterpiece to friends. Be creative! - Make your favorite sticker a clock face or a part of a happy message in your living room or office. With LaMetric Time smart clock you can style up your working desk with the favorite sticker as a clock face, send happy messages to your family directly into the living room, or make your team laugh with an apt joke. Happiness at a glance!

Screenshots

Banner4 screens
LaMetric Smile4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: LaMetric Smile at Free against Banner's $0.99. LaMetric Smile also leads on ratings volume (6 vs 2). Banner's advantage is rating (3.0 vs 2.2) and review sentiment (69% vs 28%). On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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

LaMetric Smile is free to download; Banner costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Banner holds the better App Store score, 3.0 against 2.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 6 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 69% of Banner's written reviews are positive against 28% of LaMetric Smile's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Banner ships an update every 3 months, LaMetric Smile every 27 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Banner versus LaMetric Smile: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBannerLaMetric Smile
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating3.0 (2 ratings) — better2.2 (6 ratings)
Positive reviews68.9% of reviews — better27.8% of reviews
Number of ratings26 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 months — betterEvery 27 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
Best chart rank#168 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB17 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperMasayuki AkamatsuSmart Atoms Limited

Customer experience

Banner

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews293 reviews
Positive68.9%
Neutral13.7%
Negative17.4%

LaMetric Smile

All ratings6 ratings
Positive33.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative66.7%
Written reviews18 reviews
Positive27.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative72.2%

Bugs and requests

Banner

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Text editing cursor issues
  • Orientation-related bugs
  • Freezing or crashing

Requested features

5 requests
  • More color and font options
  • Ability to add symbols like heart
  • Vertical scrolling or screen saver mode
  • Random message playback
  • Ability to manipulate individual pixels

LaMetric Smile

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Banner

No in-app purchases

None

LaMetric Smile

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Banner free?
Banner costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is LaMetric Smile free?
LaMetric Smile is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Banner or LaMetric Smile?
Banner is rated higher. Banner averages 3.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while LaMetric Smile averages 2.2 from 6 ratings.
Do Banner or LaMetric Smile have ads?
Neither Banner nor LaMetric Smile shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Banner or LaMetric Smile?
Banner ships an update every 3 months, and LaMetric Smile every 27 months. Most recently, Banner was updated on November 6, 2026 and LaMetric Smile on November 2, 2026.

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