Comparison

GedView vs Controller for HomeKit

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

Head to head
About

GedView

Access and edit your entire family tree on your mobile device. Quickly check relationships, dates, and locations, and record new information, photos, or videos on the go. Supports multiple trees and various file types.

Highlights
  • Carry entire family tree on mobile
  • Check relationships, dates, and locations
  • Record new information, photos, and videos
  • Supports multiple family trees
  • View various document types (PDF, Word, etc.)
  • Import and export GEDCOM files
Currently charting
Read full description

Family tree research is becoming an ever more popular past time. Normally all of your genealogy information is locked away on your computer at home which isn't much use when you are out and about researching local records, or visiting locations such as graveyards, ancestral homes, or family reunions. This is where GedView comes in. Carry around your entire family tree on your iPhone, iPod, or iPad and have all the data about your ancestors and even current descendants at your fingertips. You can quickly check up on family relationships, dates / locations of events, and record new information. Despite the name GedView is not just a viewing tool. This includes taking photos, or video anywhere and anytime you like without needing to worry about a potentially costly internet connection. If using an iPhone, or a cellular enabled iPad you can even record your current location to add to any event. If your tree contains lots of images you can even use GedView as a slideshow, showing all the pictures related to a given event, person, source, family. You can also play back any home movies you have in your tree. Media support is not limited to photos/video. Support is also included for any other file type your iPhone, iPod, or iPad is capable of opening. This may be PDFs, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, mp3 files. If you have an app installed that supports a specific document type and have a document of that type in your tree you will be able to view it via GedView. Do you have some separate branches in your tree that you haven't connected yet? GedView allows you to store multiple trees so you can easily switch to view distinct branches. Unlike other apps no specific computer application is required, nor is a subscription to any website. Instead standard GEDCOM files can be imported, These can be encoded as ASCII, ANSI, ANSEL, UTF-8, or UTF-16 and can be added to GedView via WiFi, downloading from a website, via iTunes, or even opened from other apps such as Mail, Safari, Dropbox etc. While GedView is targeted towards GEDCOM 5.5.1 it will read in any version, and will also support many custom extensions used by other genealogy applications, and because GEDCOM hasn't been added as an after thought imports are fast and efficient. You can even export GEDCOM files for sharing with family members or other researchers, or to transfer new information to your main computer. A sample family tree containing the British monarchy is included. If you have any problems, or suggestions please get in touch via the support email address.

About

Controller for HomeKit

Enhance your smart home experience with advanced control and automation. Visualize your home with floor plans, track device performance with charts, and create complex automations tailored to your needs. Organize devices, store setup codes, and monitor your entire smart home ecosystem.

Highlights
  • Floor plan visualization with LiDAR
  • Device performance charts
  • Complex automations and workflows
  • Custom notifications
  • Smart folders and filters
  • Setup code storage
  • Device maintenance and logs
Features
Read full description

Experience and control your Apple Home in a whole new way with Controller for HomeKit. Our app combines all the familiar HomeKit features with numerous additional enhancements, offering you a user-friendly interface, unparalleled control, and flexibility. * CONTROLLER AI: Describe a scene, automation, or workflow in everyday language – Controller builds it for you. * FLOOR PLAN: Create a detailed floor plan of your home using the LiDAR sensor on your iPhone or iPad and control your HomeKit accessories directly through the floor plan. * CHARTS: See how your Apple Home evolves over time. Charts in Controller for HomeKit show how values like temperature, humidity or battery usage change – across all your devices and brands. * COMPLEX AUTOMATIONS: Utilize advanced triggers and conditions for custom automations that are perfectly tailored to your needs. * WORKFLOWS: Optimize your daily routines with workflows that go beyond the capabilities of Apple Home. * NOTIFICATIONS: Create custom notifications to stay informed about important events in your home. * BACKUPS: Secure your setup and restore it easily when needed. * SMART FOLDERS: Organize your devices and automations effortlessly with smart folders and custom filters. * SETUP CODES: Securely store your HomeKit and Matter codes in the app, so they are always at hand and never lost. * MAINTENANCE: Keep track of your setup, quickly identifying which batteries need to be replaced, which devices are unreachable, or which automations are broken. * LOGS: Monitor all activities and changes in your smart home. * WIDGETS: Control your devices faster and easier with convenient widgets or quickly jump into your floor plan. Unlock the full potential of your smart home with Controller for HomeKit. Download the app now and experience how simple and intuitive home automation can be. For more information, visit our website: https://www.controllerforhomekit.com Privacy Policy: https://controllerforhomekit.com/privacy-en/ Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

GedView4 screens
Controller for HomeKit4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: GedView at 73% against Controller for HomeKit's 26%. GedView also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 10) and chart position (#108 vs unranked). Controller for HomeKit's advantage is price (Free vs $4.99) and rating (4.1 vs 3.7). On ads 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

Controller for HomeKit is free to download; GedView costs $4.99 up front. Controller for HomeKit sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. GedView asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Controller for HomeKit holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Controller for HomeKit has 2.7K ratings behind it against 29, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 73% of GedView's written reviews are positive against 26% of Controller for HomeKit's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

GedView ships an update monthly, Controller for HomeKit every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard10 real differences · 1 level
GedView versus Controller for HomeKit: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGedViewController for HomeKit
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating3.7 (29 ratings)4.1 (2.7K ratings) — better
Positive reviews73.3% of reviews — better26.3% of reviews
Number of ratings292.7K — better
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#108 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS12.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size21 MB212 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDavid Knightacasa Software GmbH

Customer experience

GedView

All ratings29 ratings
Positive69.0%
Neutral6.9%
Negative24.1%
Written reviews165 reviews
Positive73.3%
Neutral11.5%
Negative15.2%

Controller for HomeKit

All ratings2,726 ratings
Positive75.8%
Neutral4.7%
Negative19.6%
Written reviews453 reviews
Positive26.3%
Neutral9.7%
Negative64.0%

User reviews

GedView

From 29 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Awesome genealogy app
  • 🚀 No unnecessary bells and whistles
  • 👍 Simple and easy to use
  • 👍 Professionally done and very easy to use
  • 👍 Excellent way to carry family history information

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Buggy on iPad version
  • 🐛 Input not intuitive and unforgiving of mistakes
  • 🐛 Reports don't work, crash the app
  • 🐛 Drops name fields without warning
  • 🐛 Cannot view GEDCOM files

Controller for HomeKit

From 2.7K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Powerful automation features
  • 📚 Helpful backup and restore functionality
  • 🔍 Detailed logging and troubleshooting
  • 🧠 Advanced HomeKit control and customization

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Buggy and crash-prone
  • 💰 Expensive subscription model
  • 🤖 Poor customer support
  • 🤔 Confusing and unintuitive UI

Bugs and requests

GedView

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • Drops name fields without warning
  • Cannot view GEDCOM files
  • Unable to import GEDCOM
  • Size limitation on GEDCOM files
  • Cannot print pedigree or descendant charts
Show 1 more
  • Crashes when going to tree view

Requested features

7 requests
  • Relationship calculator
  • Ability to search by events
  • List births, deaths, and marriages by date
  • Tree view
  • Ability to add photos
Show 2 more
  • Sync between devices
  • Ability to create family trees from scratch

Controller for HomeKit

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Backup and restore issues
  • Disappearing automations and accessories
  • Compatibility problems with iOS 16.2
  • Slow performance and unresponsiveness

Requested features

4 requests
  • Improved documentation and tutorials
  • Better integration with Apple Home app
  • Support for more HomeKit device types
  • Ability to customize automation triggers

In-app purchases

None

GedView

No in-app purchases

7 purchases

Controller for HomeKit

Subscriptions6
  • Controller Essentials2 variants$4.991 Month
  • Essentials Lifetime - Plus Addon$4.991 Month
  • Controller Plus$8.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • Controller Essentials7 Days trial2 variants$39.991 Year
  • Essentials Lifetime - Plus Addon7 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • Controller Plus7 Days trial$79.991 Year
One-time1
  • Controller Essentials Lifetime2 variants$99.99

Questions

Is GedView free?
GedView costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Controller for HomeKit free?
Controller for HomeKit is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, GedView or Controller for HomeKit?
Controller for HomeKit is rated higher. GedView averages 3.7 out of 5 from 29 ratings, while Controller for HomeKit averages 4.1 from 2.7K ratings.
Do GedView or Controller for HomeKit have ads?
Neither GedView nor Controller for HomeKit shows ads.
Which is updated more often, GedView or Controller for HomeKit?
GedView ships an update monthly, and Controller for HomeKit every 10 days. Most recently, GedView was updated on September 21, 2026 and Controller for HomeKit on September 23, 2026.

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