Sonar Ruler vs Photo Sender
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Sonar Ruler
This experimental app uses your iPhone's speaker to send out sonic pulses and measures the echo to estimate distances up to 60 feet. It's a fun and innovative way to explore sonar principles, perfect for educational purposes or impressing friends with unique iPhone capabilities.
- Sonic distance measurement
- Up to 60 feet range
- Selectable units (feet, inches, meters)
- Custom saved settings
- Educational sonar demonstration
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Sonar Ruler is a winner in the Best App Ever Awards - "Most innovative use of iPhone hardware" category! The Amazing New Sonar Ruler is an experimental app that uses echoes to measure distances with your iPhone! It uses the same principles that dolphins use to find food! It sends a short pulse from the speaker and measures how long that pulse takes to bounce off of something and return to the phone. It then estimates how far away you are. Use two devices to find the distance between them, without any wifi connection! Use "quiet" mode - with ultrasonic frequencies most people can't hear! Impress your friends with what this unique app can accomplish using only an iphone! GIZMODO.com: "that's a damned neat trick for a phone to be able to do." Features: - Set Units to feet, inches, or meters - Custom saved settings for measuring in different environments If you're a teacher, this app is a great way to teach students the principles of sonar, and how sound propagates through air. Enjoy! Follow us on twitter @LaanLabs NOTE: This is an experimental app, although it can be quite accurate, any measurements taken should be verified before using them.
Photo Sender
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Photo Sender sends your iPhone photos and videos straight to your own server – a NAS, a website or Nextcloud – at full resolution, with their capture date and all their EXIF data intact. FULL-RESOLUTION PHOTOS, METADATA INTACT • Photos are sent as high-quality JPEGs; HEIC photos are converted at the quality you choose • Original JPEGs are sent without recompression • Capture date, camera, lens and GPS location are kept, so your albums sort themselves • Missing dates and locations are filled in from your photo library • Optionally leave out the GPS location • File names based on the capture date (2026-07-14_15-32-10.jpg) or the original name YOUR VIDEOS TOO • Videos are sent in their original format, losslessly • Upload them as private videos to your own YouTube channel, ready to publish from YouTube Studio (requires a free Google Cloud client ID of your own) SELECT HUNDREDS OF PHOTOS IN SECONDS • Slide your finger across the grid to select a whole series • Photos are grouped by month; pinch to zoom • Quick select: today, yesterday, the last 7 or 30 days, a date range or an album – then choose exactly which ones to send • Photos already sent are marked, so nothing is sent twice – and you can resend anything in one tap WHERE TO SEND • HTTPS POST to your own script (PHP or similar), with optional GET or POST parameters • WebDAV: Nextcloud, ownCloud, Synology and more • FTP, for your home network • YouTube, for videos Passwords are stored in the iPhone's Keychain. YouTube uses Google's own sign-in page: your password never goes through the app. RELIABLE, EVEN WITH HUNDREDS OF FILES Files are prepared and sent one at a time, so memory use stays low however many you choose. Uploads carry on in the background and resume after a network drop. FREE OR PRO The free version sends up to 10 files a day to one destination. Photo Sender Pro, a one-off in-app purchase with no subscription, removes every limit: unlimited files and as many destinations as you like. © PAUTEX JF/Jérome 2026 - Nancy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Photo Sender at every 24 months against Sonar Ruler's every 105 months. On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Sonar Ruler ships an update every 105 months, Photo Sender every 24 months. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Sonar Ruler | Photo Sender |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.7 (3 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 43.5% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 3 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 105 months | Every 24 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 5 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Laan Labs | Jean-Francois Pautex |
Bugs and requests
Sonar Ruler
Reported bugs
10 issues- App crashes within 3 seconds of opening on iPhone 6 and older models
- Won't open on iOS 8.4 and later versions
- No chirping sound emitted on some devices
- Feedback loop and screaming noise on certain hardware
- Phone locks up requiring hard restart
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- Broken help video URL
- Measurements lock at same distance regardless of location
- Metric mode produces incorrect readings
- Incompatible with iPhone 4S, 5, and first-generation devices
- Inconsistent performance across different iPhone models
Requested features
11 requests- Room mapping by rotating phone in circle
- Vertical distance measurement capability
- Better ambient noise filtering
- Clearer, more intuitive user interface
- Optimized default settings (frequency, filter, chirp)
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- Larger, easier-to-manipulate sliders
- iPod Touch compatibility
- Automatic zoom functionality for measurements
- Visual indicator for when to use short vs long distance mode
- Better help video and documentation
- Accessibility features for blind users
Photo Sender
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Sonar Ruler
No in-app purchases
Photo Sender
No in-app purchases
