Comparison

Sonar Ruler vs Secret

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Sonic distance measurement
  • Up to 60 feet range
  • Selectable units (feet, inches, meters)
  • Custom saved settings
  • Educational sonar demonstration
Features
Read full description

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. >> Impress your friends with what this unique app can accomplish using only an iphone! << Ϟ GIZMODO.com: "that's a damned neat trick for a phone to be able to do." Features: * Sonic distance measurement up to 60 feet * 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. ** Watch a demo video here: http://bit.ly/sonarvideo ** German/Japanese subtitles here: http://bit.ly/sonarvid Enjoy! Follow us on twitter @laanlabs *This is an experimental app, although it can be quite accurate, any measurements taken should be verified before using them. Note: Use with iPads requires some adjustment to the chirp boundaries

About

Secret

Securely send and receive encrypted messages that only the intended recipient can read. Protect your private conversations with end-to-end encryption and a password. Messages are not stored on your device after decryption.

Highlights
  • End-to-end message encryption
  • Password protection for decryption
  • Shake to clear messages
  • Messages not stored on device
  • Supports any language and emoji
  • Multiple language localizations
Features
Read full description

Send messages to your friends and colleagues – encrypted so that only they can read the message. Tap and type your message, and with one tap you can encrypt and then send your message, or copy it to the clipboard for pasting in to another application. Shake to clear your message. Secret – just between you and me... When someone who has Secret installed receives a Secret-encrypted message, they need only click on the message and they are taken straight to Secret where they can decrypt the message with a pre-arranged password. It's as simple as that! Secret uses DES symmetric encryption to keep your messages safe. You can use it anywhere you need to send a message that you don't want others to read. The decrypted message is not stored on your phone, so if someone intercepts or finds your phone, they can't read your messages without knowing the password. Secret works in any language, and even with emoji. Secret is also fully localised in English, French, Japanese, Italian, Greek, Spanish, Malay, Indonesian, German, Korean, and Simplified and Traditional Chinese. Secret – it's the easiest way to secure the messages you send and receive.

Screenshots

Sonar Ruler4 screens
Secret4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Secret at every 10 months against Sonar Ruler's every 94 months. Secret also leads on rating (3.0 vs 2.7) and review sentiment (55% vs 43%). Sonar Ruler's advantage is ratings volume (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (8.1 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

Sonar Ruler costs $0.99 and Secret $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Secret holds the better App Store score, 3.0 against 2.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 1 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 43% of Sonar Ruler's written reviews are positive against 55% of Secret's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sonar Ruler ships an update every 94 months, Secret every 10 months. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Sonar Ruler versus Secret: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSonar RulerSecret
Price$0.99$0.99
Rating2.7 (3 ratings)3.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews43.5% of reviews54.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 94 monthsEvery 10 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS8.1 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size13 MB11 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLaan Labscurmi.com

Customer experience

Sonar Ruler

All ratings3 ratings
Positive33.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative66.7%
Written reviews168 reviews
Positive43.5%
Neutral4.8%
Negative51.8%

Secret

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews22 reviews
Positive54.5%
Neutral22.7%
Negative22.7%

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
Show 5 more
  • 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)
Show 6 more
  • 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

Secret

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Sonar Ruler

No in-app purchases

None

Secret

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Sonar Ruler free?
Sonar Ruler costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Secret free?
Secret costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Sonar Ruler or Secret?
Secret is rated higher. Sonar Ruler averages 2.7 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while Secret averages 3.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Sonar Ruler or Secret have ads?
Neither Sonar Ruler nor Secret shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sonar Ruler or Secret?
Sonar Ruler ships an update every 94 months, and Secret every 10 months. Most recently, Sonar Ruler was updated on October 18, 2026 and Secret on October 13, 2026.

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