Comparison

CharMap vs Bases

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

Head to head
About

CharMap

Explore and manage Unicode characters with this utility. Organize favorites, view details, and copy characters to your clipboard. Use the custom keyboard to insert them anywhere and sync collections across devices.

Highlights
  • Browse curated character categories
  • Organize favorite characters
  • View character details and copy to clipboard
  • Insert characters with custom keyboard
  • Discover characters and blocks
  • Sync collections across devices
  • Preview system fonts
Features
Read full description

CharMap allows to you discover, organize, and use unicode characters. FEATURES • Browse a collection of curated character categories, and organize your favourite characters into custom collections. • View character details and copy characters to the clipboard. • Enable the CharMap keyboard to insert characters wherever custom keyboards are supported. • Discover unicode characters and blocks using a dedicated unicode browser. • Automatically sync your collections between devices. • Quickly access your custom collections using the collection widget. • Browse and preview system fonts. • No ads, trackers, or analytics. Your data is stored on-device, and optionally synced across your private iCloud account.

About

Bases

Convert between binary, decimal, and hexadecimal values. Displays the corresponding Unicode character and its description. Supports 8-bit and 16-bit modes with bit shifting and value increment/decrement.

Highlights
  • Binary, Decimal, Hexadecimal conversion
  • Unicode character display
  • Unicode descriptions
  • 8-bit and 16-bit modes
  • Bit shifting
  • Value increment/decrement
  • Sharing support
Features
Read full description

Easily convert between Binary, Decimal and Hexadecimal values and display associated character or emoji. Bases is an easy to use, base converter. Type in hexadecimal, decimal or binary values (8 bit or 16 bit) and see the value converted and the unicode character equivalent along with the unicode descriptor text. The application can displays; - Decimal - Hexadecimal - Binary - Associated Character (if any) - Unicode Descriptions Note: This application was primarily designed for the iPhone but can also be used on an iPad. It actually works great on iPad Pro, if you share the the iPad screen with my HexToASCII application. Features: - 8 bit and 16 bit modes. - Unicode descriptions of various character and control code. - Increment or decrement values at the touch of a button. - Right shift or left bits. - If a value has an associated character it will be displayed. - Supports sharing Initially developed to assist me to explain both hexadecimal and binary arithmetic to my students. I thought it would be good to share. Enjoy!

Screenshots

CharMap4 screens
Bases4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Bases at 5.0 against CharMap's 4.0. Bases also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 5 months) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 26.0). CharMap's advantage is ratings volume (52 vs 2). 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

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Bases holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: CharMap has 52 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

CharMap ships an update every 5 months, Bases every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
CharMap versus Bases: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCharMapBases
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (52 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews53.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings52 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size22 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperConor MulliganRussell May

Customer experience

CharMap

All ratings50 ratings
Positive70.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews66 reviews
Positive53.0%
Neutral6.1%
Negative40.9%

Bases

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

CharMap

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • Characters omitted in other apps
  • Keyboard looks like white rectangle in some apps
  • Private Use Area characters not shown
  • Collections feature quit working
  • App crashes every time it's opened
Show 7 more
  • App crashes on iPad Pro
  • App crashes on iPad
  • Everything gone after update
  • App doesn't open after update
  • Some symbols are not shown
  • Keyboard not showing up immediately
  • Preferences -> font closes app

Requested features

20 requests
  • Add return/enter key
  • Batch add characters to collections
  • Multi-font support
  • Unicode 18.0 support
  • Add Unicode 17.0
Show 15 more
  • Ability to select characters with single click
  • Add 'raised to the power of x' symbol
  • Add superscripts in letter, equation, and inequality form
  • Option to format characters (LTR/RTL)
  • Make fonts usable in 'Unicode'
  • Implement custom font API
  • Search for character option
  • Search by character name
  • Add Sutton SignWriting block
  • Add symbol search
  • Update UI with SF symbols
  • Add dark mode support
  • Rename collections
  • Backup and Restore collections
  • Put collections on top of list when using as keyboard

Bases

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

CharMap

No in-app purchases

None

Bases

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is CharMap free?
CharMap is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Bases free?
Bases is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, CharMap or Bases?
Bases is rated higher. CharMap averages 4.0 out of 5 from 52 ratings, while Bases averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do CharMap or Bases have ads?
Neither CharMap nor Bases shows ads.
Which is updated more often, CharMap or Bases?
CharMap ships an update every 5 months, and Bases every 3 weeks. Most recently, CharMap was updated on October 8, 2026 and Bases on September 29, 2026.

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