TuioPad vs nRF Connect for Mobile
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
TuioPad
This open-source utility transforms iOS devices into multi-touch remote controllers using the TUIO protocol. It's free to use with any compatible client application and serves as a valuable tool for developing and testing TUIO implementations.
- Open source TUIO tracker
- Multi-touch remote control
- Compatible with TUIO client applications
- Tool for TUIO development and testing
- Free to use
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TuioPad is an open source TUIO tracker for iOS devices such as the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, which allows multi-touch remote control based on the TUIO protocol. This app is available free of charge and can be used in conjunction with any TUIO enabled client application. Its source code is also available under the terms of the GPL and therefore can be freely used for the creation of open source TUIO enabled mobile applications. Apart from that the TuioPad is also a useful tool for the development and testing of TUIO 1.1 client implementations. You can find further information about the TUIO protocol and the various TUIO enabled application environments at the TUIO.org portal.
nRF Connect for Mobile
This app is a versatile tool for scanning, exploring, and communicating with Bluetooth Low Energy devices. It also enables your device to act as a peripheral and supports firmware updates for compatible devices.
- Scan and discover Bluetooth LE peripherals
- Communicate with Bluetooth LE devices
- Advertise as a Bluetooth LE peripheral
- Update compatible device firmware (DFU)
- Filter scanned peripherals
- Live RSSI chart
- Log BLE function calls
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nRF Connect is a powerful generic tool that allows you to scan and explore your Bluetooth Low Energy (henceforth Bluetooth LE, also called Bluetooth Version 4.0+ of the Bluetooth specification) devices and communicate with them. nRF Connect also allows your iOS device to advertise as a peripheral, with full support of many of Bluetooth SIG adopted profiles. Additionally, nRF Connect supports Nordic Semiconductor’s Device Firmware Update profile (DFU) capabilities, allowing you to update compatible peripherals! + Features: • Supports DFU on all Nordic Semiconducto-powered devices. • Supports Nordic Thingy™ from Nordic Semiconductor. • Scan and discover nearby Bluetooth LE peripherals. • Filter Scanned Peripherals by Name, Manufacturer, Services (Advertised & Connected) and RSSI Level. • Parsing Multiple Formats of Bluetooth LE Advertisement Data. • Live RSSI Chart of Scanned Bluetooth LE Peripherals. • Complete iPad Support, including Multi-Tasking and Mouse Support as of 13.4. • Logs: Including BLE Function calls, and Export Function as CSV and Text. • Privacy-Oriented: Full-Disclosure of Scanned Data, Advertised Data, and User-Performed Actions held by nRF Connect. • Connecting to Any Connectable Bluetooth LE Smart Device. • Discovery of Services, Characteristics and Descriptors. • Read and Write Characteristics and Descriptors. • Enable and Disable Notifications and Indications. • Advertising as a Bluetooth LE Peripheral. • Setting up a Bluetooth LE (Peripheral) Server and Notifying/Indicating back to connected Central(s). • Low-Fat: nRF Connect for iOS is Very Small, so You Can Always Keep Us With You! >= Requirements: • iOS 16.0 and above. - Notes: nRF Connect also works with our Development Kits, which you may acquire online here: https://www.nordicsemi.com/eng/buy-online
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: nRF Connect for Mobile at 4.5 against TuioPad's 3.0. nRF Connect for Mobile also leads on update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 75 months) and ratings volume (478 vs 10). TuioPad's advantage is iOS requirement (8.0 vs 17.0). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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.
nRF Connect for Mobile holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: nRF Connect for Mobile has 478 ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 75% of TuioPad's written reviews are positive against 71% of nRF Connect for Mobile's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
TuioPad ships an update every 75 months, nRF Connect for Mobile every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | TuioPad | nRF Connect for Mobile |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.0 (10 ratings) | 4.5 (478 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 75.0% of reviews — better | 70.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 10 | 478 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 75 months | Every 5 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 16 MB | 15 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Martin Kaltenbrunner | Nordic Semiconductor ASA |
Customer experience
TuioPad
nRF Connect for Mobile
Bugs and requests
TuioPad
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
nRF Connect for Mobile
Reported bugs
4 issues- Can't read data from Bluetooth device
- Tries to ask for Bluetooth connection when Bluetooth is off. Asks to connect to devices when Bluetooth is off. Who knows what this app is doing in the background without permission?! What ever it is , it ain't good
- Tapping "tabs" doesn't work (nothing changes in the UI). To get some response from tapping UI controls typically requires (a) launching nRF Connect, (b) switching to another app, (c) switching back to nRF Connect. I've tried uninstalling and re-downloading. Same result. This used to be the bee's knees of BLE tools but it's only worth 1 star at the moment (v2.7.11).
- Cant go past the initial announcement. The app is unresponsive to the taps.
Requested features
4 requests- Where's the mac addresses
- Max rssi limit
- Log view
- We need macros in iOS version
In-app purchases
TuioPad
No in-app purchases
nRF Connect for Mobile
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is TuioPad free?
Is nRF Connect for Mobile free?
Which has better reviews, TuioPad or nRF Connect for Mobile?
Do TuioPad or nRF Connect for Mobile have ads?
Which is updated more often, TuioPad or nRF Connect for Mobile?
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