iControl DCS vs SmoothTrack
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
iControl DCS
Enhance your flight simulation experience by extending your cockpit to an iPad. Control Digital Combat Simulator's A-10C Warthog with touch screen input, eliminating the need for a mouse during intense gameplay. Enjoy interactive displays and a wide range of cockpit functions for a more immersive simulation.
- Interactive MFCD, CDU, and UFC displays
- Touchscreen control for simulator functions
- Retina iPad support with original graphics
- Support for multiple connected iPads
- Cold ramp startup controls
- Autopilot controls
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Extend your cockpit to the iPad! iControl DCS allows you to connect your iPad with Digital Combat Simulator's A-10C Warthog flight simulation. Allowing you to control the simulator by touching your screen. Never fumble for your mouse in the heat of the moment again! Here are some of the functions it provides • Crisp and clean 100% original graphics with retina iPad support • Quick and easy navigation between instruments via swipe gestures or buttons • Live MFCD displays (left and right) with working buttons • Live CDU display with working buttons • UFC panel with working buttons • Caution and warning light panel • Various commonly used cockpit functions • Supports multiple devices. Connect two iPads at once and display Different MFDs on each! • Radio stack • Combined view with UFC and dual MFCDs on one screen • Autopilot controls • All controls and switches necessary to performa a cold ramp startup • Portrait CDU mode System Requirements: • DCS: World with A-10C Addon • Microsoft Windows • iControl DCS Server available at http://www.bit-shift.com/ • Due to limitations in the simulator, live MFCDs must be repeated on your monitor. • Due to limitations in the simulator, the sim will be forced to run in full screen windowed mode ***** We suggest you give A-10 VC Free a try before purchasing iControl DCS to make sure it suits your play style. ***** This application will not work with macOS PCs! iControl DCS and bit-shift.com are not affiliated with iControl Networks.
SmoothTrack
Enhance your simulation gaming experience with phone-based head and eye tracking. This app allows for intuitive, 6-degrees-of-freedom head movements to control your in-game perspective without any extra hardware. Seamlessly look around cockpits, check blind spots, or zoom in on details with natural head gestures.
- 6DoF head tracking
- Optional eye tracking
- No extra hardware required
- Works with FreeTrack/TrackIR games
- Customizable view presets
- Exaggerated head movements for control
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SmoothTrack 2.0 uses the head and eye tracking AR capabilities of your phone to provide the simplest and best head tracker for 6 degrees-of-freedom head movements in your sim games. ----- "The best new controller on the market." - Charlie Hall, Polygon Customer reviews: "SmoothTrack just works. Less than 5 minutes to install, setup and fly. Love not being tethered to my desk! 5 stars!!" "This worked perfectly and way better than expected! Totally enhanced my experience with MFS 2020!" --- It's a near magical experience to seamlessly slightly move your head and have your game perspective immediately play along (the movements in the game are exaggerated so that you only have to make slight movements of your head to control the camera). Additionally, since version 2, your eyes are also optionally tracked and will nudge the camera based on where you're glancing on screen! - Simply lean forward to get a closer look at your Flight Simulator cockpit! - Look a bit up to see the overhead panel of your A320! - Simply shift your head a bit to the right to see the direction of the space station you're approaching in Elite: Dangerous! - Look a bit left before a hard left turn in Euro Truck Simulator 2! No headset or extra equipment of any kind is required! Simply set up your device so that it can see your face. Using simple camera gestures, you can shift your perspective in-game. Also, if you want, you can store views (say, a copilot angle, or a cockpit closeup) as Quick Views for easy access later. Your head movements are slightly exaggerated which enables you to look out of a cockpit side window with just a slight movement of your head to the left. Any game that supports the FreeTrack or TrackIR protocol will work with this, including: - Microsoft Flight Simulator - Microsoft FSX - DCS World - Elite: Dangerous - IL2: Sturmovik - Euro Truck Simulator 2 - Kerbal Space Program - ...and many, many others! Email and Discord support is provided if there are any issues (or if you have any ideas for new features!).
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: SmoothTrack at $14.99 against iControl DCS's $29.99. SmoothTrack also leads on ratings volume (250 vs 10) and review sentiment (86% vs 71%). iControl DCS's advantage is rating (4.9 vs 4.7) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 26.0). On update cadence, 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
iControl DCS costs $29.99 and SmoothTrack $14.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
iControl DCS holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SmoothTrack has 250 ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 71% of iControl DCS's written reviews are positive against 86% of SmoothTrack's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | iControl DCS | SmoothTrack |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $29.99 | $14.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.9 (10 ratings) — better | 4.7 (250 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 71.4% of reviews | 85.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 10 | 250 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | bit-shift.com | John Goering |
Customer experience
iControl DCS
SmoothTrack
Bugs and requests
iControl DCS
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
SmoothTrack
Reported bugs
2 issues- Tracking issues with certain phone positions
- Compatibility problems with some devices/OSes
Requested features
3 requests- Background mode support
- Ability to use rear camera
- Improved UI and customization options
In-app purchases
iControl DCS
No in-app purchases
SmoothTrack
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is iControl DCS free?
Is SmoothTrack free?
Which has better reviews, iControl DCS or SmoothTrack?
Do iControl DCS or SmoothTrack have ads?
Which is updated more often, iControl DCS or SmoothTrack?
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