Select 3M vs Alertswiss
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Select 3M
This app digitally displays 3M graphic film colors, allowing designers and professionals to select and apply them to images. It helps find the exact color reference and RGB values, and can compare similar shades for efficient project planning.
- Digital display of 3M graphic film colors
- Apply selected colors to images
- View reference numbers and RGB values
- Compare nearest color shades
- Works with COLORCATCH NANO
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« SELECT 3M » the first Digital Colour Specifier for 3M Graphic Films. « SELECT 3M » shows the most important Coloured Graphic Films from 3M in digital form. Exclusive software, especially developed for designers, graphic manufacturers, sign makers, architects, stand builders etc… allows to select any 3M Graphic Film colour and to apply it instantly to a picture. Selected colour shows up on the screen of iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, including its reference number and RGB values (this doesn’t apply to metallic colors). 3M colours can instantly be applied to a picture (text inscription, car, logo etc…) taken by an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch or a camera. « SELECT 3M » not only saves professionals and clients considerable time when searching for the right colour among the various 3M Graphic Films. It can even compare and list the nearest color shades by order of proximity. What’s more, « SELECT 3M » App for iPhone can also work with COLORCATCH NANO! COLORCATCH NANO incorporates a revolutionary new technology to accurately measure the color of smooth, structured or patterned surfaces to determine the corresponding color of the preselected swatch. NANO reads and measures 50'000 pixels separately. During reading it eliminates automatically all non-dominant colors such as shade effects and dirty surfaces. 3M Commercial Graphics Division manufactures translucent, opaque and reflective vinyl and polyester graphic films that can be imaged using traditional solvent or UV screen printing, electronic cut graphic decoration, and digital printing.These films are marketed under the 3M™, Scotchcal™, Scotchlite™, Controltac™, Scotchprint™, and Comply™ trademarks . These materials are widely used by sign companies, screen printers, and graphic manufacturers. Disclaimer: Due to technical limitations colours shown on screen may slightly vary from the true colour of the adhesive film. Please obtain a vinyl sample for final colour approval. Colourcards and colourswatches with real product samples are available from 3M distributors.
Alertswiss
Receive real-time alerts, warnings, and information for emergency situations. Plan for disasters with helpful tips and instructions to protect yourself and your family. Customize notifications by canton or current location.
- Real-time alerts and warnings
- Emergency preparedness information
- Customizable notification cantons
- Location-based notifications
- Incident severity levels
- Interactive incident maps
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The Alertswiss blog features all the latest civil protection-related news, including information on recent deployments, drills and personnel, as well as up-to-the-minute policy and planning developments. In an emergency, you may find yourself confronted with questions you have never asked yourself before: How do I contact my friends and relatives? Where should I go? What do I need to take with me? An emergency plan will help you Disaster can strike at any time. Luckily, there is Alertswiss, a mobile app developed by the Federal Office for Civil Protection to help you plan for and stay safe in an emergency. With Alertswiss, you receive alerts, warnings and information in real time. So that you always know exactly and immediately what action you need to take, the Alertswiss app sends you push notifications on the incident, including valuable tips and instructions on how best to protect yourself and your family. The app also lets you customise the type of information you receive: for example, specifying the cantons that you want to receive notifications for, e.g. cantons where your relatives or friends live. All of these reports will be displayed directly on your smartphone’s homescreen. As well as receiving push notifications for your preferred cantons, you can enable push notifications for your current location. However, you first have to authorise the Alertswiss app to determine your location. Once you have activated the location services, all reports and information for both your current location and your preferred cantons will be displayed directly on your smartphone’s homescreen. Maps show simply and clearly which areas are currently affected by the ongoing incident. On the overview screen, you can see which incidents are still ongoing and which ones have since been given the all-clear. Under Reports you will find an overview of the latest official incident information released in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. These reports – alerts, warnings and information – are divided into three levels of severity, with alerts being the highest and information the lowest. - An alert is when the authorities notify the public that they are at immediate risk and order them to follow official instructions on the behaviour they need to adopt. - A warning refers to the reporting of either a potential risk to the public or an incident for which the authorities issue the public with recommendations rather than orders on the behaviour they should subsequently adopt. - The default level of severity for all other reports is Information. Take swift and appropriate action should a hazardous situation arise. So, what are you waiting for? Download the Alertswiss app now and be prepared should disaster strike. Stay safe! Note: Your smartphone must have a stable data connection (WLAN or mobile network) to receive the latest push notifications and incident reports. If you are offline, you will only be able to view information that was updated the last time you were online. Once the connection is re-established, the system will update automatically and send you all of the latest push notifications and reports.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Select 3M at 100% against Alertswiss's 33%. Select 3M also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.3). Alertswiss's advantage is price (Free vs $9.99) and ratings volume (7 vs 1). On update cadence, 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
Alertswiss is free to download; Select 3M costs $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Select 3M holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Alertswiss has 7 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Select 3M's written reviews are positive against 33% of Alertswiss's.
Select 3M ships an update every 4 months, Alertswiss every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 14, 2026 and September 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Select 3M | Alertswiss |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | 4.3 (7 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 33.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 7 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 3 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 60 MB | 213 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Colorix SA | Swiss Federal Office for Civil Protection (FOCP) |
Customer experience
Select 3M
Alertswiss
In-app purchases
Select 3M
No in-app purchases
Alertswiss
No in-app purchases








