Shady Side vs BGXCommander
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Shady Side
Access school directories, news, and calendars on the go. This app provides quick access to important information for students, faculty, and parents, including contact details and event schedules.
- School news updates
- Event calendar with filters
- Faculty and student directory
- Contact information access
- Athletic schedules and scores
- Quick access to school links
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The Shady Side app provides parents, students, and faculty members with all the information they need in one place, conveniently accessed and explicitly formatted for consumption on their mobile devices. The App includes: - Blogs, news and announcements - Pictures and documents - Calendar events - Constituent directory and more Download the app today to ensure you are always aware of the most important news, announcements, and calendar events, and you have access to the most current community directory. Users can: - Browse the latest published photos - Filter content and store those preferences for subsequent use - Catch up on current news - Browse calendars for information about upcoming events. Filter calendars to see the events most relevant to their interests - Quickly find faculty, parent, and student contact information - Email a constituent directly from your device The information in the Shady Side app is drawn from the same source as the Shady Side website. Privacy controls restrict sensitive information only to authorized users
BGXCommander
This application facilitates communication with Silicon Labs BGX modules via Bluetooth Low Energy. It allows users to scan, connect, send and receive data, and execute commands remotely. An interactive tutorial guides users through the mobile Xpress library features.
- Connect to BGX modules
- Send and receive ASCII data
- Execute remote commands
- Interactive tutorial
- Over-the-air updates
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Current: BGX Commander demonstrates connection and communication with Silicon Labs BGX modules. The app interfaces with BGX devices using the mobile Xpress library framework, which is a code base specially designed to simplify BLE communication with BGX in iOS apps. Source code for this app and the mobile Xpress library can be found at https://github.com/SiliconLabs/wireless-xpress. Using this app, you can: • Scan and connect with the BGX13P module on Silicon Labs BGX EXP evaluation boards • Send and receive ASCII data in ‘stream’ mode • Execute commands on the BGX module remotely using the ‘command API’ mode • Step through an interactive tutorial highlighting mobile Xpress library features • Update the BGX using OTA
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: BGXCommander at 5.0 against Shady Side's 3.1. BGXCommander also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 7 months) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.5). Shady Side's advantage is ratings volume (8 vs 1). 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
BGXCommander holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Shady Side has 8 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Shady Side ships an update every 7 months, BGXCommander every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Shady Side | BGXCommander |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.1 (8 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 40.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 8 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.5 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 94 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Shady Side Academy | Silicon Labs |
Customer experience
Shady Side
BGXCommander
In-app purchases
Shady Side
No in-app purchases
BGXCommander
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Shady Side free?
Is BGXCommander free?
Which has better reviews, Shady Side or BGXCommander?
Do Shady Side or BGXCommander have ads?
Which is updated more often, Shady Side or BGXCommander?
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