Comparison

LightBlue® vs Find My Bluetooth Pencil

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

Head to head
About

LightBlue®

This app allows users to interact with Bluetooth Low Energy devices. It supports scanning for, connecting to, and analyzing BLE peripherals, as well as simulating your own BLE devices. It's a comprehensive tool for developers and enthusiasts working with BLE technology.

Highlights
  • Scan and discover BLE peripherals
  • Connect and view device profiles
  • Read and write characteristics
  • Subscribe to notifications
  • Create and advertise virtual BLE devices
  • Clone peripheral profiles
  • Log and share BLE events
Features
Read full description

LightBlue® by Punch Through® Your ultimate BLE debugging and development toolkit. Trusted by BLE developers and engineers since 2012 to scan, inspect, and troubleshoot Bluetooth Low Energy devices with precision. Scan For Peripherals  Discover, connect, and interact with nearby BLE devices. Quickly view advertising peripherals, sort by signal strength (RSSI), and connect with a single tap. Once connected, explore the device's advertisement data, services, and characteristics. Isolate SDK Issues  Simplify debugging by pinpointing issues in your BLE SDKs. LightBlue lets you isolate your app's business logic and focus on core tasks like connecting, scanning, reading, writing, and receiving notifications, built on years of BLE development experience and platform best practices. Mimic Your Devices  Prototype your application by creating virtual BLE peripherals. Build a profile from scratch or clone an advertising peripheral to mimic your product's functionality, even before your own firmware is ready. Key features: - Scan and discover BLE peripherals nearby - Browse services and characteristics in detail - Read, write, and subscribe to notifications and indications - Send data from notifications to AWS IoT or Adafruit IO via Cloud Connect - Write to characteristics in Hex, Octal, Binary, Decimal, or ASCII - Clone peripheral profiles or build your own from scratch - Advertise as a custom peripheral to simulate your device - Thoroughly log and share BLE events - Available on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Android LightBlue started in 2012 as an internal tool. Punch Through built it to test and debug BLE devices while working on client projects. It worked well, so we shared it with the community. We've kept it free ever since. Today, LightBlue is used by solo developers and engineering teams alike, including inside some of the world's most respected tech and device companies.

About

Find My Bluetooth Pencil

Locate your lost Bluetooth-enabled stylus with this intuitive application. It uses advanced technology to detect its presence within a 150-foot range, making it easy to find your valuable writing tool.

Highlights
  • Locate lost Bluetooth styluses
  • Detect device presence
  • Up to 150 feet range
  • Easy to use and set up
  • Intuitive interface
Features
Read full description

Pencil Finder is a powerful and intuitive Bluetooth app that helps you quickly find your lost pencil. It's easy to use and set up to find your pencil's exact location. With its advanced technology, it can detect the presence of your pencil in up to 150 feet of range. It's the perfect tool for students, artists, and anyone else who needs to keep track of their favorite writing instrument. Download Pencil Finder today and never worry about losing your pencil again!

Screenshots

LightBlue®4 screens
Find My Bluetooth Pencil3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: LightBlue® at 66% against Find My Bluetooth Pencil's 9%. LightBlue® also leads on rating (4.4 vs 1.0) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). Find My Bluetooth Pencil's advantage is iOS requirement (14.0 vs 16.4). On price, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Find My Bluetooth Pencil sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. LightBlue® asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

LightBlue® holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: LightBlue® has 943 ratings behind it against 17, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 66% of LightBlue®'s written reviews are positive against 9% of Find My Bluetooth Pencil's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

LightBlue® ships an update every 3 weeks, Find My Bluetooth Pencil every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
LightBlue® versus Find My Bluetooth Pencil: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLightBlue®Find My Bluetooth Pencil
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (943 ratings) — better1.0 (17 ratings)
Positive reviews66.2% of reviews — better9.1% of reviews
Number of ratings943 — better17
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationAd-supported — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS16.414.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size22 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPunch ThroughIlya Koryakin

Customer experience

LightBlue®

All ratings942 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral3.8%
Negative12.8%
Written reviews293 reviews
Positive66.2%
Neutral6.1%
Negative27.6%

Find My Bluetooth Pencil

All ratings15 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews99 reviews
Positive9.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative90.9%

User reviews

LightBlue®

From 943 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Found lost devices
  • 🔍 Helpful for locating Bluetooth devices
  • 👍 Works great
  • 👍 Lifesaver
  • 👍 Fantastic app

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Doesn't work with dead devices
  • 🐛 Unreliable connection
  • 🐛 Confusing to use
  • 🐛 Doesn't work with all devices

Find My Bluetooth Pencil

From 17 App Store ratings

What we love

  • ✅ Found lost Apple Pencil (rarely)
  • 👍 Helps narrow down search area
  • 🚀 Speedy technical support response

Room to improve

  • ❌ Does not detect Apple Pencil
  • ❌ Inaccurate distance readings
  • ❌ Lists many 'unknown' devices
  • ❌ Requires payment for premium features
  • ❌ Premium version doesn't improve functionality

Bugs and requests

LightBlue®

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes after updates
  • Fails to connect Apple Pencil
  • Doesn't detect all nearby devices

Requested features

3 requests
  • Ability to manually name devices
  • More precise location tracking
  • Integration with Siri/Shortcuts

Find My Bluetooth Pencil

Reported bugs

10 issues
  • App crashes
  • Login screen freezes
  • Incompatible with older devices
  • Incorrectly lists 'unknown' devices
  • Distance readings fluctuate wildly
Show 5 more
  • Doesn't detect Apple Pencil even when connected
  • Charges for premium without user confirmation
  • Premium version offers no additional functionality
  • App fails to detect devices with sufficient battery
  • Apple Pencil disappears from list after detection

Requested features

4 requests
  • Allow users to name/tag devices
  • Provide a free trial for premium features
  • Improve accuracy of device detection
  • Make the app free or offer a refund for non-functional premium features

In-app purchases

None

LightBlue®

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Find My Bluetooth Pencil

One-time1
  • PRO Version$6.99

Questions

Is LightBlue® free?
LightBlue® is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Find My Bluetooth Pencil free?
Find My Bluetooth Pencil is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, LightBlue® or Find My Bluetooth Pencil?
LightBlue® is rated higher. LightBlue® averages 4.4 out of 5 from 943 ratings, while Find My Bluetooth Pencil averages 1.0 from 17 ratings.
Do LightBlue® or Find My Bluetooth Pencil have ads?
Neither LightBlue® nor Find My Bluetooth Pencil shows ads.
Which is updated more often, LightBlue® or Find My Bluetooth Pencil?
LightBlue® ships an update every 3 weeks, and Find My Bluetooth Pencil every 2 months. Most recently, LightBlue® was updated on October 29, 2026 and Find My Bluetooth Pencil on October 21, 2026.

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