Handguns Magazine vs Patch Vault
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Handguns Magazine
This app provides in-depth reviews and testing of new handgun models, including semiautomatics and revolvers. It also features articles on self-defense, skill improvement, and related accessories.
- New handgun model testing
- Semiautomatic and revolver reviews
- Self-defense articles
- Skill improvement guides
- Accessory reviews (holsters, ammo, lights, lasers)
- Historical handgun features
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Handguns specializes in the thorough testing and evaluation of a wide variety of new handgun models-both semiautomatics and revolvers. In addition to gun reviews, the magazine delivers articles on self-defense, skill improvement, holsters, ammunition, lights and lasers, historical handguns and much more. https://www.outdoorsg.com/about/terms-of-service https://www.outdoorsg.com/about/privacy/
Patch Vault
Organize and catalog your patch and challenge coin collections with detailed records, photos, and tracking. Easily search, filter, and view item origins on a map. Gain insights into your collection's trends and history.
- Catalog patches and challenge coins
- Add multiple photos
- Track detailed item information
- Search and filter collection
- View origins on interactive map
- Review collection stats and trends
- Sync privately with iCloud
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Keep your patches, challenge coins, and badges organized, photographed, and easy to find. Patch Vault brings your collection's details together on iPhone and iPad. Record the department, station, location, acquisition date, purchase price, tags, notes, and photos for every item, whether it came from a trade, station visit, event, or gift. - Catalog patches, challenge coins, and badges in one collection. - Search names, departments, locations, tags, and notes. - Combine tag, type, format, and favorite filters to find the items you want. - Explore where your items came from on an interactive map. - Sort by title, department, date, price, or recently added. - Earn achievements for collection size, geography, photos, and more. Track progress and share milestones. - Share individual items, collection summaries, and achievements as image cards. - Add photos from other apps using the share sheet. - Keep collection totals and achievement progress close with Home Screen widgets. - Use Siri and Shortcuts for collection stats or a random patch, and find items in Spotlight. - Sync your collection across your devices with iCloud. - Export backups with photos, restore your collection, or export a CSV spreadsheet. - Personalize your app icon and tint. Made for collectors of fire, police, EMS, dispatch, search and rescue, military, government, and other patches, coins, and badges. Start free with up to 25 items and one photo per item. Vault Unlock is an optional, one-time in-app purchase that adds unlimited items, unlimited photos per item, and collection charts.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Patch Vault at 100% against Handguns Magazine's 20%. Patch Vault also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 9 months) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). Handguns Magazine's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (241 vs 2). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model 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
Both are free to download. Handguns Magazine sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $11.99 per year and Patch Vault sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Patch Vault holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Handguns Magazine has 241 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 20% of Handguns Magazine's written reviews are positive against 100% of Patch Vault's.
Handguns Magazine ships an update every 9 months, Patch Vault fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Handguns Magazine | Patch Vault |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (241 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 20.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 241 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 9 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 25 MB | 59 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | +4 |
| Developer | KSE Sportsman Media, Inc | Robotic Snail Software LLC |
Customer experience
Handguns Magazine
Patch Vault
Bugs and requests
Handguns Magazine
Reported bugs
11 issues- Restore purchases every time
- Password query on every read attempt
- Unable to contact server
- Cannot access account/password timeout
- Paid subscriptions not showing
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- Incompatibility with iOS 8
- Cannot restore previous purchases
- Cannot download issues
- Previously downloaded issues no longer local
- App unresponsive
- Incomplete issue download
Requested features
4 requests- Make compatible with newest iOS
- Fix app issues with iOS 8
- Provide refund for broken subscriptions
- Fix continuous billing option
Patch Vault
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Handguns Magazine
- 1 Year Subscription$11.991 Year
- December / January 2013$4.99
- February / March 2013$4.99
- April / May 2013$4.99
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- June / July 2013$4.99
- August / September 2013$4.99
- December / January 2014$4.99
- February / March 2014$4.99
- April/May 2014$4.99
- October/November 2014$4.99
Patch Vault
- Small Tip$0.99
- Medium Tip$4.99
- Large Tip$9.99
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Premium$14.99
Questions
Is Handguns Magazine free?
Is Patch Vault free?
Which has better reviews, Handguns Magazine or Patch Vault?
Do Handguns Magazine or Patch Vault have ads?
Which is updated more often, Handguns Magazine or Patch Vault?
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