Comparison

Particle Insight vs Open Channel Flow Lite

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

Head to head
About

Particle Insight

View and analyze particle shape, size, and count data from lab instruments on your mobile device. Access detailed statistics, histograms, and individual particle images, even offline. Seamlessly integrate with lab equipment and maintain compliance with industry standards.

Highlights
  • View particle shape, size, and count data
  • Access detailed statistics and plots
  • Download individual particle thumbnails
  • Industry standard reporting formats
  • Seamless integration with lab equipment
  • Offline data analysis
  • 21CFRPart 11 compliant data viewing
Features
Read full description

Particle Shape Data Viewing and Analysis. Now on your iPad and iPhone. The maker of the Particle Insight analyzer, which gives particle shape, size, count and classification, now extends the viewing and manipulation of valuable particle size and shape data obtained in your lab instrument to your iPad and iPhone. Features: - Can link with a Dropbox account to view particle shape data stored online. Data can also be stored on iPad and iPhone for viewing and analyzing while away from a WiFi or data zone. - Statistics for all 30 available size and shape measures can be viewed as small statistical plots, large plots or as comprehensive statistics. - Comprehensive statistics include Particle Count, Largest and Smallest Particle measured, Mean, Standard Deviation, Mode and 5 percentile values of your choice. - Industry Standard Reporting Format - Histograms can be viewed as Number Weighted, Volume Weighted and Surface Area Weighted. Users can also select to see cumulative line on each histogram. - Thumbnails of individual particles that have been uploaded to the Particle Insight cloud may be downloaded along with the associated sample results. - Sieve Reporting - Histogram can also be viewed as Sieve Equivalent results to allow users to correlate results to historical Sieve data. - System data is also shown for each analysis allowing user to see Sample documentation, Comments stored when analysis on Particle Insight was done, and File information - Seamless Integration with Lab Equipment - Can view results from any and all Particle Insight instruments at all your locations. - Real-time - As results are completed and uploaded on your Particle Insight system, users can view and download data to their device. - Interactive - Users can look at up to 30 size and shape results for each analysis performed, and swipe to select portions of the statistical histogram to view data just for that area of interest. - 21CFRPart 11 compliant - Data stored by the Particle Insight under security mode is all transferred to the iPad or iPhone allowing viewing of electronic signatures and record information for each analysis. - Comes with demo data which can be viewed as soon as app is downloaded. - On iPad, view data in landscape or portrait orientation. - Supports iOS 12 and later. Please note: - This application is designed to work in conjunction with a Particle Insight Particle Shape, Size, Count and Classification analyzer from Vision Analytical Incorporated. As data is generated on the Particle Insight system, data is uploaded and can be viewed and analyzed with this iOS app. - Demonstration data is loaded when purchased. - This app uses Dropbox to store online data. To view online data on this app, the Particle Insight user must link the iOS app to their Dropbox account. - To analyze data while Not in a WiFi or data zone, be sure to "Save to Device" any data analysis of interest. - The Particle Insight instrument generating data must have a minimum software version of 4.04 to allow automatic mirroring to a synced Dropbox folder. Please contact Vision Analytical Incorporated to request software upgrades for your instrument.

About

Open Channel Flow Lite

Features
Read full description

Open Channel Flow Lite is the free edition of Open Channel Flow Pro. It has every feature of the Pro version, for small channels. CHANNEL SHAPES • Rectangular • Trapezoidal • Circular • Natural (irregular cross-section, with overbank roughness) • Triangular • Parabolic SOLVE FOR • Discharge, water depth, bed slope, and the channel width or pipe diameter, using Manning's equation RESULTS • Flow area, wetted perimeter, hydraulic radius, velocity, Froude number and flow regime • Critical depth, specific energy, alternate and sequent depths • Discharge rating curve and specific energy charts MORE TOOLS • Water surface profiles by the direct step method, from a control depth • Efficient Section: size the best section for a design discharge • Manning's n picker • Metric and English units • Worksheets to save and reopen your calculations • PDF reports to share • Built-in documentation and usage manual • iPhone and iPad LIMITS OF THE LITE VERSION • Discharge up to 0.5 m³/s (17.65 ft³/s) • Water depth in a circular channel up to 0.6 m (1.96 ft) • Trapezoidal side slope of 1:1 only Open Channel Flow Pro removes these limits. No account and no ads. Your worksheets stay on your device.

Screenshots

Particle Insight4 screens
Open Channel Flow Lite4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Particle Insight at 12.0 against Open Channel Flow Lite's 15.0. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Particle Insight ships an update every 16 months, Open Channel Flow Lite every 13 months. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 8 level
Particle Insight versus Open Channel Flow Lite: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterParticle InsightOpen Channel Flow Lite
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 16 monthsEvery 13 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size19 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperVision Analytical Inc.Alexius Academia

In-app purchases

None

Particle Insight

No in-app purchases

None

Open Channel Flow Lite

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Particle Insight free?
Particle Insight is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Open Channel Flow Lite free?
Open Channel Flow Lite is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Particle Insight or Open Channel Flow Lite have ads?
Neither Particle Insight nor Open Channel Flow Lite shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Particle Insight or Open Channel Flow Lite?
Particle Insight ships an update every 16 months, and Open Channel Flow Lite every 13 months. Most recently, Particle Insight was updated on October 16, 2026 and Open Channel Flow Lite on October 25, 2026.

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