HAM Distance vs Sensor Play
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
HAM Distance
Calculate distances between amateur radio stations using callsigns, grid locators, or coordinates. Save, visualize, and analyze your contacts with interactive maps and statistics. Syncs across devices via iCloud.
- Distance calculation via callsign, grid, or coordinates
- Save and label distance pairs
- Interactive map visualization of contacts
- Contact statistics and distribution charts
- iCloud sync across devices
- Home screen widgets for quick access
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Calculate the distance between any two amateur radio stations in seconds. Mircules HAM Distance is the essential tool for ham radio operators who want to know exactly how far their signal traveled. Enter callsigns, Maidenhead grid locators, or coordinates and get the great-circle distance instantly. THREE INPUT METHODS • Callsign: Enter any amateur callsign to resolve it to coordinates via QRZ.com or HamQTH.com • Maidenhead Grid: Enter grid locators from 2 to 8 characters • Lat/Lon: Enter decimal coordinates directly SAVE YOUR CALCULATIONS Save distance pairs with custom labels like "Home to repeater" or "Field Day DX." Track your contacts over time and review them anytime. MAP VISUALIZATION Plot your saved distances on an interactive map. Filter by week, month, or year, or view all contacts at once. See markers and distance lines for every pair. STATISTICS See your total contacts, longest and shortest distance, average distance, and a distribution chart showing how your contacts break down by range. ICLOUD SYNC Your saved pairs sync automatically across all your devices via iCloud. No account needed — just sign into iCloud and your data is there. HOME SCREEN WIDGETS Add widgets to your home screen to see your latest distance calculation and stats at a glance. NO ACCOUNT REQUIRED The calculator works immediately. Configure your QRZ.com or HamQTH.com credentials and start calculating. Your data stays on your device and in your private iCloud. BUILT FOR HAM RADIO Designed specifically for amateur radio operators. Supports the Maidenhead Locator System, integrates with QRZ.com and HamQTH.com, and uses the Haversine formula for accurate great-circle distances. Free to use. No ads. Tips welcome. 73 de Mircules
Sensor Play
Record and analyze data from your iPhone's built-in sensors, including accelerometer, gyroscope, and GPS. Automate recordings with triggers and export data for scientific or engineering analysis.
- Record accelerometer, gyroscope, GPS, barometer, magnetometer data
- Background recording up to six hours
- Automated recording triggers (delay, GPS region, g-force)
- Export data to CSV for analysis
- In-app viewer for sensor recordings
- Real-time sensor data visualization
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Sensor Play - the iPhone Sensor Playground, and the best app for serious scientific research and data recording. Used by engineers, scientists, teachers, and enthusiasts all around the world. The sensors built into all iPhones are amazing examples of the power in your pocket. To have a GPS receiver, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, even a Barometer with you at all times is a marvel of miniature engineering. It's simply fun to see the output from all these sensors, play with each interactively, or just view the raw data. Record Accelerometer, Gyroscope, GPS, Barometer, Magnetometer sensor data and share by email for further analysis, or review using the in app viewer. However Sensor Play is not just a toy. Beyond the obvious fun of watching the accelerometer and gyroscope graphs bounce around you can now record multi-sensor data all at the same time, even in the background, for a full external analysis of your, or your iPhone's, motion through time and space however you so desire. And now with Automation you can trigger your recordings to start either after a simple delay, when you enter or leave a preset GPS Region, or when the iPhone is nudged above a selected gForce. Then end your recordings either after a set duration, or when you enter or leave a preset GPS Region. Automation makes getting the data you want so much easier, and eliminates lots of unnecessary recorded data. Set up the triggers as required, close the phone and go. Set and Forget! Later when you open SensorPlay the data you were after will have been automatically recorded and saved for you. The following data is recorded to a csv file for sharing through the standard iPhone share sheet. Timestamp Accelerometer: X, Y, Z Gyroscope: X, Y, Z Attitude: Roll, Pitch, Yaw Location: Longitude, Latitude, Speed, TrueHeading, Altitude Motion Activity: Type & Confidence Barometer: Pressure, Relative Altitude Magnetometer: µT X, Y, Z, calibrated x,y,z, rotation matrix, and quaternion Visual graphs of sensor recordings in one place, as long as they're not too large anyway. Background mode is supported for all recordings, accelerometer, gyro, and multi-sensor export, lock your screen and keep recording all sensor data for up to six hours. A serious engineering, scientific, and educational analysis tool. Sharing of all recordings is now through the built in share options which includes, Airdrop, mail, message, notes, dropbox (if installed), etc. Sensors currently supported: Barometer (iPhone 6 and above only) - see the atmospheric pressure in a choice of 7 units, see your relative altitude plotted over time. - Widget available to display the atmospheric pressure in the notification centre. Accelerometer - See the g-forces on the X,Y,Z axis and see them traced over time. - Widget available to show gMax in X,Y,Z axis on notification screen. - Record the data and share for further analysis Gyroscope - Watch the rate of rotation over the X,Y,Z axis plotted over time. - Record the data and share for further analysis GPS/Location Services - See your exact location mapped on screen and share your Lat/Long coordinates by text or email. Magnetometer/Compass - See the magnetic field acting on the X, Y, Z, axis along with an interactive compass. 3D/Force Touch (6S ->11 only) Note: Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Sensor Play at 84% against HAM Distance's 0%. Sensor Play also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 3) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 12 months). HAM Distance's advantage is price (Free vs $14.99). On ads, 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
HAM Distance is free to download; Sensor Play costs $14.99 up front. HAM Distance sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Sensor Play asks for nothing beyond the download.
HAM Distance ships an update every 12 months, Sensor Play every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | HAM Distance | Sensor Play |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $14.99 |
| Rating | — | 4.7 (61 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | 83.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | — | 61 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 12 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 16 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Mircules | Philip Broder |
Customer experience
HAM Distance
Sensor Play
In-app purchases
HAM Distance
- Small Tip$0.99
- Medium Tip$2.99
- Large Tip$3.99
Sensor Play
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is HAM Distance free?
Is Sensor Play free?
Do HAM Distance or Sensor Play have ads?
Which is updated more often, HAM Distance or Sensor Play?
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