Stern Pinball IC vs Pixelcade
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Stern Pinball IC
Enhance your pinball experience with a companion app that connects you to Stern Pinball machines. Track scores, unlock exclusive content, and compete in challenges. Engage with your favorite games in a whole new online gaming system.
- Connect to Stern Pinball machines
- Track player scores and progress
- Unlock exclusive content
- Complete achievements and quests
- Engage with online gaming system
- Discover new ways to play
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Play with Insider Connected on your favorite Stern Pinball machines including: Venom, Godzilla, Foo Fighters, Jurassic Park, Star Wars, James Bond 007, and more! ONLINE GAMING MEETS PINBALL Stern Connected Games aren't your typical pinball machines. They're super-powered. They have state-of-the-art hardware that allows them to recognize players, connect to the internet, and track player scores and activities. Combined with a companion app, Insider Connected is a completely new online gaming system built specifically for and by pinball players. CONNECT WITH THE MACHINES Engage with pinball in a whole new way; track your progress, discover new ways to play your favorite games, unlock exclusive content, and much more! CONNECTED GAMES You can login to Insider Connected on these pinball machines: Venom, Foo Fighters, James Bond 007 60th Anniversary, James Bond 007, Rush, Godzilla, Star Wars: The Mandalorian, Led Zeppelin, The Avengers: Infinity Quest, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Strangers Things, Jurassic Park, Deadpool, The Beatles, Batman ’66, Black Knight: Sword of Rage, Aerosmith, Elvira’s House of Horrors, Iron Maiden: Legacy of the Beast, Guardians of the Galaxy, Star Wars, and The Munsters. TRACK SCORES Every time you log into a game with your unique QR code, your scores and progress are reported back to your profile. You can check them anytime from any connected device. ACHIEVEMENTS Achievements are a set of challenges for all of your favorite games. Earn them as you progress through each game. They are all unique to each game, and you can show them off on your profile page. If you earn an achievement for a game on location they’ll be marked as “Verified”. QUESTS Need another reason to play your favorite pinball games? How about Quests specifically created to give you new challenges on the experiences you already love, with badges earned for completion. Insider Connected FAQ: https://sternpinball.com/support/faq/ Compatible Games: https://sternpinball.com/games/ Support: https://sternpinball.com/support/ Privacy Policy: https://sternpinball.com/privacy-policy/
Pixelcade
This companion app allows users to manage their Pixelcade LED and LCD marquees. Browse, update, and change settings for your marquee artwork and access widgets. Connect wirelessly over Wi-Fi for a seamless experience.
- Browse Pixelcade artwork
- Update marquee artwork
- Change marquee settings
- Access Pixelcade widgets (LED only)
- Wi-Fi connectivity
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The Pixelcade Companion App enhances your experience with Pixelcade LED and LCD marquees by allowing you to browse Pixelcade artwork, update artwork, change settings, and access Pixelcade widgets (LED only). Connect seamlessly to your Pixelcade marquee over Wi-Fi, ensuring both devices are on the same network. Please note, Pixelcade LED software version 5.8 or higher is required for Pixelcade LED marquees. Learn more about Pixelcade arcade marquees at http://pixelcade.org.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Pixelcade at 4.0 against Stern Pinball IC's 3.4. Pixelcade also leads on ads (none vs shown) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). Stern Pinball IC's advantage is ratings volume (39 vs 1). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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.
Pixelcade holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Stern Pinball IC has 39 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Stern Pinball IC ships an update every 3 weeks, Pixelcade every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on September 4, 2026 and July 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Stern Pinball IC | Pixelcade |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.4 (39 ratings) | 4.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 35.7% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 39 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 8 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 16.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 105 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | STERN PINBALL, INC. | OPEN GADGETS LLC |
Customer experience
Stern Pinball IC
Pixelcade
Bugs and requests
Stern Pinball IC
Reported bugs
20 issues- Never received email confirmation for account creation
- Password reset emails not received
- Cannot sign up, next button not highlighting
- App always broken, says 'no internet connection'
- Logs out constantly, no remember me feature
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- Home screen achievements not clickable
- App logs out daily despite 'remember me' checked
- Cannot get past the 'why are you here' screen
- App stops working after a couple of days, requires reinstallation
- iOS password manager login button grays out and is unresponsive
- Cannot find a way to log out and into another account
- App hangs at login screen after information entered
- QR code scanner not functional
- Login issues on main screen, but works on 'learn more' page
- App is extremely slow to open and very sluggish to use
- Notifications are not working
- Half the time it does not remember your login
- Error message when attempting to change profile content
- Performance issues make it impossible to do anything
- Session expired message after restarting app
Requested features
20 requests- More creative monthly game badges
- Top 1000 leaderboards with all data
- Backend features for operators (sound levels, free play)
- Biometric sign-in (Face ID/fingerprint)
- Longer session times
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- More stats and detailed breakdowns (percentile, score over time, graphs)
- Practice mode for games
- Organize weekly/monthly leaderboards for home machines
- Ability to wipe achievements for a machine
- More visual appeal, like Xbox LIVE achievements
- Animations and more engaging non-pinball experience
- Focus on user and followed users' pages
- Community focus: leaderboards for followed users
- Dates on achievement pops
- Fix Apple Wallet functionality
- Native UI and better iPad utilization
- Leaderboards for all games, not just selective ones
- Face login/biometric login
- Ability to edit profile content
- Fix login issues with iOS password manager
Pixelcade
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Stern Pinball IC
No in-app purchases
Pixelcade
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Stern Pinball IC free?
Is Pixelcade free?
Which has better reviews, Stern Pinball IC or Pixelcade?
Do Stern Pinball IC or Pixelcade have ads?
Which is updated more often, Stern Pinball IC or Pixelcade?
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