Comparison

HINT Control vs Blackwing Vault

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

Head to head
About

HINT Control

Manage your T-Mobile Home Internet gateway with advanced features. Control WiFi settings, view statistics, and more. This app is not affiliated with T-Mobile.

Highlights
  • Advanced statistics
  • WiFi radio control
  • SSID management
  • Band steering
  • Gateway access
Features
Read full description

HINT Control is a cross-platform app for accessing and managing your T-Mobile Home Internet gateway, with some extra features compared to the official app. Features include advanced statistics, WiFi radio control, SSID management, and band steering, with more to come as more is discovered about the gateways. HINT Control currently supports the Arcadyan KVD21, the Arcadyan TMOG4AR, the Sagemcom Fast 5688W, the Sercomm TMOG4SE, and the Noka 5G21. The Askey LTE gateway is not supported at this time. This app is NOT affiliated with T-Mobile. HINT Control is open source and also available for other platforms. Check out the downloads and source code at https://github.com/zacharee/ArcadyanKVD21Control/.

About

Blackwing Vault

A private, local-first vault for organizing and securing essential life details like IDs, insurance, and financial notes. It offers encrypted storage, optional iCloud sync, and biometric unlock for easy access and protection.

Highlights
  • Local-first encrypted vault storage
  • Optional iCloud sync
  • Biometric or device credential unlock
  • Templates for life details
  • Secure photo attachments
  • Expiration review for records
  • Emergency packet workflow
Features
Read full description

Blackwing Vault is a private, local first vault for the important life details that should not be scattered across notes, screenshots, email, or cloud spreadsheets. Store structured records for IDs, insurance, medical details, travel, home information, vehicle documents, family essentials, finance notes, recovery codes, device details, and custom secure notes. Blackwing Vault is built for the real life information people need to keep organized, protected, and ready when it matters. Why Blackwing Vault: - Local first encrypted vault storage - Device only encryption key stored in Keychain for local files - Optional Full Version encrypted iCloud sync across iPhone, iPad, and Mac - Optional biometric or device credential unlock - Passphrase protected encrypted backup export and restore - Templates for life details beyond passwords - Hidden fields with reveal controls - Secure photo attachments - Local search, favorites, and category filters - Expiration review for time sensitive records - Emergency packet workflow for household preparedness - Clipboard clearing after copied secrets - Privacy report built into the app - Infrastructure free sealed messages sent as locally encrypted attachments, with verifiable contact safety codes - No ads, no tracking, and no app account

Screenshots

HINT Control4 screens
Blackwing Vault4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: HINT Control at none against Blackwing Vault's 1. HINT Control also leads on ratings volume (113 vs 2) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months). Blackwing Vault's advantage is rating (4.5 vs 4.3). 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. Blackwing Vault sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. HINT Control asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Blackwing Vault holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: HINT Control has 113 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

HINT Control ships an update every 2 weeks, Blackwing Vault every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
HINT Control versus Blackwing Vault: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHINT ControlBlackwing Vault
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (113 ratings)4.5 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings113 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size99 MB54 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZachary WanderRaven Vector

Customer experience

HINT Control

All ratings111 ratings
Positive79.3%
Neutral6.3%
Negative14.4%
Written reviews47 reviews
Positive66.0%
Neutral10.6%
Negative23.4%

Blackwing Vault

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

HINT Control

Reported bugs

18 issues
  • UI bug hides settings on SSID management page
  • Cannot disable 5ghz wifi after warning
  • Disabling 5ghz radio breaks gateway functionality
  • Latest update crashes repeatedly
  • Not compatible with newly released G5AR T-Mobile gateway
Show 13 more
  • Invalid JSON error when trying to log in
  • Latest update crashes over and over
  • G4AR not showing LTE stats
  • Cannot paste password or use password manager to login
  • Keyboard will not reduce on login screen (iPhone 11 Pro)
  • App doesn't work with VoiceOver
  • Unauthorized Error at Login
  • Doesn’t work - Unauthorized error
  • Doesn’t work - unauthorized access error
  • Changed channel, now cannot connect on other devices, requires factory reset
  • Latest update breaks Sagemcom gateway, won't pass login screen
  • Cannot pick channel 36 for 5ghz, always goes to channel 40
  • No G4AR support

Requested features

14 requests
  • Add automatic reboot schedule (daily, weekly, monthly)
  • Trigger reboot on connection loss
  • Add Beacon Interval control
  • Add more Transmit Power control (e.g., 8mW on 5GHz, 21mW on 2.4GHz)
  • Advanced control with number input for transmit power
Show 9 more
  • Restore transmit power slider
  • Add temperature of gateway
  • Allow users to name unknown devices
  • Clarify named devices further
  • Add port forwarding controls
  • Add DMZ controls
  • Support for G4AR gateway
  • Adjust APN settings
  • Web app version

Blackwing Vault

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

HINT Control

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Blackwing Vault

One-time1
  • English$9.99

Questions

Is HINT Control free?
HINT Control is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Blackwing Vault free?
Blackwing Vault is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, HINT Control or Blackwing Vault?
Blackwing Vault is rated higher. HINT Control averages 4.3 out of 5 from 113 ratings, while Blackwing Vault averages 4.5 from 2 ratings.
Do HINT Control or Blackwing Vault have ads?
Neither HINT Control nor Blackwing Vault shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HINT Control or Blackwing Vault?
HINT Control ships an update every 2 weeks, and Blackwing Vault every 2 months. Most recently, HINT Control was updated on October 24, 2026 and Blackwing Vault on October 20, 2026.

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