Comparison

LIFX vs load.

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

Head to head
About

LIFX

Control your smart lights with a WiFi-enabled app. Automate wake-up schedules, create custom scenes for movie nights, and explore fun lighting effects. Personalize groups with illustrations or your own photos for a unique ambiance.

Highlights
  • Basic light control (on/off, dim, color, temperature)
  • Group lights for easy management
  • Customizable group personalization
  • Automated lighting schedules
  • Special lighting effects (music visualizer, fire, etc.)
  • Save and recall custom lighting scenes
  • Live color painting on compatible lights
Features
Read full description

Like you, LIFX wants smarter light. This means we care about the way you control your smart lights, as much as we do about the lights themselves. We make it easy to get started with WiFi-enabled, bright, colorful smart lights that need no hub. Yep, you can start with just one device. LIFX App 4 can not only help give you the best start, but will turn your experience “up to 11”. Automate your wake up Schedule, or set up your movie-watching Scene (then set up voice control so you don’t even have to leave the sofa), or play with Effects next time you’re entertaining. Features. The LIFX app is packed full of features like: - The Basics: on/off, dim, change color, change white temperature. - Groups: control all lights in a group easily, including on/off and dimming with one touch from the Home Dashboard. - Group personalization: choose a LIFX illustration to suit or personalize Group cards with your own pictures. - Schedules: automate your lights to fade, change color, and turn on/off, all visible in an easy calendar-style view. - Effects: play with special effects like the music visualizer, fire, move, candle flicker, strobe, color cycle & more, all in one place. - Scenes: set your lighting just the way you like it and save it for later. - Themes: a library of one click color combinations for a Group, from ‘Proud’ to ‘Soothing’. - Paint: with your finger in the app, paint color live onto your LIFX Z, Beam, Tile and Candle. - Custom color palettes: add your favorite colors to a custom color palette. - Discover Tab: find How To guides, learn about integration partners, or shop for LIFX - and much more. Example uses from our customers: - Ambiance: schedule warmer light in the evening - to calm - and whiter light in the morning - to energize. - “Moccupancy”: set irregular schedules to make it seem like you’re home when you’re not. - Sleep: set your bedroom lights to deep red just before bed to produce more melatonin which helps you get better quality sleep. - Stay put: you’ve settled into the sofa for a streaming binge but left the lights on. No need to jump up to the switch, just ask your voice assistant. - Pet owners: if you're unexpectedly late home from work, turn the lights on for your dog from wherever you are. - Silent notifications: use partner apps to give you a light flash if… your car is arriving, or the forecast says it will rain, or you are mentioned on social media, and much more. HomeKit Best color-changing smart bulb for HomeKit cnet Pairing LIFX with Apple HomeKit is easy using the HomeKit onboarding QR code available in the product packaging. Stay in touch. Need a helping hand, or want to offer us some advice? We would love to hear from you about your LIFX experience. You can reach us at support@lifx.com. LIFX lights are available at lifx.com

About

load.

This app helps gay and bi men track personal activity statistics. Log sessions and loads with one-tap ease, view weekly and monthly breakdowns, and utilize a smart timer for session length. Shareable stat cards and home screen widgets offer at-a-glance insights into personal patterns.

Highlights
  • One-tap logging for sessions and loads
  • Track by type, direction, and partner
  • Weekly and monthly statistical breakdowns
  • Smart Timer for session length
  • Shareable stat cards
  • Home screen widgets
  • Apple Watch app
Features
Read full description

load. is the personal activity tracker built for gay and bi men who want to know their numbers — and eventually, compare them with friends. Log sessions, track loads, and see your stats over time. Whether you're on Grindr, Scruff, or just living your life — load. keeps count so you don't have to. Log Everything, Effortlessly - One-tap logging for sessions and loads - Track by type, direction, and partner - Weekly and monthly breakdowns - Smart Timer to track session length Your Stats, Beautifully Presented - Shareable stat cards for Stories, X, Bluesky, and Messages - Apple Watch app with complications - Home screen widgets for your counts at a glance - Insights into your personal patterns over time Built for What's Coming - Social features in development — add friends, see their counts, run comparisons - Leaderboards, friend stats, and optional profile sharing on the roadmap - Your data stays on your device today; you'll choose what to share when social arrives - Early users are getting in on the ground floor loadedUP Subscription Unlock the full experience: - Unlimited history and full stats list - Custom activity zones with your own emoji - Insights card with your personal patterns - Home screen widgets and Watch face complications - Haptic feedback on log load. is a personal tracking tool, not medical advice. EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://getloadedup.com/privacy

Screenshots

LIFX4 screens
load.4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: load. at 100% against LIFX's 18%. load. also leads on rating (5.0 vs 3.7). LIFX's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and ratings volume (7.1K vs 3). On price, ads, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. load. sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. LIFX asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

load. holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: LIFX has 7.1K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 18% of LIFX's written reviews are positive against 100% of load.'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

LIFX ships an update fortnightly, load. every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
LIFX versus load.: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLIFXload.
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.7 (7.1K ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews18.1% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings7.1K — better3
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, Apple Watch
Requires iOS18.017.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size261 MB24 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperLIFXJames Miller

Customer experience

LIFX

All ratings7,109 ratings
Positive65.7%
Neutral4.8%
Negative29.5%
Written reviews731 reviews
Positive18.1%
Neutral10.9%
Negative71.0%

load.

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

LIFX

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Lights randomly disconnecting from app
  • Scenes and effects not working as expected
  • Scheduling issues and lights not responding to timers
  • Compatibility problems with newer iOS versions
  • Frequent app crashes and freezes

Requested features

5 requests
  • More granular control over individual lights
  • Improved scene and effect customization
  • Better scheduling and automation options
  • Seamless integration with smart home platforms
  • Simplified onboarding and setup process

load.

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

LIFX

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

load.

Subscriptions2
  • loadedUP Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • loadedUP Yearly7 Days trial$39.991 Year

Questions

Is LIFX free?
LIFX is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is load. free?
load. is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, LIFX or load.?
load. is rated higher. LIFX averages 3.7 out of 5 from 7.1K ratings, while load. averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do LIFX or load. have ads?
Neither LIFX nor load. shows ads.
Which is updated more often, LIFX or load.?
LIFX ships an update fortnightly, and load. every 2 months. Most recently, LIFX was updated on November 6, 2026 and load. on October 31, 2026.

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