NextSense vs Active Grow
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
NextSense
This app works with brain-responsive earbuds to enhance sleep quality. It tracks brain activity to personalize audio, offering insights into sleep patterns and a gentle alarm. Integration with Apple Health provides further personalized data.
- Brainwave tracking for sleep depth
- Personalized audio for better rest
- Detailed sleep reports and trends
- Automatic audio pause when asleep
- Nap mode with timer and soundscapes
- Soothing sound library
- Gentle alarm with calming sounds
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Introducing NextSense Smartbuds, the world’s first brain-responsive earbuds. Designed for everyday use, Smartbuds sense brain activity in real time and respond with audio that helps you rest deeper, center your mind, and stay sharp all day. The NextSense app is your companion to Smartbuds, giving you tools to personalize your audio experience and uncover meaningful insights into your daily and nightly rhythms. Pair your buds with the app to access dynamic soundscapes, launch sessions, and review trends. What you unlock with Smartbuds + the NextSense app Deeper Sleep See when your brain enters slow wave sleep, giving you a superior measure of sleep depth and recovery. Gentle pink noise enhances slow wave activity, leaving you more refreshed in the morning Focus Sessions Boost your focus with audio that gently nudges your brainwaves into a more alert state. Get recommendations on when to schedule deep work for peak performance. Meaningful Meditation Choose from brain-responsive and guided tracks that help you find your calm. Session summaries help you understand and improve your practice. Sleep Sync Your audio automatically pauses once sensors detect you’ve fallen asleep, so you’ll never lose your place in that audiobook. Nap Mode Reset midday with a nap session. Simply set a timer, choose a soundscape, and unwind. If you drift off, your nap is added to the day’s sleep total. Soothing Sound Library Choose from a collection of original soundscapes designed to give your brain exactly what it needs to meet the moment. Gentle alarm Ease into your morning with calming sounds that slowly build, delivered right through your Smartbuds. Personalized Insights Explore daily and long-term trends related total sleep time, wake-ups, sleep efficiency, and more. Privacy Policy and Terms of Service Learn more about how we handle your data and terms of use: Privacy Policy: https://nextsense.io/policies/privacy-policy Terms of Service: https://nextsense.io/policies/terms-of-service *Note: The NextSense app requires NextSense Smartbuds hardware. Apple Health integration - Reads date of birth, sex, heart rate, HRV, respiratory rate, VO2 max, sleep, weight, steps, exercise time, and time in daylight to personalize you insights, and audio experience. - Used only to improve your health and sleep experience, never for advertising or selling your data - Users can opt out or change permissions anytime in the Health app
Active Grow
Transform your daily activity into a flourishing virtual garden. Track steps, standing time, and sun exposure to unlock and nurture over 20 unique plants across six biomes. Earn achievement badges and build healthy habits effortlessly.
- Track steps, standing time, and sunshine
- Grow over 20 virtual plants
- Unlock plants across six biomes
- Collect over 40 achievement badges
- Focus on daily habit building
- Privacy-focused, no data collection
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Move. Grow. Bloom. Shine. Turn your daily movement into a thriving garden. Track steps, standing time, and time in sunshine while watching beautiful plants grow with every healthy choice you make. Choose from more than 20 plants within the six biomes - Forest, Desert, Tropical, Arctic, Marine, and Mystical - and watch as your garden grows along with you. Each plant has 3 or 4 stages that you unlock with your movement. Watch in real time as you and your garden grow together. Active Grow focuses on building a healthy life into your every day, rather than having to work your whole life around your health. As you hit health and garden milestones within the app, you can collect more than 40 Achievement badges in your Field Guide. We believe that balance and health should be accessible to everyone. Active Grow has a one-time fee of $3.99 but NO monthly fees and NO advertising within the app. We believe that privacy is a part of wellness. Active Grow collects NO data. Your data stays on your phone and never goes anywhere. This does mean that if you delete your garden's growth, we cannot restore progress for you. Time in sunshine is based upon functionality built into the Apple Watch and requires iOS 17+ and watchOS 10+.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Active Grow at 100% against NextSense's 50%. Active Grow also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and device support (3 vs 1). NextSense's advantage is price (Free vs $3.99) and update cadence (every 6 days vs every 3 weeks). On ads, in-app purchases 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
NextSense is free to download; Active Grow costs $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Active Grow holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: NextSense has 85 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of NextSense's written reviews are positive against 100% of Active Grow's.
NextSense ships an update every 6 days, Active Grow every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | NextSense | Active Grow |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $3.99 |
| Rating | 4.7 (85 ratings) | 5.0 (7 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 85 — better | 7 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 days — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1.9 GB | 171 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Lucid Reality | LO Games LLC |
Customer experience
NextSense
Active Grow
In-app purchases
NextSense
No in-app purchases
Active Grow
No in-app purchases









