Mac Tools vs R9 Companion
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Mac Tools
This utility transforms your smartphone into a sound and vibration detection tool for diagnosing issues in vehicles and machinery. It helps pinpoint rattles, squeaks, and grinding sounds, making repairs easier.
- Sound & vibration detection
- Locates defective parts
- User-friendly interface
- Analog/Digital display options
- Adjustable sound settings
- Informative user guide
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The Mac Tools SmartEAR2 Sound & Vibration Detection app was developed to help assist the service technician in locating and finding defective or worn parts in automobiles, heavy machinery or industrial equipment where vibration, rattles, squeaks and grinding sounds would be associated making the task very difficult or impossible to diagnose. When used with our specially designed hardware kits your smartphone will be transformed into a state of the art Sound & Vibration Detection Technicians Tool, allowing for ease of locating and finding those troubled areas. NOTE: Additional hardware is required to use this app. For information on how to purchase hardware please contact your local Mac Tools Distributor or call 1-800-MAC-TOOLS Features: User friendly interface and intuitive operation. Sound level reading displays average, peak and real-time values. Sound level readings are displayed in either Analog or Digital. Analog and Digital readings have 2 display panels the user can choose from. Analog Meter or Analog Wave-Form. Digital Numeric or Digital Bar Graph. Background sound off-setting, sample rates, decibel off-setting can be manually be set. Reset/Refresh buttons reset/refresh values to default settings. Sound Level Reading Sampling Rate Decibel Off-set Master Volume Control User information guide includes informative facts about sound perception and permissible noise level exposure as well as a sound level comparison reference chart. Additional Information: Required: Any iOS device running iOS5.0+. Recommended: iPhone 4 and newer/ iPod Touch 4 and newer. Compatible: iPad 2 and newer.
R9 Companion
Enhance your driving experience with intelligent alerts and advanced muting for your radar detector. This app provides duplicate signal rejection, dual horn priority, and high-resolution strength meters for improved accuracy and awareness.
- Duplicate signal rejection
- Dual horn priority signal queuing
- High-resolution front and rear strength meters
- Location-based false silencing (SpotLocks™)
- Customizable audio alerts
- HUD with alert details and color coding
- Remote detector setting control
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Full CarPlay support! R9 Companion™ is a feature rich app, designed to give you the most out of your R9 radar detector, while enhancing your driving experience along the way. Featuring intelligent alerts and advanced muting! R9 Companion™ is the COMPLETE solution to enjoying your R9 to the fullest. ***IMPORTANT NOTE: R9 Companion™ requires a Uniden R9 or R9w radar detector with US Version 138 / 122 firmware to function correctly. EXCLUSIVE to R9 Companion: • Same source, duplicate signal rejection. - The R9 acts like two radar detectors, R9 companion filters through this additional information for improved accuracy of location lockouts & bogey counts. • Dual horn priority signal queuing - Makes sure correct priority signal is shown with correct signal strength at all times. • Front and rear high resolution strength meters. The R9 Companion™ app leverages 5+ years of optimizations and features from the Radar Companion™ series (Available separately on the app store for owners of V1, R8, R4, & DS1 radar detectors). Enhanced GPS location based 'false muting' via SpotLocks™ - All future updates to this app are free to purchasers of R9 Companion™ R9 Companion™'s alerting and muting systems are fully optimized for the R9 platform. Intelligent voice announcements and on-screen visuals will always keep you informed and aware of the situation around you. R9 Companion™ full feature list: • SpotLocks™ - Location based false silencing has never been this good or easy. Turn on the intelligent location-based learning and let R9 Companion™ do the rest. Or you can manually 'lock' or 'unlock' locations with ease from the main alert screen. • SpotLocks™ works seamlessly with your R9’s built in 'auto mute memory' locations. If you create or delete a location from the app it will apply the changes to your R9 at the same time. • Option to play detector tones in app. • 'Proximity' meter - leverages the high resolution signal strength and direction information provided by the detector to show you a better representation of the signal's source. • 'K & X falses in area' meter shows you how many possible false alerts exist in the area you are travelling based on the accumulated SpotLock data™. • 'Custom Phrases' for a given threat's audio alerts. • HUD displays the priority alert's band, signal strength, frequency, & direction. The HUD is color coded between real threats & muted false signals. • HUD of the secondary alerts' bands, signal strengths, frequencies, bogey counts & directions. • Mute rear K & X band signals independently. • Advanced BSM/CAS/Ka False Muting (Optimized for the R9). • Ability to set the R9’s internal detector settings from within the app. *Requires US Version 126 firmware: All Threat Quiet Ride Limit Speed K BLK 1 Units Laser X Band K Band K Pop K Filter K Scans TSF Ka Band Ka Pop Ka Filter Ka Scans (Narrow, Wide, Segmented) Ka 1-9 Segments Auto Mute Volume Display Color Display Brightness Priority Band Auto Mute Memory ON/OFF Select Auto Mute Memory Bands • 'Ghost' muting quiets false alerts when you are stuck traveling near a false emitting vehicle. • "Passive Mute™"- Quiets the R9 below user set speeds & during weak K & X signals. • Bogey counter. • Vehicle speed (MPH or KMH) display. • Mute status with the ability to manually mute/unmute alerts as you need. • Detailed & intelligent voice announcements of dir, band, freq, str, # of alerts, occurrences of mixed signals & more. • Automatic muting of Ka, K, & X bands ('Time before mute' set for each band). • 'Reduce Speed' notification for user set speed. • ‘Urgency Alerts™’ - Unmutes growing threats & announces these alerts via voice & notifications. • ‘Alert History’ - View your past alerts with detailed information. • Compass heading. • Imperial/metric units. • Detailed trip summary at the end of your ride including duration, distance, alerts, muting stats, battery, & more. • iPhone & Apple Watch notifications of dir, band, & freq of each alert. • Tips/Help.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Mac Tools at Free against R9 Companion's $11.99. Mac Tools also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 4) and rating (5.0 vs 4.6). R9 Companion's advantage is update cadence (every 6 months vs every 23 months) and ratings volume (11 vs 1). On review sentiment, 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
Mac Tools is free to download; R9 Companion costs $11.99 up front. R9 Companion sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Mac Tools asks for nothing beyond the download.
Mac Tools holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: R9 Companion has 11 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
Mac Tools ships an update every 23 months, R9 Companion every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Mac Tools | R9 Companion |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $11.99 |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | 4.6 (11 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 11 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 23 months | Every 6 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 12 MB | 14 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | JS Products, Inc. | Angela Mcarthur |
Customer experience
Mac Tools
R9 Companion
In-app purchases
Mac Tools
No in-app purchases
R9 Companion
- Snacks - Contribution$1.99
- Drinks - Contribution$3.99
- Lunch - Contribution$6.99
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- Super Fan - Contribution$9.99
Questions
Is Mac Tools free?
Is R9 Companion free?
Which has better reviews, Mac Tools or R9 Companion?
Do Mac Tools or R9 Companion have ads?
Which is updated more often, Mac Tools or R9 Companion?
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