Mac Tools vs Vibration analysis
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.
Vibration analysis
This app analyzes phone accelerometer data to create a vibration spectrum. It helps evaluate vibration strength, frequency, and the rotation speed of various mechanisms like fans and motors. Useful for quality checks, malfunction detection, and balancing homemade rotating parts.
- Vibration spectrum analysis
- Rotation speed evaluation
- Mechanism quality assessment
- Malfunction monitoring
- Customizable FFT size
- Multiple units of measurement
- Peak frequency detection
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The application analyzes the data from the phone's accelerometer and builds a vibration spectrum. This allows the evaluation of not only the strength and frequency of the vibration, but also the speed of rotation of various mechanisms: fans, motors, various rotating components; since the vibration frequency often (but not always) coincides with the frequency of rotation. The application will be useful in determining the quality of fans and motors, in determining whether their actual parameters coincide with the ones declared by the manufacturer, it will find its uses in monitoring of malfunctions (e.g. in bearings) or while testing the quality of assembly and balancing of the homemade mechanisms with rotating parts. Do not expose your iPhone to an excessive vibration, as it may break. If the analyzed vibration is too strong, use a foam material pad, or put your iPhone at a distance where the force of the vibration is not dangerous to your device. In addition to decreasing vibration for the iPhone, a foam pad improves contact between the iPhone and the vibrating part, which makes the transmission of vibration more accurate and produces better results. BE SURE TO READ THE EXAMPLES OF THE VIBRATION SPECTRUM ANALYSIS AT THE APPLICATION WEB SITE (usefulmobileapps.com). Features of the full version of the application: • The choice of units of measurement. X-axis: Hz or RPM. Y-axis: g, m/s², ft/s², mm/s, in/s (ips), mm, mil, dB(A), dB(V). • FFT size (for built-in accelerometer): 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, 4096 (data collection time from 0.64 sec. to 40 sec.). For an accelerometer connected to the headphone jack FFT size from 2048 to 131072. For Bluetooth-accelerometer FFT size from 512 to 32768. • Linear and logarithmic frequency scale. • Linear frequency scale with maximum details (there is a choice for the displayed frequency range). • Peak frequency detection. • Values of any point (for frequency scale and sound wave (at maximum detail)). • Selecting which axis of the accelerometer is to collect data. • Octave bands (1/1,1/3,1/6,1/12). • Window functions (Blackman, Hamming, Hann (Hanning), Blackman–Nuttall, Gaussian, Flat top). • Peak hold. • Exponential spectrum averaging. • Taking a screenshot by lightly touching the screen. • Root mean square (RMS, for vibration) or average value (AVG, for absolute values) for vibration wave. Values are calculated only for data displayed on the screen. • Calibration of the built-in accelerometer. Need EXCLUSIVELY for measuring absolute acceleration values (gravitational acceleration). To activate the settings, turn on the "Vibration wave" mode and turn off the "Only fluctuations" mode. The parameters of the accelerometer depend on the temperature and voltage of the battery, and may change over time. To obtain stable values, the accelerometer should work for several minutes. • Saving the measurement results in the application. Files with saved data (SavedData_[date]_[time].txt) can be copied to a desktop/laptop computer or transferred to another iPhone using iTunes. • Export data to a text ("Y=[y1 y2... yn]", "y1;y2;... yn", "x1;y1\nx2;y2;...") or WAV file. Number of points is adjusted via "FFT size". To export octaves, use "x1;y1\nx2;y2;...". • Accelerometer connects to the headphone jack (measurement range from 5 Hz to 24000 Hz). • A stroboscope for an external accelerometer (the feature was proposed by Todd French from Los Angeles, California). • Bluetooth accelerometer. When converting acceleration into speed or displacement, at 0-5 Hz frequencies noise starts prevailing over vibration peaks, which is why such frequencies are disregarded when doing the conversion. Should vibration frequency exceed 50 Hz, the peak will be recorded at an incorrect frequency, and hence speed or displacement will not be calculated correctly. Unrealistically high speed or large displacement may be a sign of this kind of false frequency.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Mac Tools at 100% against Vibration analysis's 57%. Mac Tools also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.0) and in-app purchases (none vs 2). Vibration analysis's advantage is update cadence (every 3 months vs every 23 months) and ratings volume (43 vs 1). 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
Both are free to download. Vibration analysis sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Mac Tools asks for nothing beyond the download.
Mac Tools holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Vibration analysis has 43 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Mac Tools's written reviews are positive against 57% of Vibration analysis's.
Mac Tools ships an update every 23 months, Vibration analysis every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 10, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Mac Tools | Vibration analysis |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | 4.0 (43 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 57.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 43 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 23 months | Every 3 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 12 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | JS Products, Inc. | Dmitriy Kharutskiy |
Customer experience
Mac Tools
Vibration analysis
In-app purchases
Mac Tools
No in-app purchases
Vibration analysis
- Settings$2.99
- External accelerometer$2.99
Questions
Is Mac Tools free?
Is Vibration analysis free?
Which has better reviews, Mac Tools or Vibration analysis?
Do Mac Tools or Vibration analysis have ads?
Which is updated more often, Mac Tools or Vibration analysis?
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