Comparison

AnySense vs Point Cloud & BIM Viewer

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

Head to head
About

AnySense

This app allows users to collect multi-sensory data from their iPhone and external sensors. It supports offline data collection and online streaming to robots, as well as on-device policy evaluation with AR visualization.

Highlights
  • Multi-sensor data collection
  • Bluetooth and wired sensor integration
  • Offline data recording
  • Online streaming to robots
  • On-device CoreML policy evaluation
  • AR visualization of predicted actions
  • RGB and depth video recording
Read full description

AnySense is an open-source iPhone app that enables multi-sensory data collection by integrating the iPhone's sensory suite with external sensors via Bluetooth and wired interfaces, enabling both offline data collection and online streaming to robots. The app also supports on-device policy evaluation: you can load a trained CoreML policy, set a 3D goal in AR, and run the policy with AR visualization of predicted actions without a robot. We record RGB and depth videos, metric depth frames, streamed Bluetooth data (e.g. from tactile sensors) into a binary file, and timestamped pose data as a `.txt` file. Example streaming code for Bluetooth data can be found on AnySkin. USB streaming is supported by connecting the iPhone to your computer and using the library - https://github.com/NYU-robot-learning/anysense-streaming.

About

Point Cloud & BIM Viewer

Features
Read full description

Point Cloud & BIM Viewer opens laser scans and BIM models on your Mac, iPad and iPhone — measure them, cut sections, see where the building differs from the design, and export the results. Everything stays on the device: no account, no upload. A sample project with a guide shows where everything is. FORMATS • E57 with registered scan setups, colour, intensity and spherical photographs • LAS and LAZ 1.0 to 1.4, with colour, intensity and classification; COPC opens as the LAZ it is • PLY, ASCII and binary; PTS and PTX; XYZ and TXT with intensity or RGB columns • IFC models, also zipped or gzipped; USDZ, USD, OBJ, STL, glTF and GLB • DXF floor plans laid under the scan, with the drawing's layers to switch off • A whole job at once: several files, a folder or a zip become one project Import never modifies the original; a scan of a hundred million points imports in tens of megabytes. EVERYTHING IN ONE PROJECT The side panel lists what a project holds: the cloud and each of its scans, every model file and floor plan, and saved cuts. Show, hide, colour and look at each on its own — colour every scan setup to check the registration. Add scans later, show several model files together, send a project by AirDrop. THE SCAN AGAINST THE MODEL • Every point coloured by its distance to the model, with a tolerance you set • Which elements the scan shows as built, which are missing, and where it never went • The elements built out of tolerance, listed • Place a model by pairs of corners, by the walls in the scan, or where its georeference says • Measure from the scan to a surface of the model SCAN WITH LIDAR On an iPhone or iPad with LiDAR, scan a room into a project, fit it to the other scans, and continue later. For orientation, not millimetres. THE PROJECT IN AR On iPhone and iPad, stand the project on a table, or at 1:1 in the building itself by a few shared points, with a scan's panorama over the walls. ON THE MAP Coordinates read as a surveyor writes them: S-JTSK Y and X, or E and N in the system the file or the IFC georeference names. Keep points by them, see the project on a map with an aerial view under the scan, or place it by hand. The map loads from Apple Maps only when switched on. THE MODEL Browse elements by storey, class or file and find them by name, class, GlobalId or property. Select them in the view or by rectangle, colour and group them. Read every property, inherited ones too. Check a model against IDS: what fails is listed, and each failure can become a note. MEASURE • Distance with its horizontal and vertical parts, and height straight up • Face to face: wall thickness, clear width, clear height • The shortest distance between two elements, or from an element to the scan • Polylines, angles and best-fit areas • Notes anchored to a point or an element • Every pick is verified against the cloud at full resolution; an uncertain one is refused • Metric or imperial units SECTIONS AND ROOMS A box you move, turn and reshape by dragging, a plane or a slice. Where a cut crosses the model, its solids are hatched and outlined. Save a cut with its view under a name and return to it. SEEING THE SCAN RGB, intensity, classification, a heatmap, or elevation over the whole scan or a band of a few centimetres. A grid, views from all six sides, and panoramas from the scanner's position. ISSUES IN BCF Notes leave as BCF topics with a viewpoint and the element they are on; BCF files from other tools open as notes. EXPORT The cloud or a single scan as E57 with panoramas, LAS, PLY or XYZ; a section as LAS; CSV, JSON with sections, BCF, a PNG snapshot. FREE AND PRO Free with one project; Pro removes the limit for a single payment, no subscription. Projects you have stay open either way. WHAT IT DOES NOT DO Point data is not edited, and tripod scans are registered in the scanner's software. Clouds in two different coordinate systems are not brought into one. Models you open are read, never modified.

Screenshots

AnySense3 screens
Point Cloud & BIM Viewer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: AnySense at none against Point Cloud & BIM Viewer's 1. Point Cloud & BIM Viewer's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs every 2 months) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, ads 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. Point Cloud & BIM Viewer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. AnySense asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

AnySense ships an update every 2 months, Point Cloud & BIM Viewer every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 6 level
AnySense versus Point Cloud & BIM Viewer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAnySensePoint Cloud & BIM Viewer
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (4 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings4 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size199 MB37 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGRAIL NYUSew Grader by Virtalia

In-app purchases

None

AnySense

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Point Cloud & BIM Viewer

One-time1
  • Pointclouds Viewer Pro$6.99

Questions

Is AnySense free?
AnySense is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Point Cloud & BIM Viewer free?
Point Cloud & BIM Viewer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do AnySense or Point Cloud & BIM Viewer have ads?
Neither AnySense nor Point Cloud & BIM Viewer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, AnySense or Point Cloud & BIM Viewer?
AnySense ships an update every 2 months, and Point Cloud & BIM Viewer every 2 days. Most recently, AnySense was updated on October 13, 2026 and Point Cloud & BIM Viewer on October 14, 2026.

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