Comparison

Upper vs ActivitySmith

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

Head to head
About

Upper

Features
Read full description

Take Control of S3 Storage – Right from Shortcuts Whether you're a cloud expert or just exploring S3-compatible storage, Upper makes it effortless to: • Create, list, and delete buckets • Check if buckets/files exist • Upload, download, list, and delete files • Change ACL for buckets and files Why You’ll Love Upper • Compatible with AWS S3, Cloudflare R2, Scaleway, MinIO (with TLS), Hetzner, and other S3-compatible providers • Fully integrated with the Apple Shortcuts app • One-time purchase – no subscriptions, no in-app purchases • Privacy-friendly – only opt-out, anonymized telemetry to improve the app • Clean, minimal UI that stays out of your way Getting Started is Easy 1. Install Upper 2. Add and configure your S3 endpoints in Upper 3. Open the Shortcuts app → tap “Add Action” → search for “Upper” 4. Choose your desired S3 action, select an endpoint – done! Happy automating!

About

ActivitySmith

Stream real-time progress and status updates to your device's Lock Screen and Dynamic Island. Send high-signal push notifications for critical events like failures, incidents, or sales. Integrate with any backend that can make HTTP requests for seamless monitoring.

Highlights
  • Live Activities for Lock Screen
  • Push Notifications for alerts
  • Real-time progress tracking
  • Integrates with CI/CD and servers
  • Supports multiple SDKs
  • Widgets for key metrics
Features
Read full description

ActivitySmith lets you send Live Activities and Push Notifications to your iOS device(s) from any backend. Keep long-running work visible at a glance: stream progress, step-by-step status, and outcomes to your Lock Screen and Dynamic Island. Use Push Notifications for high-signal alerts (failures, incidents, signups, sales, crashes, etc). Anything that can make an HTTP request can update a Live Activity or send a Push Notification - CI/CD, servers, cron, agents, webhooks, or plain curl. Use cases: - CI/CD deployments and build pipelines - Long-running jobs (migrations, backups, ETL) and background agents - On-call alerts and incident workflows - Business events (sales, signups, trial conversions) - Home Automation How it works: - Install ActivitySmith and pair your device - Create API key - Send custom Push Notifications with a simple API call - Trigger Live Activities to track deployments or any other long-running processes in a real-time - Target one or more paired devices as needed - Use widgets to track key metrics from your lock screen SDKs: Node.js, PHP, Ruby, Python, Go, CLI Integrations: GitHub, GitLab, Vercel, Railway, Netlify, Sentry, Linear, Zapier, n8n, and more...

Screenshots

Upper4 screens
ActivitySmith4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: ActivitySmith at Free against Upper's $2.99. ActivitySmith also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months). On ads, in-app purchases, 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

ActivitySmith is free to download; Upper costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Upper ships an update every 2 months, ActivitySmith weekly. Both last shipped on November 12, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Upper versus ActivitySmith: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUpperActivitySmith
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.218.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size17 MB12 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPaul HaedrichAdam Bardon

In-app purchases

None

Upper

No in-app purchases

None

ActivitySmith

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Upper free?
Upper costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is ActivitySmith free?
ActivitySmith is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Upper or ActivitySmith have ads?
Neither Upper nor ActivitySmith shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Upper or ActivitySmith?
Upper ships an update every 2 months, and ActivitySmith weekly. Most recently, Upper was updated on November 12, 2026 and ActivitySmith on November 12, 2026.

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