Compress vs Side Search
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Compress
Easily reduce video file sizes on your iPhone or iPad. This app also generates SRT caption files using on-device transcription and offers translation into 23 languages, all while keeping your data private.
- Video compression
- Batch compression (up to 10 videos)
- Customizable compression settings
- On-device SRT caption generation
- Offline transcription
- SRT translation (23 languages)
- Privacy-focused
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Compress-san is the easiest way to compress videos on your iPhone or iPad. Just select a video from your photo library, and queue up your video for compression. Select up to 10 videos for compression at once and add them to the queue. In the application settings, you can choose your desired compression settings, compressing video to sizes as low as low quality 480p. Compress-san also will use local on-device transcription models to create caption SRT files for your videos. Create subtitle text files locally and privately, with no audio or video leaving your device for creation of the SRTs. After an SRT is generated, you can also translate it into 23 different languages using local translation services. Compress-san is the simple and private way to cut your video sizes and create SRT subtitle transcription text files.
Side Search
Launch your preferred AI assistant or search engine using the Side Button or Action Button. Customize assistants with custom URLs or integrate with Apple Foundation Models, Claude API, or Google Gemini API.
- Launch AI assistants via Side/Action Button
- Custom URL-based assistants
- Apple Foundation Models integration
- Claude API support
- Google Gemini API support
- Side Bridge for custom endpoints
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Quickly launch your preferred AI assistant or search engine as a voice assistant from the Side Button or Action Button. ### Launch from Side Button ### On iPhone in Japan, you can assign Side Search to the Side Button. You can start your favorite assistant by pressing and holding the Side Button. ### Assistants ### --- URL Based Assistant You can turn various AI assistants and search engines into assistants by setting a custom URL. --- Apple Foundation Models You can converse with privacy-focused models on devices that support Apple Intelligence. --- Claude API You can ask Claude to perform web searches or ask questions using your own API key. --- Google Gemini API You can converse with Gemini and ask it to perform web searches using your own API Key. --- Side Bridge For advanced users, you can use any assistant by creating an endpoint called Side Bridge.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Compress at 100% against Side Search's 0%. Compress also leads on iOS requirement (18.0 vs 27.0). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Compress ships an update every 2 weeks, Side Search weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Compress | Side Search |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (6 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 6 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 — better | 27.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 12 MB | 36 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Cameron Banga | Cizzuk Shihu |
Customer experience
Compress
Side Search
In-app purchases
Compress
No in-app purchases
Side Search
No in-app purchases









