XL Sidekick vs Relay | Admin
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
XL Sidekick
Enhance manufacturing productivity with a companion app for XL devices. Enter data, view real-time production insights, and mirror operator displays on your mobile device. Securely access information from anywhere on your plant floor.
- Data entry via action screens
- Real-time production data visualization
- Operator display mirroring (scoreboard)
- Secure local network access
- Free to use and support
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XL Sidekick is an integral part of Vorne’s next generation platform for improving manufacturing productivity, accelerating your digital transformation, and fostering a culture of productivity. Interact with any XL devices running version 2.21 or later. Sidekick provides an alternative to using barcode scanners for data entry, and adds simple data visualization on a tablet or smartphone from anywhere in your plant: Use action screens to assign a reason when the line goes down, enter reject quantities, start the next part, and more. Use data screens to view detailed, real-time production data for the shift, part, and hour. For XL HD, XL HD+, and XL Touch models, use the scoreboard screen to see exactly what operators on the line are seeing. Once you enable access through XL device configuration, Sidekick works on your local network safely behind your firewall, just like your XL devices. Sidekick is free, and technical support for Sidekick is free. So, if you have any questions, just contact us at support@vorne.com. XL Sidekick collects diagnostic and other data that is not linked to you for app functionality. The data transmitted from Sidekick to the XL device is typically the same information entered at the Vorne XL device using barcodes and/or a touchscreen interface. Data sent off the device does not identify you or your device.
Relay | Admin
Configure and deploy your Relay system on-site with this field companion app. Map buildings, set up indoor positioning, and manage users and devices efficiently from your mobile device.
- Map buildings, floors, and rooms
- Configure indoor positioning with beacons
- Scan QR codes for beacon addition
- Verify room positioning with live data
- Provision users and manage devices
- Pair NFC tags to user profiles
- Offline data synchronization
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Every great Relay deployment starts on-site — and Relay Admin is what gets it there. Relay Admin is the field companion for the technicians and administrators who roll out Relay. Map a building, configure indoor positioning, and provision your whole team — all from your phone, all before you leave the parking lot. BUILD YOUR SITE, FLOOR BY FLOOR Create buildings, floors, and rooms in a few taps. Drop a building on the map with address search and precise geocoding, then nudge the pin until it's exactly right. Your entire site structure lives in one place, ready for the rest of the job. INDOOR POSITIONING THAT HOLDS UP Add beacons by scanning a QR code or entering a MAC address, then confirm placement with live proximity ranging — no guesswork about whether that beacon made it onto the right wall. Auditing an existing room? Range for every beacon you expect, see what's missing at a glance, and clear out the stale ones. Prefer Wi-Fi? Use a Relay device as a scanning proxy to capture access-point fingerprints for any room, then confirm that room resolves correctly before you call it done. VERIFY BEFORE YOU WALK AWAY Room verification closes the loop. Point a proxy device at a configured space and watch it resolve to the right room — real validation, on-site, while you can still fix it. PROVISION USERS IN MINUTES Create users with a guided, step-by-step flow: pick a team, assign channels, set workflow groups, review, submit. Manage the whole roster from the same app — assign and unassign devices, rename users, handle seats, and remove accounts one at a time or in bulk. TAP TO PAIR NFC PROFILES Pair NFC tags to user profiles with a single tap. Built for shared-device environments where the right profile needs to follow the right person. BUILT FOR THE WAY YOU WORK Permissions follow your Relay account, so every technician sees exactly the tools they're cleared for and nothing they aren't. Relay Admin hands off to the Relay app when you need it and picks up right where you left off when you come back. Lost signal mid-job? Relay Admin refreshes the moment you reconnect. Relay Admin is designed for Relay customers and partners. A Relay account is required to sign in.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Relay | Admin at weekly against XL Sidekick's every 3 months. On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for XL Sidekick against 5.0 for Relay | Admin. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 2 respectively.
XL Sidekick ships an update every 3 months, Relay | Admin weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 5, 2026 and October 4, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | XL Sidekick | Relay | Admin |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (4 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 4 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 16.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 30 MB | 72 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Vorne Industries, Inc. | Relay, Inc |
Customer experience
XL Sidekick
Relay | Admin
In-app purchases
XL Sidekick
No in-app purchases
Relay | Admin
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is XL Sidekick free?
Is Relay | Admin free?
Which has better reviews, XL Sidekick or Relay | Admin?
Do XL Sidekick or Relay | Admin have ads?
Which is updated more often, XL Sidekick or Relay | Admin?
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