Comparison

iFixit vs PlanetEar

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

Head to head
About

iFixit

Access a vast library of repair guides and troubleshooting tools for electronics and appliances. Diagnose issues, find compatible parts, and get step-by-step instructions to fix your devices. Join a community dedicated to repairing rather than replacing.

Highlights
  • Step-by-step repair guides
  • Smart troubleshooting and device insights
  • Personalized Workbench for parts and guides
  • In-app tool and part shopping
  • AI repair assistant (FixBot)
  • Voice Mode for hands-free guidance
Features
Read full description

iFixit brings the world’s repair knowledge into your pocket. Whether you’re fixing your phone, troubleshooting a laptop, or restoring a kitchen appliance, iFixit has everything you need to fix your stuff with confidence. Step-by-step repair guides will make you successful the first time. Each guide is carefully crafted by our expert technicians and our repair community. Diagnose problems faster with smart troubleshooting, battery analytics, and device insights that help you understand how to extend the life of your stuff. Add your things to your personal Workbench and instantly see compatible parts, tools, and replacement guides. Shop the high-quality tools you need for the job directly inside the app. No guesswork, just the right components when you need them. Get personalized support with FixBot, our AI repair assistant. FixBot leverages our huge library of quality resources to help you find the right solution fast. FixBot will even coach you through your repair with hands-free Voice Mode. Share a picture of the issue, and FixBot will take it from there. Join the millions of people who repair instead of replace. Every successful repair saves money, extends the life of your belongings, and helps reduce e-waste. Join the repair revolution.

About

PlanetEar

Explore Earth and space with live data. View aircraft, satellites, earthquakes, weather, and traffic cameras. Fly through the Solar System with beautiful native rendering and voice control.

Highlights
  • Live flight tracking
  • Satellite and ISS orbits
  • Real-time earthquake monitoring
  • Global weather conditions
  • Thousands of traffic cameras
  • Solar System exploration
  • Voice control
Features
Read full description

A God's-eye view of Earth, live — watch flights cross the sky and look through real traffic cameras, right from your iPhone. PlanetEar turns your iPhone into a window on the living planet. Spin the globe and watch real aircraft cross the sky, track satellites and the ISS passing overhead, feel earthquakes the moment they're reported, check the weather anywhere, peek through thousands of public traffic cameras, and tune in to internet radio from any city you touch. Then keep going — out past the atmosphere to the Solar System itself. A dozen ways to explore, every one powered by free, openly-licensed public data, rendered natively on your device. LIVE ABOVE YOU • Aircraft — real ADS-B flight traffic, tap any plane for its route and details • Satellites & ISS — see what's overhead right now, with live orbital tracks • Space weather, launches, and the people currently in space ON THE GROUND • Earthquakes — worldwide, live from USGS, sized and coloured by magnitude • Weather — conditions anywhere you tap, by voice or by touch • Traffic cameras — thousands of public street and highway cameras across London and California • Look Around — drop into real street-level imagery • Internet radio — thousands of live stations; touch a place, hear it BEYOND THE SKY • Solar System — fly out to the planets, rendered from real NASA/JPL data • Natural events, submarine cables, bikeshare, and more — sixteen live layers in all MADE TO LOOK BEAUTIFUL • Cinematic native rendering, from orbit to the Solar System • Optics modes — thermal, night-vision, and more, over the live map • Voice control — just ask ("weather in Tokyo", "show cameras near London") PRIVATE BY ARCHITECTURE There is no server to send your data to. No account, no sign-in, no analytics, no tracking, no API keys to configure. Every layer is free and openly licensed, and each source is credited in-app under Settings → Data & Attribution. Location, camera and microphone are used only on your device, only for the features you turn on. FREE PlanetEar is free. Just open it and fly. CAMERA COVERAGE 70,000+ cameras. Webcams worldwide via Windy — most countries are covered (refreshed still images; density varies by region). Live-streaming and traffic cameras in selected regions: United Kingdom (London), United States (California), Norway, Canada (British Columbia and Calgary) and Australia (New South Wales). Of the 70,000+, roughly 2,300 are continuous live streams and 900 are short looping clips — the rest are refreshed stills. More regions are added over time. JUST ASK — VOICE Tap the mic and say things like "show me the nearest camera" or "take me to the ISS." Voice commands work in English. Note: PlanetEar is for information and enjoyment only. Aircraft, satellite, earthquake, weather and camera data are shown for general interest and must not be relied upon for navigation, aviation, emergency or safety-critical use. Built by one person — Christopher Lewis Cox. Follow @ChrisLewisCox on X for what's coming next.

Screenshots

iFixit4 screens
PlanetEar4 screens

Verdict

The call

iFixit and PlanetEar both sit at 4.8 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of PlanetEar's written reviews are positive against 34% of iFixit's. PlanetEar also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks). iFixit's advantage is ratings volume (274 vs 37) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). On price, rating, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for iFixit against 4.8 for PlanetEar. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: iFixit has 274 ratings behind it against 37, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 34% of iFixit's written reviews are positive against 100% of PlanetEar's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iFixit ships an update every 3 weeks, PlanetEar weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
iFixit versus PlanetEar: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriFixitPlanetEar
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (274 ratings)4.8 (37 ratings) — better
Positive reviews34.2% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings274 — better37
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size52 MB24 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperiFixit IncCHRISTOPHER LEWIS COX

Customer experience

iFixit

All ratings251 ratings
Positive94.0%
Neutral2.0%
Negative4.0%
Written reviews76 reviews
Positive34.2%
Neutral7.9%
Negative57.9%

PlanetEar

All ratings28 ratings
Positive96.4%
Neutral3.6%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

iFixit

No in-app purchases

None

PlanetEar

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is iFixit free?
iFixit is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is PlanetEar free?
PlanetEar is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, iFixit or PlanetEar?
PlanetEar is rated higher. iFixit averages 4.8 out of 5 from 274 ratings, while PlanetEar averages 4.8 from 37 ratings.
Do iFixit or PlanetEar have ads?
Neither iFixit nor PlanetEar shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iFixit or PlanetEar?
iFixit ships an update every 3 weeks, and PlanetEar weekly. Most recently, iFixit was updated on October 30, 2026 and PlanetEar on October 31, 2026.

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