PingKit vs Census

Is it your Wi-Fi, or is it your ISP? PingKit answers the question you actually have. It checks your device, your network, your router and the internet beyond it, then tells you in plain language where the problem is. Ask "Why is my internet slow?" and get a real answer instead of a number. Devices on your network are found automatically and named from what they announce. No jargon, no guesswork. 19 professional-grade network tools, completely free. AI THAT EXPLAINS YOUR NETWORK: Answers are written on your iPhone by Apple Intelligence, or by Apple Private Cloud Compute, wherever your iPhone and your language allow. PingKit's own service is the last resort, and PingKit asks your permission before it ever receives anything. Every AI feature is free without a subscription: answers written on your iPhone are unlimited, and PingKit's own service gives you 15 a week, up to 5 a day. NEW IN 3.3: • MAC addresses and manufacturers for most devices on your network, on iOS 27. • More devices get a name: PingKit asks each device for the name it announces, so smart plugs, bulbs, TVs and consoles that never showed a name do. • Labels stay with the device: a device keeps its name and label when its address changes. • Thread and Matter devices appear, and scans are faster and quieter. SIRI & SHORTCUTS: Speed test, "How's My Wi-Fi?", a gaming check, wake your computer, ping, port scan and DNS lookup, straight from Siri, Spotlight and Shortcuts. 19 FREE TOOLS: Smart Diagnostics, Speed Test, Ping, Visual Traceroute, MTR, Connection Monitor, Port Scanner, Bonjour Browser, Security Scan, Device Discovery, My Network, DNS Lookup, Whois, IP Geolocation, SSL Inspector, HTTP Analyzer, Subnet Calculator, Wake-on-LAN, Network Interfaces. MONITOR TAB: Live connection, Uptime Watch, Cert Monitor, Mac Agent, scheduled speed tests and reports in one place. Cert Monitor and Uptime Watch each include one permanently free slot. GUARDIAN ($2.99/mo): • Where the problem is: your device, your network, your router, your ISP, or beyond • Session Watch: game regions, two-hour sessions, lag under load, and where the lag is • Router mode: every port your router forwards from the internet • Cameras on your network, and whether each answers from the internet • Wake from anywhere through your Mac, with a Control Center button per device • Watch Mode, trends per network, and what changed since your last checkup • Fix It walkthrough: an ordered checklist for your exact router • Uptime Watch: 10 sites or TCP ports checked every 5 minutes, with down/recovered alerts • Cert Monitor: 5 domains, with expiry alerts • Monitoring through the companion Mac Agent while your Mac is awake: a morning briefing, alerts for the devices you choose, and a scan or speed test from anywhere • Apple Private Cloud Compute: answers questions too large for the model on your iPhone to hold on its own • Private iCloud sync between the Mac Agent and your iPhone GUARDIAN PLUS ($9.99/mo): • Cert Monitor: 50 domains • Alerts by email, with a Monday summary, or to a webhook • Sleep, restart and shut down your Macs and Linux machines • Four- and eight-hour gaming sessions, and your history as a spreadsheet • Several Macs, and 90 days of history • Scheduled reports and the signed ISO 27001 Compliance PDF • Everything in Guardian NOW IN 27 LANGUAGES. PRIVACY FIRST: All 19 diagnostic tools run on your device. No accounts, no tracking, no advertising. The Mac Agent syncs through your personal iCloud. When an answer needs PingKit's own service, PingKit asks first, and you can withdraw that permission at any time. PingKit Guardian: $2.99/mo or $24.99/yr. Guardian Plus: $9.99/mo or $79.99/yr. 1-week free trial on every plan. Cancel anytime. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://pingkit.app/privacy-policy.html Terms of Service: https://pingkit.app/terms-of-service.html

Census lists the devices on your Wi-Fi — name, model, IP address, and when each one first showed up — in a single list, grouped by kind. Anything this iPhone has never seen before gets a NEW badge. And when a device can't be identified, Census tells you why instead of printing "unknown". WHAT YOU SEE • A list grouped by kind — phones and tablets, computers, TVs and speakers, smart home accessories, and the ones that only left a trace. • For every device: its name, the model it reports, its IP, what it offers (web page for settings, file sharing, screen sharing, printing), and when it was first and last seen. • A badge on anything new, with the time it appeared. Mark a device as known (one-time unlock) and it stops counting as new. • Your own name for any device (one-time unlock). Names and history stay on this iPhone. • It checks when you open it; pull down to check again. WHY A DEVICE CAN'T BE IDENTIFIED This is the part other scanners leave blank. Census explains each case in plain words, and tells you how to check for yourself: • Private Wi-Fi address — phones make up a random hardware address for every network they join. That's a privacy feature working as intended, not a fault. • The device doesn't answer name lookups, or doesn't advertise anything about itself. • Seen recently, quiet right now — a sleeping laptop, phone or smart plug looks exactly like this. • This network keeps devices apart — guest networks and hotel Wi-Fi often do, and no app can look past that. WHAT IT DOESN'T DO • No account, no sign-in, nothing in the cloud. History and the names you give devices stay on this iPhone. • Nothing is uploaded, ever. • Free to download, with no ads and no cap on devices. A one-time purchase adds your own names and marking devices you know, and unlocks the Mac app's quiet re-checks, notifications and export too. No subscription. Bought Census before? Everything stays unlocked. • No Wi-Fi signal or channel analysis — so Census never asks for your location. iPHONE AND MAC On iPhone, iOS does not expose devices' hardware addresses to apps, so the maker of each device is not shown; the Mac version shows it, along with a map of the network. Everything else is the same list, the same badges, the same explanations. HONEST LIMITS No app can find a device that is asleep, one that is set to ignore these checks, or anything hidden by client isolation on a guest network. Census says so when that is what happened, instead of quietly showing you a short list. Needs the Local Network permission to look around your network. Nothing leaves the phone.