Magnetometer+ Metal Detector vs Alpie
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Magnetometer+ Metal Detector
Transform your device into a magnetic field detector. It measures magnetic field strength in real-time with a 3-axis display and provides visual alerts for metal and magnet detection. Explore the invisible magnetic world around you with a sleek, intuitive interface.
- Real-time magnetic field measurement
- 3-axis directional analysis
- Metal and magnet detection alerts
- Radar-style magnetic scanner
- N/S/E/W compass markings
- Adjustable sensitivity
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Magnetometer+ turns your iPhone's magnetic sensor into a metal detector and stud finder for iron and steel hidden in walls, floors and furniture, and shows the magnetic field around you in µT. ▶ WHAT IT FINDS — AND WHAT IT DOES NOT It detects ferrous metal: screws and nails in studs and joists, steel pipes, rebar, hinges, brackets and door strikes. The range is a few centimetres, so hold the phone against the surface and sweep slowly. It cannot detect gold, silver, copper, aluminium, wood or plastic. Those materials are not magnetic, and no phone sensor can find them. If you are looking for buried coins or copper wiring, this is not the tool. ▶ CALIBRATES FROM YOUR HAND Every phone's magnetic sensor carries a large built-in offset from its own speaker and battery magnets. Magnetometer+ learns that offset while you turn the phone, so tilting the phone does not look like metal. When the meter opens, a progress bar shows how far calibration has come: turn the phone slowly in every direction, and when the bar is full the reading goes live with a short vibration. Zero here re-learns it wherever you are. ▶ THREE METER MODES • Auto — a radial gauge of the field deviation • Earth Field — total field strength with a latitude band (low, normal, elevated, high) • Metal Detector — deviation from the background field with an intensity verdict, plus optional vibration pulses that quicken as you get closer ▶ SCANNER AND STUD FINDER The Scanner tab has a metal scanner for sweeping a surface and a Stud Finder that marks the strongest point as you slide the phone flat across a wall. It finds the nails and screws that hold drywall to the studs; it does not see the wood itself. ▶ COMPASS A compass with magnetic north or true north and the local declination. ▶ LIVE DATA • X, Y and Z field components on a live chart • Min, average, max and peak with elapsed time • Sensitivity from 0.5x to 2.0x • µT, mT and Gauss units ▶ HISTORY AND EXPORT • Readings are saved with a 7-day trend and a plain-language comparison • Favourites and side-by-side comparison of two readings • Continuous one-second logging with CSV export • Share a reading as an image, optional GPS tag on saved readings • Statistics report, unlocked for 24 hours by watching a short ad USEFUL FOR DIY AND RENOVATION · FINDING STUDS AND JOISTS · CHECKING FOR REBAR OR PIPES BEFORE DRILLING · PHYSICS CLASS AND MAGNET EXPERIMENTS
Alpie
This AI-powered workspace facilitates deep work and real-time team collaboration. Upload various file types, ask complex questions, and organize insights for efficient problem-solving and decision-making.
- AI-powered deep work
- Real-time team collaboration
- Upload PDFs, images, code, links
- Ask deep questions
- Pin important insights
- Organized dashboard
- Long workflow support
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Alpie is an AI workspace for deep work and real-time collaboration. Drop in PDFs, images, code, or links, ask deep questions, and work with your team in real time. Pin important insights, keep chats and files organised in one dashboard, and move through complex problems together. Built for long workflows and shared thinking, Alpie helps teams turn scattered information into clear, lasting decisions, and not just answers.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Alpie at 5.0 against Magnetometer+ Metal Detector's 3.0. Alpie also leads on ads (none vs shown) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). Magnetometer+ Metal Detector's advantage is ratings volume (8 vs 2). On price, review sentiment, update cadence 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.
Alpie holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 8 and 2 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
Magnetometer+ Metal Detector ships an update every 4 days, Alpie every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Magnetometer+ Metal Detector | Alpie |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.0 (8 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 8 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 62 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Kyu-Hee Jang | Buddhimatrix private Limited |
Customer experience
Magnetometer+ Metal Detector
Alpie
In-app purchases
Magnetometer+ Metal Detector
No in-app purchases
Alpie
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Magnetometer+ Metal Detector free?
Is Alpie free?
Which has better reviews, Magnetometer+ Metal Detector or Alpie?
Do Magnetometer+ Metal Detector or Alpie have ads?
Which is updated more often, Magnetometer+ Metal Detector or Alpie?
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