Scan4D vs Micboard Spectrum
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Scan4D
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Scan4D is a professional-grade reality capture app for iPhone and iPad. It turns your device's LiDAR sensor and camera into a powerful 3D scanner, capturing detailed meshes, depth maps, and camera poses for downstream reconstruction, photogrammetry, and spatial computing. FULL MODE (LiDAR devices) • Real-time mesh reconstruction with live wireframe overlay • 16-bit depth maps captured at adaptive frame rates • Scan capacity metrics: polygon count, drift tracking, session duration • Interactive 3D mesh preview with camera-sampled vertex coloring • Privacy filtering: person segmentation removes humans from meshes, face blurring in RGB exports LITE MODE (all devices) • RGB frame capture with ARKit camera poses • Server-side photogrammetry via exported image bundles • Automatic detection — no configuration needed TIME-SERIES SCANNING • Group scans by Location and re-scan the same space over time • "Extend Scan" loads a red ghost-mesh overlay of previous captures • Adjacent stitching: scan neighboring areas with shared coordinate frames • ARWorldMap relocalization for precise alignment between sessions FLEXIBLE EXPORT FORMATS • Scan4D: Full bundle with metadata, relocalization map, images, depth, and camera data • Polycam: Raw data import compatible with Polycam • RAW: Nerfstudio/COLMAP-compatible transforms.json + images + depth • OBJ / PLY / USDZ: Native mesh formats for MeshLab, Blender, and iOS Quick Look SERVER INTEGRATION • Configure any HTTP(S) upload endpoint in Settings • Direct PUT upload with live progress tracking • Save to Files or AirDrop for offline workflows • Compatible with self-hosted reconstruction pipelines DEVELOPER MODE • Front/back camera switching for testing privacy features • Synthetic IMU, camera, and depth injection for Simulator testing • Vertex mapping diagnostics and debug overlays Designed for researchers, 3D scanning professionals, and spatial computing developers who need raw, high-fidelity sensor data with full control over the reconstruction pipeline. Requires ARKit-capable device. LiDAR-equipped iPhone or iPad Pro recommended for full functionality.
Micboard Spectrum
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Micboard Spectrum turns an ADALM-Pluto into a pocket RF spectrum analyzer. Features: • Multi-Band Scanning: Automatically sweep across multiple bands. • Live spectrum trace and waterfall. • CSV Export Engine: Export scans, peak, and average scans from one or multiple bands. • Rolling scan storage: Scans are always stored, tag the ones you want to keep. Requires an ADALM-Pluto SDR running maia-sdr firmware. No hardware? Tap Demo Mode to explore with real recorded spectrum.
Screenshots
Verdict
Scan4D and Micboard Spectrum are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters — price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
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.
| Parameter | Scan4D | Micboard Spectrum |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 17 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Anthony Rowe | Karl Swanson |
In-app purchases
Scan4D
No in-app purchases
Micboard Spectrum
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Scan4D free?
Is Micboard Spectrum free?
Do Scan4D or Micboard Spectrum have ads?
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