Comparison

Pulse for Mac vs aether

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

Head to head
About

Pulse for Mac

Features
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Monitor your Mac's system performance in real-time from your iPhone. Pulse for Mac displays CPU usage, GPU usage, temperatures, memory pressure, battery level, and fan speed — all streamed live over your local Wi-Fi network. Features: • Real-time CPU & GPU usage with temperature • Memory usage and pressure indicator • Battery level and charging status • Fan speed monitoring • Auto-discovery via Bonjour • Portrait and landscape layouts • Keep Screen On option for desk display Requirements: • MacPulse Server running on your Mac (free download at GitHub) • iPhone and Mac on the same Wi-Fi network

About

aether

Features
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aether turns your iPhone into a fast and easy to use control surface for your Mac. Pair over local Wi‑Fi, then trigger what you need in one tap: launch apps, run shortcuts, send keyboard combinations, open URL schemes, and execute shell commands. Create custom control pages with your own titles, symbols, colors, and synced app icons, then duplicate pages to build workflows quickly. aether automatically pulls your Mac’s app and shortcut catalog, keeps control layouts tied to the active Mac, and gives you a clean interface designed for speed and focus. You can also personalize the experience with light or dark mode and text style preferences. Requires the aether companion app on Mac. Privacy & Terms Privacy Policy: https://aether.matteozappia.com/privacy Terms of Use: https://aether.matteozappia.com/terms

Screenshots

Pulse for Mac1 screens
aether3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Pulse for Mac at none against aether's 1. Pulse for Mac also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads and device support 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. aether sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Pulse for Mac asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard2 real differences · 4 level
Pulse for Mac versus aether: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPulse for Macaether
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyDaily—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size0 MB16 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperInGyu RhoMatteo Zappia

In-app purchases

None

Pulse for Mac

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

aether

One-time1
  • aether PRO$4.99

Questions

Is Pulse for Mac free?
Pulse for Mac is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is aether free?
aether is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Pulse for Mac or aether have ads?
Neither Pulse for Mac nor aether shows ads.

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