Comparison

SPECTRAL vs GhostTrail

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

Head to head
About

SPECTRAL

Transform your device into a paranormal investigation tool. Utilize real sensors to detect electromagnetic fields, capture spectral evidence with advanced cameras, and communicate with potential entities using a spirit box. Explore haunted locations and record your findings.

Highlights
  • Real magnetometer, motion, and microphone sensors
  • SLS skeletal camera for figure detection
  • EMF radar and sensor readings
  • Spirit box with multiple voice banks
  • EVP recorder with anomaly tagging
  • Seance board for communication
  • Multiple vision filters (Night Vision, Thermal, etc.)
  • Record and share investigation videos
Features
Read full description

SPECTRAL turns your iPhone into a ghost hunting kit: EMF radar, spirit box, SLS camera, EVP recorder and séance board in one app. It reads your phone's REAL magnetometer, motion sensors and microphone and turns them into atmospheric investigation tools. SLS CAMERA Maps human-shaped figures onto your camera feed in real time. Sometimes it finds you. Sometimes it finds something smaller in the corner that walks away on its own. Skeletons are saved into your photos and videos. EMF RADAR Live readings from your phone's magnetometer on a signal graph. The meter climbs as fields shift and blips appear on the radar. Temperature, voltage and frequency readouts track anomalies. SPIRIT BOX 6 channels, each with its own voice and word bank: STANDARD, DEMON, CHILD SPIRIT, SOLDIER'S ECHO, SÉANCE and ANCIENT. Speak out loud and entities answer when they hear you. Capture and share any word the instant it comes through. EVP RECORDER Record sessions from the room around you. Peaks are tagged as anomalies automatically, so you can jump to the moment something answered. SÉANCE BOARD Ask a question aloud and watch the planchette spell out the reply, letter by letter. VISION CAMERA Seven modes, including Green Glow, Heat Map Colors, Blacklight Glow, Ectoplasm, Shadow Veil and Specter Mode. Entities manifest without warning and orbs drift through frame. Every photo gets an entity type, threat level and confidence score. RECORD & SHARE Film your hunt with overlays, skeletons and orbs and share it to your feed. Standard clips run 30 seconds with a watermark; PRO records up to 3 minutes without one. INVESTIGATIONS 30+ case files in haunted places: abandoned asylums, forgotten chapels, sunken parishes, lighthouses. Each has a backstory, zones to sweep and entities to identify. A new case rotates in daily and one stays open to everyone each week. Close a case to get an animated Case Closed card. EVIDENCE JOURNAL Every capture is archived and classified. Climb 4 investigator ranks, keep your daily streak, complete daily missions and unlock radar themes in the Season Pass. Halloween, full moons and the 3 AM witching hour intensify activity. SPECTRAL PRO Every channel, filter and case, the custom case builder, 3-minute video without a watermark, longer recording sessions, Deadwave mode, audio effects, entity forensics, sensor calibration and no ads. Monthly, yearly or a one-time Lifetime purchase. Monthly and yearly Pro are auto-renewing subscriptions. Payment is charged to your Apple ID account at confirmation of purchase. A subscription renews automatically unless it is cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period; your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the period ends. Manage or cancel subscriptions in your Apple ID account settings. Lifetime is a one-time purchase and does not renew. Terms of Use (EULA): https://peerware.site/spectral-terms Privacy Policy: https://peerware.site/spectral-privacy-policy WARNING Eerie audio, sudden visual effects and atmospheric horror. Not recommended for young children or anyone sensitive to jump scares. DISCLAIMER SPECTRAL is an entertainment app. It reads real device sensors, but readings are interpreted for atmospheric effect and do not detect actual paranormal activity. We make no scientific claims about ghosts or spirit communication.

About

GhostTrail

Features
Read full description

A logbook for places that feel wrong. Walk into a room that gives you that feeling. Tap once. Hold still for two seconds while the rig baselines. GhostTrail starts reading your phone's magnetometer, accelerometer, and GPS — for up to sixty seconds, or until you tap stop. You get a pin you can keep on your phone, or share to the World Map so other spotters can see what your phone measured. WHAT IT IS • An honest sensor recorder. The readings are what the phone measured. Nothing else. • A logbook with retro VHS chrome. Each capture earns a tape number, a phosphor-green status readout, and — for curated landmarks — a multi-section lore card you can export as an Instagram Story sticker. • A curated map of nearly 200 places across six continents — locations known for the kind of stories that make people lower their voice. WHAT IT IS NOT • A ghost detector. The app never interprets readings. It logs them. • A microphone recorder. The permission is never requested. • A tracking app. No advertising identifiers. No analytics. No third-party trackers. SIGNALS — THE PEEK ECONOMY Opening another spotter's public pin costs one Signal. You start with three free Signals, and every pin you publish yourself earns one back — no daily caps, no limits. Out of Signals? Publish your own pins, or buy a Signal pack from Profile → SIGNALS. Three pack sizes: 3, 12 (+25% bonus), or 30 (+40% bonus). PRIVACY BY DEFAULT • Captures stay on your phone by default. Nothing leaves the device until you tap SHARE TO WORLD MAP. • Shared coordinates are fuzzed by ±30 meters before upload. Precise location never leaves the device. • Sign in with Apple is the only auth method. Apple's private email relay is supported. • Profile → Delete account permanently removes everything you have shared. FOUR TIERS OF ANOMALY Quiet · Stir · Pulse · Surge. The same readings, four amplifications of chrome. Your screen reacts to what the rig is seeing. A haptic pulse fires on every tier crossing. No sound is ever played. DESIGNED FOR LATE-NIGHT USE Phosphor green on near-black. Retro VHS scanlines. Monospace timecode. The interface stays out of the way. REQUIREMENTS • iPhone running iOS 17 or later • Magnetometer (every modern iPhone has one) • Location and motion permissions, granted on first capture • Camera permission optional — only for photos attached to pins • Photo Library Add permission optional — only when saving an Instagram-bound landmark sticker GhostTrail does not detect ghosts. It logs environmental sensor readings as data, not as paranormal claims.

Screenshots

SPECTRAL4 screens
GhostTrail4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: GhostTrail at none against SPECTRAL's shown. SPECTRAL's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs monthly) and device support (3 vs 1). On price 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. SPECTRAL sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and GhostTrail sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SPECTRAL ships an update every 5 days, GhostTrail monthly. Both last shipped on October 25, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 5 level
SPECTRAL versus GhostTrail: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSPECTRALGhostTrail
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (4 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings4 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterMonthly
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size54 MB14 MB
Age rating9+9+
DeveloperPeerwareChih Han Lin

In-app purchases

12 purchases

SPECTRAL

Subscriptions2
  • Spectral Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Spectral Pro Annual$19.991 Year
One-time10
  • Shadow & Specter Filter Pack$0.99
  • Séance Channel$0.99
  • Ecto Detector Filter$0.99
Show 7 more
  • Ancient Spirit Pack$0.99
  • Child Spirit Channel$0.99
  • Demon Channel$0.99
  • Soldier's Echo Channel$0.99
  • UV Spectrum Filter$0.99
  • Season Pass Premium$2.99
  • Spectral Pro Lifetime$19.99
3 purchases

GhostTrail

One-time3
  • 3 Signals$0.99
  • 12 Signals$2.99
  • 30 Signals$5.99

Questions

Is SPECTRAL free?
SPECTRAL is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is GhostTrail free?
GhostTrail is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do SPECTRAL or GhostTrail have ads?
SPECTRAL shows ads; GhostTrail does not.
Which is updated more often, SPECTRAL or GhostTrail?
SPECTRAL ships an update every 5 days, and GhostTrail monthly. Most recently, SPECTRAL was updated on October 25, 2026 and GhostTrail on October 25, 2026.

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