Comparison

Sensor Viewer vs Bug Detector

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

Head to head
About

Sensor Viewer

Features
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Visualise the data from 3 of your phone's sensors And adjust the sensitivity of the sensors to match the sounds, vibrations or magnetic fields you're measuring For sounds: See a sound wave for all sounds picked up by the microphone For Vibrations: See 3 line graphs showing the movements of the phone, 1 line per dimension (up/down, left/right, forwards/backwards) For Magnetic Fields: See a graph of the magnetic field your phone can detect, even if that's just your speakers or the batteries in some of your other devices Supports Light Mode / Dark Mode Supports Dynamic Text Sizing Supports English, French, Spanish, German Optional one-time in-app purchase available to remove ads permanently. Purchases can be restored on supported devices using the same Apple ID or Optional auto-renewing subscription available to remove ads. Subscription automatically renews unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel your subscription in your App Store account settings. Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://salisburyapps.co.uk/privacy-policy-sensor-viewer/

About

Bug Detector

Features
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Stakeout is a listening stakeout. You put the phone down, walk away, and come back to a timestamped tape of the steady tones it heard in the near-ultrasonic band โ€” the range above ordinary hearing that a phone microphone can still sample. WHAT IT ACTUALLY DOES There is no live spectrum in this app. No waterfall, no decibel meter, no needle to watch. That is deliberate. A meter tells you about the instant you happen to be looking at it; a tape tells you what happened while you were not in the room. The running screen is a session clock and a log, and the output is evidence with timestamps. TEST YOUR OWN PHONE FIRST Before a session, run the self-test. Stakeout plays 16, 18, 20 and 21 kHz through the speaker, measures what your microphone returns, and prints the measured response for each one. Not a spec sheet copied from somewhere โ€” your handset, in your room, at your volume. Microphone response above 20 kHz varies enormously between phones, so the honest thing is to measure it and show you, rather than promise a flat response nobody can guarantee. THE TAPE Every row is one event: the wall-clock time it started, the frequency, how long it held, and how far above the room's own noise it sat. Times are zero-padded and absolute โ€” never "3 minutes ago" โ€” because a log you might act on needs real timestamps. Tones that stop and restart are folded into one row with a count, so a pulsing source reads as one finding rather than forty. A tone has to hold for at least two seconds to be logged at all. That single rule removes almost everything a room throws at a microphone: a chair scraping, a door, a cough, a passing car. THE UNVERIFIED BAND The region above 20 kHz is drawn differently and labelled unverified, because that is the truth: it sits where phone microphones start to roll off and where your particular handset may hear nothing at all. The self-test is what tells you which side of that line you are on. WHAT YOU GET FREE - The full near-ultrasonic detector, 15 to 22 kHz - Sessions up to 15 minutes - Three saved tapes - The loopback self-test, unlimited - Steady tones in the audible band logged as events WHAT PRO ADDS - Sessions with no time limit, running all night - Every tape kept, not only your last three - Export a tape as plain text, timestamps and all - Detection strictness: loose, standard or strict BEING HONEST ABOUT THE LIMITS A phone cannot scan the radio spectrum. It cannot detect an analogue transmitter, and it cannot find a wired or fully passive microphone โ€” those things emit nothing a microphone can hear. Any app claiming otherwise is selling you a feeling. What a phone can do is listen very carefully, in a band you cannot. A tone in your tape is something worth explaining. It is not, on its own, proof of surveillance โ€” ultrasonic tones also come from motion sensors, some televisions, rodent repellers, cleaning equipment and a surprising number of ordinary appliances. The app gives you the evidence and the timestamps; the conclusion is yours. PRIVACY No account, no sign-up, no analytics and no tracking. Audio is analysed live on the device and is never recorded, saved or uploaded โ€” the tape holds numbers, not sound. The only connection the app makes is the subscription check with the App Store. SUBSCRIPTION Stakeout Pro is $3.99 per week with a 3-day free trial, or $17.99 per year. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage and cancel your subscription in your App Store account settings. Any unused portion of a free trial is forfeited when you buy a subscription. Privacy Policy: https://leomarston.github.io/manycode-legal/privacy.html Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Sensor Viewer4 screens
Bug Detector4 screens

Verdict

The call

Sensor Viewer and Bug Detector are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters โ€” price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them โ€” neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Sensor Viewer sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per year and Bug Detector sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Sensor Viewer versus Bug Detector: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSensor ViewerBug Detector
PriceFreeFree
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size2 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSalisbury AppsEmine Saridogan

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Sensor Viewer

Subscriptions1
  • Annual Subscription$0.991 Year
One-time1
  • One time / Lifetime purchase$1.99
2 purchases

Bug Detector

Subscriptions2
  • Weekly3 Days trial$3.997 Days
  • Yearly$17.991 Year

Questions

Is Sensor Viewer free?
Sensor Viewer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Bug Detector free?
Bug Detector is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Sensor Viewer or Bug Detector have ads?
Neither Sensor Viewer nor Bug Detector shows ads.

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