Comparison

Sleuth Star vs Detectea

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

Head to head
About

Sleuth Star

Engage in a noir detective experience, meticulously searching crime scenes for clues. Analyze evidence with specialized tools and present your findings to a judge to unravel mysteries. Progress through a career ladder with unlockable items that alter gameplay.

Highlights
  • Crime scene investigation
  • Clue analysis with equipment
  • Present evidence to a judge
  • Six hand-crafted cases
  • Eight-rank career ladder
  • Unlockable items that change gameplay
Features
Read full description

Sleuth Star is a noir detective game where you work the case yourself. Step into a 1940s detective's office, search crime scenes for fingerprints and hidden notes, analyze every clue with your equipment, and present what you've found to the bench. Watch the judge react to each exhibit, then reveal what really happened. Six hand-crafted cases across four difficulty tiers, an eight-rank career ladder, seventeen unlockable items that actually change how you play. No ads, no microtransactions, no tracking. Plays fully offline on iPhone and iPad.

About

Detectea

Investigate fictional phones to uncover mysteries and relationship drama. Search messages, photos, and more to find clues and send proof to clients. Connect the dots to solve cases and unlock new secrets.

Highlights
  • Investigate realistic fictional phone apps
  • Search messages, photos, notes, payments, maps, calls, emails, and DMs
  • Send proof to clients
  • Answer deduction questions
  • Use hints
  • Unlock new cases and secrets
Features
Read full description

Detectea is a fake-phone mystery game built for anyone who lives for messy DMs, hidden receipts, suspicious timelines, and drama that does not add up. Every episode gives you a new fictional phone to investigate. Open familiar apps, search messages, photos, notes, payments, maps, calls, emails, and social DMs, then send the proof that actually matters. The truth is never in one place. You have to connect names, dates, locations, screenshots, payments, and tiny contradictions to figure out what really happened. In the first episode, Cindy says her boyfriend Noah disappears every Thursday night. She sends you a copy of his phone and asks you to find out what he is hiding. At first, it looks like a classic relationship mess. But the more you search, the more the story starts to turn. Why play Detectea? - Investigate realistic fictional phone apps - Find clues in chats, photos, notes, payments, maps, emails, and more - Send proof back to the client when you catch something important - Answer short deduction questions to connect the drama - Use hints when you are stuck - Unlock new cases, new phones, and new secrets across episodes Detectea is for players who like interactive stories, mystery games, clue hunting, gossip, relationship drama, and the feeling of finding the one screenshot that changes everything. All phone content is fictional and created for gameplay. Detectea does not access, display, or investigate any real person's private phone. Detectea Premium Subscription Plan: - Weekly: $4.99 - Yearly: $49.99 Payments and Renewal: * Payment will be charged to your Apple ID account at the confirmation of purchase. * Subscriptions automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. * Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours before the end of the current period. * You can manage or turn off auto-renew in your Apple ID account settings at any time after purchase. * No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during the active subscription period. Privacy Policy: https://www.apptricksstudio.com/detectea/privacy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Sleuth Star4 screens
Detectea4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Sleuth Star at 100% against Detectea's 11%. Sleuth Star also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.1) and in-app purchases (none vs 8). Detectea's advantage is ratings volume (70 vs 4). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. Detectea sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days. Sleuth Star asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Sleuth Star holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Detectea has 70 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Sleuth Star's written reviews are positive against 11% of Detectea's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sleuth Star ships an update daily, Detectea fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Sleuth Star versus Detectea: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSleuth StarDetectea
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (4 ratings) — better4.1 (70 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better11.1% of reviews
Number of ratings470 — better
Update frequencyDaily — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB651 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperMathew KonopinskiApp Tricks Studio

Customer experience

Sleuth Star

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Detectea

All ratings70 ratings
Positive77.1%
Neutral1.4%
Negative21.4%
Written reviews18 reviews
Positive11.1%
Neutral5.6%
Negative83.3%

In-app purchases

None

Sleuth Star

No in-app purchases

8 purchases

Detectea

Subscriptions8
  • Weekly Premium7 Days trial$4.997 Days
  • Weekly Premium$4.997 Days
  • Weekly Premium7 Days trial$6.997 Days
Show 5 more
  • Weekly Premium$6.997 Days
  • Annual Premium$19.991 Year
  • Annual Premium1 Year trial$49.991 Year
  • Annual Premium$49.991 Year
  • Premium Annual1 Year trial$49.991 Year

Questions

Is Sleuth Star free?
Sleuth Star is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Detectea free?
Detectea is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Sleuth Star or Detectea?
Sleuth Star is rated higher. Sleuth Star averages 5.0 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while Detectea averages 4.1 from 70 ratings.
Do Sleuth Star or Detectea have ads?
Neither Sleuth Star nor Detectea shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sleuth Star or Detectea?
Sleuth Star ships an update daily, and Detectea fortnightly. Most recently, Sleuth Star was updated on October 31, 2026 and Detectea on November 5, 2026.

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