Comparison

SpringCalc vs Volume Shader

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

Head to head
About

SpringCalc

Features
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SpringCalc is a professional engineering calculator for mechanical springs. Enter any subset of spring parameters and SpringCalc solves for the rest — wire diameter, mean diameter, coil count, free length, spring rate, force, stress, safety factor and predicted fatigue life. Features: • Three spring types: Compression, Extension, Torsion • 15 built-in materials (Music Wire, Hard Drawn, Oil Tempered, Chrome Silicon, Chrome Vanadium, 302/304/316/17-7 PH Stainless, Phosphor Bronze, Beryllium Copper, Monel 400, Inconel 600/X-750/718) with JIS aliases (SWP-A/B, SUS302/304/316-WPB, SWOSC-V, etc.) • ASTM/SAE and JIS B 2704 calculation standards • Constraint-based solver with Wahl factor stress correction • Goodman + Basquin fatigue life prediction with environmental and temperature derating • Force-deflection and S-N curves via Swift Charts • 3-candidate design suggestion when system is under-determined • Standard wire gauge snap (ISO 2702 / SWG) • Custom material editor • Metric, Imperial and Mixed (mm/kgf) units • PDF and text report export • Save designs locally with SwiftData • Localized in English, Traditional Chinese and Japanese References: Shigley's Mechanical Engineering Design 10e Ch.10, JIS B 2704:2009, JIS B 2705:2014, SMI Handbook of Spring Design. All calculations run entirely on-device — no account, no cloud, no tracking.

About

Volume Shader

Explore complex 3D fractal visualizations rendered natively on your iPhone or iPad. Test your device's GPU performance and check system states like thermal and battery.

Highlights
  • Native Metal GPU rendering
  • Mandelbulb ray marching
  • Device performance testing
  • System state monitoring
  • Interactive 3D exploration
  • Touch, haptic, and speaker checks
Features
Read full description

Volume Shader is the viral Volume Shader BM GPU test, built natively for iPhone and iPad. The Mandelbulb ray march runs in Metal on your iPhone or iPad. WHAT YOU CAN DO • Run Volume Shader BM at Simple, Standard, Advanced, or Extreme • Use Standard + 30 seconds when you want a score you can compare • Drag to rotate, pinch to zoom, and pan. Explore does not save a score. • Time CPU and memory on the same device • See GPU, memory, display, storage, and thermal state • Walk a display, touch, haptics, speaker, and battery checkup HEAT AND BATTERY This is a real GPU workload. The device can get warm and the battery will drain faster while a test is running. Extreme asks for confirmation. The app stops itself if iOS reports a critical thermal state. ADS Volume Shader is free. A small banner sits on Test and Device. Labeled native ads sit on Test, Device, and Checkup. Ads do not overlay the GPU test or fullscreen checkup steps. You can report an ad from the AdChoices icon on the ad. After one free Test session and one free Checkup session (each about 15 minutes), the next free session waits about 30 minutes. You can wait, or watch an optional short ad to unlock unlimited Tests and Checkup for 2 hours. Declining the ad does not block the rest of the app. PRIVACY No account. History and checkup marks stay on this device. A finished GPU window can be shared as anonymous device stats (FPS, GPU, device model, screen, OS version). Turn that off in Settings. If you tap Share, iOS’s share sheet sends only what you chose to the app you pick. Ads use the ads SDK described in the privacy policy. Support: https://volumeshaderbm.com Privacy: https://volumeshaderbm.com/privacy-policy/

Screenshots

SpringCalc4 screens
Volume Shader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: SpringCalc at every 2 weeks against Volume Shader's monthly. On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SpringCalc ships an update every 2 weeks, Volume Shader monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
SpringCalc versus Volume Shader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSpringCalcVolume Shader
PriceFreeFree
Rating—4.6 (11 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—66.7% of reviews
Number of ratings—11 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterMonthly
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB16 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSui Fai LawShahid Ali

In-app purchases

None

SpringCalc

No in-app purchases

None

Volume Shader

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SpringCalc free?
SpringCalc is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Volume Shader free?
Volume Shader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do SpringCalc or Volume Shader have ads?
Both SpringCalc and Volume Shader show ads.
Which is updated more often, SpringCalc or Volume Shader?
SpringCalc ships an update every 2 weeks, and Volume Shader monthly. Most recently, SpringCalc was updated on October 28, 2026 and Volume Shader on October 29, 2026.

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