JSON Pilot vs Knockbox
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ with what reviewers say about each.
JSON Pilot
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A native JSON viewer and editor for iPhone, with an on-device AI assistant that explains your data without sending a byte to the cloud. JSON Pilot opens any JSON โ from Files, the share sheet, AirDrop, your clipboard, or an HTTP request you fire from inside the app โ and gives you three ways to read it: a syntax-highlighted Tree, a tap-to-edit Fields drilldown, and a Text view with line numbers. Edit at any level, prettify or minify, validate with a precise line:col error, and Save the edits back to the original file. โ FREE FOREVER โ The whole viewer and editor is free with no account, no nags, no cloud sync. View, edit, validate, format, minify, search, Save, Save to Files, Share, Copy. We never gate the basics. โ ON-DEVICE AI ASSISTANT โ Ask "What is this JSON?" or "Find issues" or "Extract all emails" and JSON Pilot answers locally, using Apple Foundation Models. Your JSON, your prompts, and the model's replies never leave your iPhone. No server, no API key, no cloud fallback. (The AI assistant requires an Apple-Intelligence-capable iPhone โ 15 Pro and the full 16/17 family. On other devices the assistant is automatically disabled; everything else in the app still works.) โ POWER TOOLS (PRO) โ โข JSON Diff โ compare two payloads by structure. Reformatting is never a change. Summary view groups Changed / Added / Removed; Unified view shows a GitHub-style line diff. โข JSONPath queries โ $, ., [i], [*], .. and more. Matches highlight right on the Tree. โข Format conversion โ export to YAML, CSV, or XML. โข HTTP request tool โ send GET / POST / PUT / PATCH / DELETE with custom headers, open the JSON response in the same workspace. โข Auto-fix โ repair broken JSON: trailing commas, single quotes, unquoted keys, comments, smart quotes. โข Themes โ accent color and three syntax palettes. โ PRIVACY YOU CAN VERIFY โ Zero analytics SDKs. Zero telemetry. Zero crash reporters. The only network traffic the app initiates is StoreKit (your purchases) and HTTP requests you fire yourself. Recents are stored locally โ CloudKit is explicitly disabled. JSON Pilot does not request Camera, Photos, Contacts, Microphone, Location, or any other iOS permission. โ UPGRADE TO PRO โ Two ways to unlock the same Pro features: โข Monthly subscription โ billed monthly, cancel anytime. โข Lifetime โ one-time purchase, keep Pro forever. Both options unlock the same features. See the App Store listing for current pricing in your region. Manage or cancel anytime in iOS Settings โ Apple ID โ Subscriptions. โ REQUIREMENTS โ iPhone running iOS 26.4 or later. AI features require an Apple-Intelligence-capable iPhone. โ SUPPORT โ Questions, bugs, ideas? Tap App Support above โ we read everything. โ TERMS โ Terms of Use: https://shilovskii.dev/apps/json-pilot/terms.html Privacy Policy: https://shilovskii.dev/apps/json-pilot/privacy.html
Knockbox
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Knock once, and your phone buzzes. Knockbox turns one HTTP request into a push notification on your iPhone. Anything that can send a request can reach you: a deploy script, a cron job, a monitoring check, a CI pipeline, or a coding agent that has just finished a long task. If it needs your go-ahead before continuing, it can wait for your answer. curl -d "Build finished" https://your-server/api/v1/send/YOUR_TOKEN THE SERVER IS YOURS Knockbox is the client for a server you control. The server is open source and runs on a VPS, a NAS, or a Raspberry Pi at home. It holds its own Apple push key, so a notification goes from your machine to Apple and then to your phone, without passing through anyone in between. If you would rather not run anything, open knockbox.miramiao.com on your iPhone and you are connected โ no sign-up, no password. WHAT A MESSAGE CAN CARRY โข A Markdown body with headings, lists, links and syntax-highlighted code. โข Images, shown in the notification and kept with the message. โข Long text. The body is fetched as the notification lands rather than packed into it, so there is no length limit to work around. โข A title, a channel, and an interruption level: quiet, normal, or time sensitive when it has to break through Focus. REPLIES โข The sender can attach a set of options, or allow a free-text answer. โข Answer from the message itself. Your server posts the reply back to the address the sender gave, signed, and the sender takes it from there. โข The sender can set a deadline. After it passes the message reads "Reply window closed" and the server stops accepting โ you are never left thinking an answer went through. โข A message is answered once, and the answer is the same across your devices. CHANNELS โข One token per channel, so a noisy monitor and a personal reminder stay apart. โข Muting a channel truly stops it: the mute lives on the server, so nothing is sent at all. โข Search your history, mark as read, delete a message, or clear a channel. Deletions are real, on the device and on the server. MORE THAN ONE DEVICE Pair a second iPhone or iPad from a device that is already connected. Both receive everything and share read state. TRY IT WITHOUT A SERVER Demo mode fills the app with example messages and sends a sample notification, so you can see how it works before setting anything up. FREE, AND THAT IS ALL No ads, no analytics, no account with us, no in-app purchase, no subscription. The app is free and the server is open source. Server source code: https://github.com/aichy126/knockbox Public server: https://knockbox.miramiao.com How to send: https://knockbox.miramiao.com/docs Questions: info@miramiao.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Knockbox at none against JSON Pilot's 2. Knockbox also leads on update cadence (daily vs monthly) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.4). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.
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
Both are free to download. JSON Pilot sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Knockbox asks for nothing beyond the download.
JSON Pilot ships an update monthly, Knockbox daily. Both last shipped on October 6, 2026.
| Parameter | JSON Pilot | Knockbox |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Daily โ better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No โ better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 26.4 | 17.0 โ better |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Georgii Shilovskii | ่ ่ |
In-app purchases
JSON Pilot
- Pro Monthly3 Days trial$1.991 Month
- Pro โ Lifetime Unlock$6.99
Knockbox
No in-app purchases









