BlePad vs Palmote

BlePad turns your iPhone into a wireless remote controller for BLE UART devices — perfect for micro:bit, ESP32, and any Nordic UART Service (NUS) compatible hardware. Great for electronics projects, education, and robotics. ■ Four built-in remote screens Game Controller D-pad (up/down/left/right) and A/B buttons with full multi-touch support. Numpad Digits 0–9 plus arithmetic keys (+, −, ×, ÷). QWERTY Keyboard Full alphabetic layout, optimized for landscape orientation. Custom Remote Freely arrange widgets on a 12-column × 8-row grid in landscape mode. Choose from Buttons, ON/OFF Switches, and Sliders (horizontal or vertical). Set custom labels, command values, colors, and sizes for each widget. Long-press repeat sends the button command every 100 ms. Pro unlocks up to 20 saved layouts, and layout names can be up to 20 characters. ■ Share your layouts Share the custom remote layouts you've created with other phones. Export a layout as a JSON file and send it however you like — AirDrop, email, cloud storage, and more. Import a layout someone shared with you to start using the same setup right away. Exporting is available in the free version; importing requires Pro. ■ Receive Log Displays incoming BLE UART notifications in real time as a timestamped text log (up to 100 entries). ■ Free vs Pro Free (ad-supported) • Game Controller, Numpad, Keyboard: full access • Custom Remote: create, use, edit, and export 1 layout • Receive Log: full access Pro (one-time purchase) • Everything in Free • Custom Remote: up to 20 layouts, plus layout import • Ad-free ■ Technical specs • Protocol: Nordic UART Service (NUS) • Write / Write without response, max 20 bytes per packet (auto-detected from characteristic properties) • Command format: +ID\n on press, −ID\n on release • Requires iOS 17.0 or later ■ Compatible devices • BBC micro:bit (V1 / V2) • ESP32 (requires NUS-compatible BLE UART firmware) • Any Nordic UART Service (NUS) compatible BLE device Note: BLE stability depends on your environment. For robotics or safety-critical use, we recommend implementing emergency stop logic on the device side.

Turn your iPhone or iPad into a trackpad, keyboard and customizable controller for your Mac. TRACKPAD Move the pointer, tap, scroll with two fingers and drag with a long press. Dedicated left, middle and right mouse buttons and common shortcuts stay within reach. KEYBOARD Send text and use modifier keys, arrow keys and shortcuts. Bluetooth typing uses a US keyboard layout: select the ABC input source on your Mac. Chinese, Japanese and other Unicode text are supported through the optional Mac receiver over your local network. GAME CONTROLS Use dual sticks, a directional pad, ABXY and shoulder buttons. Customize keyboard mappings, dead zone and sensitivity, and enable motion aiming on supported devices. Keyboard-and-mouse mapping works with games that accept those inputs. The controller interface sends keyboard and mouse input, including configurable mouse buttons. It does not register as a native gamepad or provide analog movement. Games continue to show keyboard and mouse prompts. TWO CONNECTION OPTIONS Bluetooth direct connection uses the Mac's built-in Bluetooth input support without a Mac receiver. Keep Palmote open in the foreground and your Mac awake. You can search for your Mac inside Palmote when the phone does not appear in macOS Bluetooth settings. Discovery and initial pairing depend on the devices and existing pairing state. Local network mode requires the Palmote Mac receiver and a six-digit pairing code. It uses an encrypted connection on your trusted local network. No account, advertising or cloud service is required. Available in English, Simplified Chinese and Japanese.