Comparison

cool vs PhoneCheck

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

Head to head
About

cool

Features
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cool-radar turns the radios already inside your iPhone into a radar for the devices around you — with no extra hardware, and without inventing a single number. WHAT YOU SEE Nearby Bluetooth LE devices appear as contacts with an estimated distance, a bearing once there is enough geometry to support one, and a ranked guess at what each device actually is. The Wi-Fi card shows the link your phone is really on: type, interface, local address and subnet, the default gateway and the gateway's manufacturer. Where both ends have UWB hardware, distance stops being an estimate and becomes a measurement. HONEST BY DESIGN Every value carries a badge. "Measured" is a hardware reading. "Inferred" is a value the math derived. Distances read "≈ 4.5 m" because radio ranging is an estimate, not a ruler. When there is not enough geometry for a direction, the app draws a ring of possible positions and a question mark instead of a convincing-looking arrow. And when iOS simply does not expose something — neighbouring Wi-Fi networks, raw spectrum, Wi-Fi CSI — the app says so instead of filling the gap with fiction. THE MATH INSIDE • Log-distance path-loss inversion, with a per-device exponent that recalibrates itself from the geometry you walk • Kalman filtering with motion-gated noise, so a device that is standing still stops drifting on screen • Robust multilateration with Huber weights, so a single reflection off a wall cannot drag a position across the room • A naive-Bayes hypothesis engine that ranks device types from the broadcast name, company ID, advertised GATT services, transmit power, address policy and advertising cadence — and shows you the evidence behind every guess • Behaviour analytics over the signal time series: advertising interval, jitter, trend and periodicity • Radio tomography that maps excess path loss into an attenuation picture of the space FEATURES • Top-down radar with range rings, pinch to zoom, double tap to reset • Device list with search and type filters • Device card with signal history, ranked hypotheses and the evidence for each • Unwanted-tracker heuristics based on public advertising patterns • CSV export of a session • Full Russian and English, switchable inside the app PRIVACY All sensing and all math run on your iPhone. No account, no analytics, no tracking, no advertising identifier. One optional setting — off until you turn it on — may send a 24-bit manufacturer prefix to a public vendor database to name your router. Nothing else ever leaves the device. Use cool-radar only on networks and devices you are entitled to inspect. It does not decrypt Find My identities, does not enumerate neighbouring Wi-Fi networks, and provides no covert tracking of people. REQUIREMENTS iOS 18 or later. Bluetooth works on every iPhone. UWB distance needs U1/U2 hardware on both devices. Room geometry needs a LiDAR model. Anything unavailable on your hardware is shown as unavailable rather than simulated.

About

PhoneCheck

Features
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PhoneCheck helps you inspect a used phone before you buy it. Buying a second-hand device from a marketplace, reseller, or another person? Run a guided hardware inspection and check the most important functions before handing over your money. PhoneCheck walks you through practical tests and creates a clear inspection result based on the checks you actually perform. COMPLETE DEVICE INSPECTION Test important parts of the device through a simple guided process. Screen Tests • Touchscreen grid test • Multi-touch test • Dead pixel check • OLED and image retention check • Display brightness check Audio Tests • Main speaker • Earpiece • Microphone recording and playback Camera Tests • Rear camera • Front camera • Focus test • Flash and torch test Sensor Tests • Accelerometer • Gyroscope • Compass • Proximity sensor • Haptics and vibration Connectivity Tests • Wi-Fi and network connectivity • Bluetooth • GPS and location • Cellular connectivity PHYSICAL INSPECTION PhoneCheck also guides you through important checks that require visual or manual inspection, including: • Side and volume buttons • Charging port • Face ID or Touch ID • Screen condition • Back glass condition • Front and rear cameras • Speaker and microphone condition DEVICE INFORMATION View useful information available from the device, including: • Device model • Operating system version • Storage capacity • Available storage • Battery percentage • Charging status • Display information • Sensor and camera capabilities PhoneCheck uses public system APIs and does not claim access to restricted information that third-party applications cannot reliably obtain. CLEAR INSPECTION RESULTS After completing the inspection, PhoneCheck summarizes the results using easy-to-understand statuses: . Passed . Needs Attention . Failed . Skipped or Unavailable You can quickly see which areas performed correctly and which ones deserve a closer look before purchasing the device. RETEST PROBLEMS Found something suspicious? Run failed or questionable tests again without repeating the entire inspection. SAVE YOUR INSPECTIONS Keep previous inspection results on your device so you can review and compare devices later. BUILT FOR SECOND-HAND BUYERS PhoneCheck is useful when checking a device from: • Facebook Marketplace • eBay • Local marketplaces • Used-device stores • Refurbished-device sellers • Private sellers PhoneCheck reports only the results of tests performed using the app and user-confirmed inspection items. It does not guarantee a device's authenticity, ownership status, repair history, future performance, or overall condition.

Screenshots

cool4 screens
PhoneCheck4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: cool at none against PhoneCheck's shown. PhoneCheck's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). On price and in-app purchases 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.

Scorecard3 real differences · 2 level
cool versus PhoneCheck: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParametercoolPhoneCheck
PriceFreeFree
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB26 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperZheniy Shaccfadma OUBLOUCH

In-app purchases

None

cool

No in-app purchases

None

PhoneCheck

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is cool free?
cool is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is PhoneCheck free?
PhoneCheck is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do cool or PhoneCheck have ads?
PhoneCheck shows ads; cool does not.

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