nRF Toolbox vs Bluetooth mesh by Silicon Labs
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
nRF Toolbox
This utility app connects to various Bluetooth Low Energy accessories. It demonstrates multiple BLE profiles, including health and fitness sensors, allowing users to monitor data from devices like heart rate monitors and glucose monitors.
- Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity
- Demonstrates BLE profiles
- Heart Rate Monitor support
- Glucose Monitor support
- Cycling Speed and Cadence
- Running Speed and Cadence
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nRF Toolbox works with a wide range of Bluetooth Low Energy accessories. It contains applications demonstrating BLE profiles: Cycling Speed and Cadence, Running Speed and Cadence, Heart Rate Monitor, Blood Pressure Monitor, Health Thermometer, Glucose Monitor, Continuous Glucose Monitor, Monitoring & Diagnostic and more. The source code of this application is available on GitHub: https://github.com/nordicsemi/iOS-nRF-Toolbox
Bluetooth mesh by Silicon Labs
This app enables Bluetooth mesh networking on iOS devices. It allows users to provision and configure Bluetooth mesh devices, manage network nodes, and control devices implementing light and lightness models.
- Bluetooth mesh networking implementation
- Device provisioning
- Node configuration
- Publish and subscribe settings
- Node grouping
- Light and lightness model control
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This application implements Bluetooth mesh networking for the iOS operating system. The Bluetooth Mesh by Silicon Labs application can be used to provision Bluetooth mesh capable devices and add them as nodes into a Bluetooth mesh network. The application also supports the configuration of the mesh models, publish and subscribe settings as well grouping of nodes. The application also implements light and lightness models for Bluetooth mesh, so it can be used to control Bluetooth mesh nodes which implement the same models. The application implements the Bluetooth mesh networking stack from the GATT bearer and up all the way to the mesh model layer. The native Bluetooth stack on iOS is used to open LE GATT connections to Bluetooth mesh nodes with a proxy feature enabled.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Bluetooth mesh by Silicon Labs at 3.1 against nRF Toolbox's 2.6. Bluetooth mesh by Silicon Labs also leads on iOS requirement (14.0 vs 18.0). nRF Toolbox's advantage is review sentiment (22% vs 0%). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Bluetooth mesh by Silicon Labs holds the better App Store score, 3.1 against 2.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 8 and 7 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 22% of nRF Toolbox's written reviews are positive against 0% of Bluetooth mesh by Silicon Labs's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
nRF Toolbox ships an update every 5 weeks, Bluetooth mesh by Silicon Labs every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and August 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | nRF Toolbox | Bluetooth mesh by Silicon Labs |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.6 (8 ratings) | 3.1 (7 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 22.2% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 8 — better | 7 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 14.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 17 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Nordic Semiconductor ASA | Silicon Labs |
Customer experience
nRF Toolbox
Bluetooth mesh by Silicon Labs
In-app purchases
nRF Toolbox
No in-app purchases
Bluetooth mesh by Silicon Labs
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is nRF Toolbox free?
Is Bluetooth mesh by Silicon Labs free?
Which has better reviews, nRF Toolbox or Bluetooth mesh by Silicon Labs?
Do nRF Toolbox or Bluetooth mesh by Silicon Labs have ads?
Which is updated more often, nRF Toolbox or Bluetooth mesh by Silicon Labs?
Other comparisons
