nRF Toolbox vs Bluefruit Playground
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
Read full descriptionHide full description
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
Bluefruit Playground
This app wirelessly connects to specific hardware to control LEDs, display sensor data like light and temperature, and play sounds. It allows users to interact with electronic devices for fun and learning without coding.
- Control LED color and animation
- View sensor data (light, temperature, accelerometer)
- Monitor button and switch states
- Play tones and music
- Animate 3D puppets
- View barometer and humidity data
Read full descriptionHide full description
Bluefruit Playground connects wirelessly to Adafruit's Bluefruit hardware to remotely display sensor data, control hardware & more. Connect the Bluefruit Playground app to a CLUE or Circuit Playground Bluefruit device and you can: • Control LED color & animation • View continuous light sensor readings • View state of built-in buttons & switch • Play tones & music • View orientation based on accelerometer data • View & graph temperature readings • Animate a 3D puppet in real time • View Barometer & Humidity data from CLUE – all without soldering or writing a single line of code!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Bluefruit Playground at 100% against nRF Toolbox's 22%. Bluefruit Playground also leads on rating (4.0 vs 2.6) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 18.0). 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.
Bluefruit Playground holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 2.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 8 and 4 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 22% of nRF Toolbox's written reviews are positive against 100% of Bluefruit Playground's.
nRF Toolbox ships an update every 5 weeks, Bluefruit Playground every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | nRF Toolbox | Bluefruit Playground |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.6 (8 ratings) | 4.0 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 22.2% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 8 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks — better | Every 6 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 27 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Nordic Semiconductor ASA | Adafruit Industries |
Customer experience
nRF Toolbox
Bluefruit Playground
In-app purchases
nRF Toolbox
No in-app purchases
Bluefruit Playground
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is nRF Toolbox free?
Is Bluefruit Playground free?
Which has better reviews, nRF Toolbox or Bluefruit Playground?
Do nRF Toolbox or Bluefruit Playground have ads?
Which is updated more often, nRF Toolbox or Bluefruit Playground?
Other comparisons
