Beaconator vs Bluetooth Sleuth
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Beaconator
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Beaconator is an all-in-one iBeacon broadcaster and detector for developers, testers, and educators. Whether you're building an indoor navigation app, testing proximity interactions, validating hardware, or learning about Bluetooth beacons, Beaconator makes iBeacon development simple. Configure a custom UUID, Major, and Minor, then instantly turn your iPhone into an iBeacon transmitter. On another device, detect nearby beacons, monitor signal strength, verify your configuration, and troubleshoot deployments without additional hardware. Features • Broadcast fully configurable iBeacon signals • Detect nearby iBeacons in real time • Adjustable UUID, Major, and Minor values • Generate random UUIDs for testing • Share beacon configurations with QR codes • Scan QR codes to configure another device instantly • View beacon proximity, RSSI, and estimated distance • Clean SwiftUI interface optimized for quick testing Perfect for • iOS developers • Bluetooth LE developers • Indoor positioning projects • Museum and exhibit installations • Retail and proximity marketing prototypes • Classroom demonstrations • QA and field testing • Hardware validation Typical Workflow 1. Configure a beacon on one device. 2. Display a QR code containing the beacon UUID. 3. Scan the QR code with a second device. 4. Begin ranging immediately to verify the broadcast. No typing. No extra hardware. No complicated setup. Beaconator was created by a developer who needed a simple way to test iBeacon-enabled applications in real-world environments. It has helped validate countless Bluetooth beacon deployments and continues to evolve with modern iOS and SwiftUI. All of the code is open-source and available at https://github.com/jeffreality/beaconator . Whether you're shipping a production app or experimenting with Core Location and Bluetooth LE, Beaconator gives you the tools you need to test quickly and confidently.
Bluetooth Sleuth
This utility allows users to deeply interact with their device's Bluetooth capabilities. It supports scanning for peripherals, advertising custom services, broadcasting and ranging iBeacons, and searching a comprehensive Bluetooth database.
- Configure custom Bluetooth advertisements
- Scan for specific or all advertising devices
- Connect to and browse peripheral services
- Broadcast and range iBeacons
- Search Bluetooth assigned numbers database
- Monitor RSSI values with graphing
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Bluetooth Sleuth is meant to be a well rounded app for interacting with your iOS or supported macOS device's Bluetooth functionality. This includes advertising and scanning for peripherals, as well as broadcasting, monitoring, and ranging iBeacons. The following covers some of the features included in Bluetooth Sleuth: [ADVERTISE] - Ability to configure an advertisement with your device - Create custom services, with their own characteristics and descriptors to advertise - Automatically saves custom services for later reuse [SCAN] - Ability to scan for all advertising devices within range - Ability to scan for specific advertisements that contain the provided CoreBluetooth UUID - Displays all peripherals, sorted by RSSI, with the ability to connect to devices that are open to connections - Browse a peripheral's services, characteristics, and descriptors - Monitor recent peripheral RSSI values with included graphing tools - Ability to automatically reconnect to a previously connected peripheral - Filter results to require names, ability to connect or minimum RSSI value [SEARCH] - Search through over 5,000 records in the Bluetooth database of assigned numbers for companies, services, characteristics and other related values [BROADCAST] - Configure your device to act as an iBeacon by providing it with a UUID, and optional major and minor values [RANGE] - Observe for the presence of any iBeacons broadcasting with the values you provide - See device information for any iBeacons located - Monitor recent iBeacon RSSI values with included graphing tools [MONITOR] - Observe region updates for any iBeacons broadcasting with the values you provide
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Beaconator at Free against Bluetooth Sleuth's $0.99. Bluetooth Sleuth's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 7 months). On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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
Beaconator is free to download; Bluetooth Sleuth costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Beaconator ships an update every 7 months, Bluetooth Sleuth every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 15, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Beaconator | Bluetooth Sleuth |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $0.99 |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Number of ratings | — | 1 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | — | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.2 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | pushplay.net | Sean McNeil |
In-app purchases
Beaconator
No in-app purchases
Bluetooth Sleuth
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Beaconator free?
Is Bluetooth Sleuth free?
Do Beaconator or Bluetooth Sleuth have ads?
Which is updated more often, Beaconator or Bluetooth Sleuth?
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