# Mr.Patrol vs CStore Essentials

The clearest difference is update cadence: Mr.Patrol at every 3 weeks against CStore Essentials's every 30 months. CStore Essentials's advantage is review sentiment (40% vs 21%). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 2.9 for Mr.Patrol against 3.0 for CStore Essentials. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 88 and 62 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 21% of Mr.Patrol's written reviews are positive against 40% of CStore Essentials's.

Mr.Patrol ships an update every 3 weeks, CStore Essentials every 30 months. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Mr.Patrol | CStore Essentials |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [2.9 (88 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mrpatrol/id871645884/reviews) | **[3.0 (62 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cstore-essentials/id968114138/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **88** | 62 |
| Positive reviews | 20.9% of reviews | **39.5% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 3 weeks** | Every 30 months |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Size | 36 MB | 21 MB |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 | **11.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [RNC Network](https://appshunter.io/developer/871645887) | [Excentus](https://appshunter.io/developer/525790670) |

## What reviewers say

### Mr.Patrol

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mrpatrol/id871645884)

Monitor your security cameras remotely with this intuitive application. Access live feeds, review recorded footage, and manage your devices with ease. Customize settings and share important files directly from your phone.

**Highlights:** Live camera feeds, Playback and file saving, PTZ control, Device list management, Instant P2P connection, Customizable settings

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Useful for NVR access and playback
- 👍 Great for monitoring property
- 👍 Works in place of Magic Viewer
- 👍 Responsive and easy to use
- 👍 Good capture and record functions

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Frequent crashes after updates
- 🐛 Black screen issues
- 🐛 App window disappears
- 🐛 Ineffective for viewing/playback
- 🐛 "Reconnecting" and resetting cameras

**Reported bugs**

- Recent update causes crashes
- App goes to black screen
- App window disappears after 7 seconds
- App resets cameras to 0 feed
- Cannot save photo to app

**Requested features**

- Fix recent update crashes
- Resolve black screen issue
- Fix app window disappearing
- Enable saving photos to app
- Fix landscape rotation


### CStore Essentials

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cstore-essentials/id968114138)

Monitor and manage all your retail stores remotely from your smartphone. Get real-time insights into sales, transactions, and inventory changes, even when you're away.

**Highlights:** Remote store management, Live transaction monitoring, Full transaction receipts, Live department and gas sales, Add new items, Change item prices

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Mr.Patrol free?

Mr.Patrol is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is CStore Essentials free?

CStore Essentials is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Mr.Patrol or CStore Essentials?

CStore Essentials is rated higher. Mr.Patrol averages 2.9 out of 5 from 88 ratings, while CStore Essentials averages 3.0 from 62 ratings.

### Do Mr.Patrol or CStore Essentials have ads?

Neither Mr.Patrol nor CStore Essentials shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Mr.Patrol or CStore Essentials?

Mr.Patrol ships an update every 3 weeks, and CStore Essentials every 30 months. Most recently, Mr.Patrol was updated on October 11, 2026 and CStore Essentials on October 13, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*