Sensor Play vs Sensor Data Recorder
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Sensor Play
Record and analyze data from your iPhone's built-in sensors, including accelerometer, gyroscope, and GPS. Automate recordings with triggers and export data for scientific or engineering analysis.
- Record accelerometer, gyroscope, GPS, barometer, magnetometer data
- Background recording up to six hours
- Automated recording triggers (delay, GPS region, g-force)
- Export data to CSV for analysis
- In-app viewer for sensor recordings
- Real-time sensor data visualization
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Sensor Play - the iPhone Sensor Playground, and the best app for serious scientific research and data recording. Used by engineers, scientists, teachers, and enthusiasts all around the world. The sensors built into all iPhones are amazing examples of the power in your pocket. To have a GPS receiver, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, even a Barometer with you at all times is a marvel of miniature engineering. It's simply fun to see the output from all these sensors, play with each interactively, or just view the raw data. Record Accelerometer, Gyroscope, GPS, Barometer, Magnetometer sensor data and share by email for further analysis, or review using the in app viewer. However Sensor Play is not just a toy. Beyond the obvious fun of watching the accelerometer and gyroscope graphs bounce around you can now record multi-sensor data all at the same time, even in the background, for a full external analysis of your, or your iPhone's, motion through time and space however you so desire. And now with Automation you can trigger your recordings to start either after a simple delay, when you enter or leave a preset GPS Region, or when the iPhone is nudged above a selected gForce. Then end your recordings either after a set duration, or when you enter or leave a preset GPS Region. Automation makes getting the data you want so much easier, and eliminates lots of unnecessary recorded data. Set up the triggers as required, close the phone and go. Set and Forget! Later when you open SensorPlay the data you were after will have been automatically recorded and saved for you. The following data is recorded to a csv file for sharing through the standard iPhone share sheet. Timestamp Accelerometer: X, Y, Z Gyroscope: X, Y, Z Attitude: Roll, Pitch, Yaw Location: Longitude, Latitude, Speed, TrueHeading, Altitude Motion Activity: Type & Confidence Barometer: Pressure, Relative Altitude Magnetometer: µT X, Y, Z, calibrated x,y,z, rotation matrix, and quaternion Visual graphs of sensor recordings in one place, as long as they're not too large anyway. Background mode is supported for all recordings, accelerometer, gyro, and multi-sensor export, lock your screen and keep recording all sensor data for up to six hours. A serious engineering, scientific, and educational analysis tool. Sharing of all recordings is now through the built in share options which includes, Airdrop, mail, message, notes, dropbox (if installed), etc. Sensors currently supported: Barometer (iPhone 6 and above only) - see the atmospheric pressure in a choice of 7 units, see your relative altitude plotted over time. - Widget available to display the atmospheric pressure in the notification centre. Accelerometer - See the g-forces on the X,Y,Z axis and see them traced over time. - Widget available to show gMax in X,Y,Z axis on notification screen. - Record the data and share for further analysis Gyroscope - Watch the rate of rotation over the X,Y,Z axis plotted over time. - Record the data and share for further analysis GPS/Location Services - See your exact location mapped on screen and share your Lat/Long coordinates by text or email. Magnetometer/Compass - See the magnetic field acting on the X, Y, Z, axis along with an interactive compass. 3D/Force Touch (6S ->11 only) Note: Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.
Sensor Data Recorder
This utility app records gyroscope, accelerometer, and audio data from your device. Export your recorded data as CSV or M4A files for further processing, particularly for machine learning applications. Your data remains private and is only accessible on your device.
- Record gyroscope and accelerometer data
- Record audio simultaneously
- Label recordings for ML workflow
- Adjust data capture frequency
- Download or email data
- Export as CSV and M4A
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A lightweight utility in order to quickly and securely record CoreMotion gyroscope and accelerometer data together with audio data. CoreMotion data can be downloaded as a CSV (comma separated values) file and audio can be downloaded as a standard m4a file. Your data is only available on your device. Data will not be shared with others and will not be uploaded centrally. Data can then be used for further processing, mostly for machine learning (ML) / deep learning purposes. Key highlights: - Record gyroscope and accelerometer data directly from your phone's CoreMotion module - In parallel, record audio from your phone's microphone - Assign a label to each recording which can be later used in your machine learning workflow - Choose the frequency of the data to be captured per second - Download the captured data or send it via email - Further process the data within your favorite machine learning environment, e.g. using Python
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Sensor Data Recorder at Free against Sensor Play's $14.99. Sensor Play's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 3.0) and review sentiment (84% vs 50%). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support 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
Sensor Data Recorder is free to download; Sensor Play costs $14.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Sensor Play holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sensor Play has 59 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 84% of Sensor Play's written reviews are positive against 50% of Sensor Data Recorder's.
Sensor Play ships an update every 2 months, Sensor Data Recorder every 26 months. The most recent releases landed on September 16, 2026 and June 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Sensor Play | Sensor Data Recorder |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $14.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.7 (59 ratings) — better | 3.0 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 83.7% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 59 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 26 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 14.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 16 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Philip Broder | Nils Ackermann |
Customer experience
Sensor Play
Sensor Data Recorder
In-app purchases
Sensor Play
No in-app purchases
Sensor Data Recorder
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Sensor Play free?
Is Sensor Data Recorder free?
Which has better reviews, Sensor Play or Sensor Data Recorder?
Do Sensor Play or Sensor Data Recorder have ads?
Which is updated more often, Sensor Play or Sensor Data Recorder?
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