Sensor Play vs Spectrum
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.
Spectrum
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Turn your iPhone or iPad into a professional audio tool. Spectrum-V lets you measure, visualize, and explore sound with precision — perfect for musicians, audio engineers, and enthusiasts. Key Features • Waveform Analyzer – Monitor live audio waveforms directly from the microphone. • Spectrum Analyzer (FFT) – View frequency distribution with a fast and colorful FFT spectrum. • Spectrogram (Waterfall) – Explore sound energy over time with a vivid spectrogram display. • dB Meter – Check sound levels instantly with a responsive decibel meter (dBFS). • Tuner – Detect pitch and musical notes in real time — great for guitar, vocals, or any instrument. Spectrum-V combines simplicity with powerful analysis tools, making it easy to visualize sound whether you’re practicing music, testing acoustics, or just exploring the audio world.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Spectrum at $5.99 against Sensor Play's $14.99. Spectrum also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months). Sensor Play's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.0). On ads 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 Play costs $14.99 and Spectrum $5.99 up front. Spectrum sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Sensor Play asks for nothing beyond the download.
Sensor Play ships an update every 2 months, Spectrum every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 16, 2026 and September 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Sensor Play | Spectrum |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $14.99 | $5.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.7 (59 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 83.7% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 59 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 16 MB | 10 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Philip Broder | Victor Serov |
In-app purchases
Sensor Play
No in-app purchases
Spectrum
- Pro version$0.99









