Pro Altimeter vs DroneSense
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Pro Altimeter
This app measures and computes altitude using your device's barometric pressure sensor and GPS. It offers multiple calibration methods, including GPS, manual input, and airport METAR data, for accurate readings. The interface is simple with large, easy-to-read numbers and offers distinct day and night display modes.
- Barometric and GPS altitude measurement
- Multiple calibration methods (GPS, manual, METAR)
- Real-time accuracy estimates
- Large, easy-to-read display
- Day and night display modes
- Calibration reminders
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Pro Altimeter uses the high-fidelity barometric pressure sensor in iOS devices to measure and compute altitude. Pro Altimeter has a dead simple interface. Barometric altitude and GPS altitude are displayed in large easy to read numbers, showing units of both feet and meters, and giving realtime accuracy estimates from the hardware. At bottom are calibration and display mode buttons. The display offers a highly-readable daytime mode with black digits on an LCD-green background, and a reversed night mode that is easy on the eyes in dark conditions. That's it! Proper calibration is necessary to measure altitude from barometric pressure (this is why a pilot "dials in" the cockpit altimeter before taking off). Pro Altimeter offers four different methods for calibration -- choose the easiest and most convenient: 1. Use GPS altitude. This method correlates the measured local barometric pressure with the altitude measured by GPS. This method can be used when your device has a clear line of sight to the sky and a reliable GPS fix with good accuracy. 2. Manually enter altitude. This method correlates the measured local barometric pressure with known altitude from landmarks, elevation benchmarks, trail markers, topo maps, land surveys, etc. Altitude can be entered in feet or meters. 3. Manually enter pressure. If you have a weather station, weather report, or METAR report with equivalent sea level pressure for a nearby location, this can be used to correlate local barometric pressure to altitude. Pressure can be entered with units of inches Hg, kPa, or mb. 4. Check local airports. With the tap of a button, Pro Altimeter will locate the five closest airports within 100 miles (160km) of your present location anywhere in the world, and pull in METAR data. From that list of five, pick the airport of your choice and Pro Altimeter will import pressure data for calibration. Once calibrated, Pro Altimeter keeps track of the time since its last calibration. Because weather and local barometric pressure change over time, the app will warn you when 6 hours have elapsed since the last calibration by flashing the "CALIBRATE" button. You should calibrate as frequently as practical -- for example, on a hike, calibrate whenever you pass a trail marker or elevation benchmark. But at a minimum, calibrate at least every 6 hours or whenever weather changes in your area. Pro Altimeter is intended for iOS devices with a built-in barometric pressure sensor (iPhone 6 and later, iPad Air 2 and later, iPad mini 4 and later, and iPad Pro). On older devices without a barometric pressure sensor, only GPS altitude and accuracy will be displayed. If you have an Apple Watch, check out the new Pro Altimeter for Watch and get all this same functionality on your wrist!
DroneSense
This platform enables public safety agencies to manage drone operations, from pilot control and asset management to real-time situational awareness for incident commanders. It offers automated flight logging and a centralized system for organizing personnel, hardware, and flight history.
- Professional drone piloting
- Live video streaming
- Automated flight logging
- Asset and risk management
- Real-time situational awareness
- Collaborative operations hub
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For UAS Pilots - Fly a wide range of professional drones with DroneSense! Simply download this app directly onto your iPad and plug directly into any drone remote. Incorporating the latest and greatest drone is easy; there is no new training as the pilot will always fly with our app and have the same experience, no matter what drone is chosen. Share your live video stream with incident commanders easily to enable increased situational awareness on-scene. Automated flight logging ensures all data from all flights are available at any time. For Program Administrators - DroneSense is your complete system of record. It is a complete asset and risk management tool that provides accountability and transparency across your organization. Organize your people, hardware, and flight history in a powerful but intuitive interface. Whether it is automatically logging flight hours, filing NOTAMs, or managing personnel, DroneSense is your one-stop solution. Our software lets you quickly leverage all your resources so you can spend more time focused on the mission at hand. For Incident Commanders - DroneSense gives incident commanders and remote stakeholders the power to strategize and tactically collaborate. Our Operations Hub enables you to share real-time, low-latency, high definition views of a scene and plan dynamically. Anyone with a connected device can see a live pilot session, and multiple drone pilots can work together seamlessly. Please note that usage of the DroneSense Platform requires user registration and authorization from accredited public safety agencies.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: DroneSense at Free against Pro Altimeter's $0.99. DroneSense also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 56%) and rating (4.6 vs 3.8). Pro Altimeter's advantage is chart position (#20 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
DroneSense is free to download; Pro Altimeter costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
DroneSense holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 39 and 32 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 56% of Pro Altimeter's written reviews are positive against 100% of DroneSense's.
Pro Altimeter ships an update every 12 months, DroneSense monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and June 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Pro Altimeter | DroneSense |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.8 (39 ratings) | 4.6 (32 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 55.6% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 39 — better | 32 |
| Update frequency | Every 12 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #20 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 375 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Craig Hunter | DroneSense INC |
Customer experience
Pro Altimeter
DroneSense
In-app purchases
Pro Altimeter
No in-app purchases
DroneSense
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Pro Altimeter free?
Is DroneSense free?
Which has better reviews, Pro Altimeter or DroneSense?
Do Pro Altimeter or DroneSense have ads?
Which is updated more often, Pro Altimeter or DroneSense?
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