Clean Swell vs @BactLAB
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Clean Swell
Easily record trash collected during cleanups to contribute to global ocean trash data. Track your impact, share results, and get involved in ocean advocacy.
- Record collected trash items
- Share cleanup results
- Action alerts and blogs
- Track trash weight and distance
- Historical cleanup record
- Contribute to global database
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Join a global movement to keep beaches, waterways and our ocean trash free! Clean Swell® makes it easy for anyone to make an impact. When you head out to clean up in your neighborhood, beach, or park use Clean Swell to be a part of long-lasting solutions. With this app you can easily record each item of trash you collect, which helps scientists and advocates around the world tackle ocean trash at a global scale. Clean Swell makes it easy for you to become a champion for our ocean with ways to get involved in our Action Center and share your work with your friends and family. Join thousands of International Coastal Cleanup® volunteers who are working for a cleaner ocean by picking up millions of pounds of trash each year. Simply open Clean Swell and “Start Collecting” trash wherever you are around the world. The data you collect will instantaneously upload to Ocean Conservancy’s global ocean trash database. Anytime, anywhere, you can use Clean Swell to see the impact you’ve had on our ocean and get involved in the fight for trash free seas. With Clean Swell you can: * Record every item of trash you collect and share with scientists and policy-makers around the world. * Share your Cleanup results and impact with friends via social media. * Become an ocean advocate with action alerts and helpful blogs in our Action Center. * See the total weight of the trash you collect, track the location of your cleanup (only if you have enabled GPS or Location on your device) and see your total distance cleaned. * See your overall impact on our ocean with a complete historical record of your cleanup efforts. Once you download Clean Swell, you will need a valid email address to set up an account. Your privacy is very important to us, so rest assured that we’ll always keep your details secure. https://oceanconservancy.org/privacy-policy/
@BactLAB
Easily count bacterial colonies on food safety test plates using your smartphone. This app leverages AI and cloud technology to promote operational efficiency and improve quality of life for those involved in food health and safety.
- AI-powered colony counting
- Cloud storage for count data
- Count report generation (PDF/email)
- Supports multiple CompactDry™ test types
- Arbitrary adjustment function for counts
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The safety and security of foods are important for humans to live. The examination of bacteria in foods and drinking water can be easily available to everyone. The product supports human life in any place and region. Making it easy bacterial counting, by using a familiar mobile device for everyone around the world, trying to promote operational efficiency using the global cloud and AI, adding value to CompactDry™ to play a role in the improvement of the QOL, keeping these ideas in mind we have developed the application for everyone engaging on health and safety of food. You can easily determine the bacterial (colony) count cultured in CompactDry™ using your smartphone. Targeted Products ( 7 Types ) CompactDry™ TC ( General Bacteria ) CompactDry™ TCR ( General Bacteria ) CompactDry™ EC ( E.coli / Coliforms ) CompactDry™ CF ( Coliforms ) CompactDry™ YM ( Yeast / Fungus ) CompactDry™ YMR ( Yeast / Fungus ) CompactDry™ ECO ( E.coli ) Primary Functions Colony counter - Colony count arbitrary adjustment function equipped - Cloud storage function for count data Count report [ pdf / email ] Uniform management of data by company (*Optional) Remarks - Regarding the colony counting process, the processing with the initial AI model released in August 2018 had implemented counting technology image processing that combines "image processing" and "machine learning (Deep Learning)" for colony position detection. In the AI model released in July 2023, object detection AI network (machine learning model) [YOLOv4] that processes position (area) detection and class classification in one network is used as a backbone and implemented as a hard-tuning AI enabling business use by repeated inference verification tests specializing in colony detection (counting) . - The cloud image recognition technology used in this service employs artificial intelligence (AI) technology for image recognition system jointly developed by Shimadzu Diagnostics Corporation and Hitachi Solutions, Ltd. - Restrictions for input images in Colony Counter No warranty of accuracy is given for the following images. 1. Image resolution of less than 800 pix x 1200 pix. 2. The background color is not white. 3. Colored medium. 4. A viscous sample is added. 5. Food residues are contained. 6. Highly concentrated colonies. Other ・The count result of "0" does not mean a negative result. ・Detection range is between 1–250 cfu/plate. ・There are two types of misreads that can occur when using the @BactLAB™. - @BactLAB™ Application did not detect all of the colonies specific to the CompactDry™ plate. - The counter detected all the colonies but it categorized them incorrectly. - Please note that the specification or performance may be changed without notice. - The cloud image recognition technology utilized in this service employs the artificial intelligence (AI) technology for image recognition system jointly developed by Shimadzu Diagnostics Corporation and Hitachi Solutions, Ltd. - Please see here. https://corp.sdc.shimadzu.co.jp/english/products/global/bactlab/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Clean Swell at 61% against @BactLAB's 0%. Clean Swell also leads on rating (4.4 vs 1.7) and ratings volume (27 vs 6). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Clean Swell holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 1.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 27 and 6 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 61% of Clean Swell's written reviews are positive against 0% of @BactLAB's.
Clean Swell ships an update monthly, @BactLAB every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Clean Swell | @BactLAB |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (27 ratings) — better | 1.7 (6 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 61.2% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 27 — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.5 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 64 MB | 24 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ocean Conservancy | Shimadzu Diagnostics Corporation |
Customer experience
Clean Swell
@BactLAB
In-app purchases
Clean Swell
No in-app purchases
@BactLAB
No in-app purchases









