Bluetooth Lock vs nRF Connect for Mobile
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Bluetooth Lock
Automatically lock your Mac when you walk away using your iPhone as a key. This app utilizes Bluetooth LE for efficient energy use and offers customizable auto-lock settings based on signal strength. It ensures your Mac password remains secure on your computer.
- Auto-lock Mac when you walk away
- Uses iPhone as a key
- Customizable signal strength for locking
- Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy technology
- Password security via OS X Keychain
- Companion OS X app required
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Lock your Mac by just walking away! Bluetooth Lock turns your iPhone into a key for your Mac. When you walk away from your Mac, it will be automatically locked. It is the latest and most convenient way to protect your computer from unauthorized access. Bluetooth Lock for iOS needs to come together with the Bluetooth Lock for OS X companion app that you can download from http://zipzapmac.com/BL AUTO-LOCK: Enable “Lock when signal strength is….” in Bluetooth Lock for OS X and your Mac will be automatically locked when your iOS device moves away from it. You can even be notified when your Mac is locked. FEATURES: - Perfectly designed to be easy to use. - Auto-lock when you're away from your Mac. - Show current signal strength. - Auto-Calibrate feature controls the required signal strength on which your Mac should automatically lock and unlock. - You can also manually set up the required signal strength on which your Mac should automatically lock. - Bluetooth Lock uses the latest Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy technology to use as little energy as possible, no matter how frequent you use it! - Security feature: your OS X password is never transferred anywhere from your Mac. Bluetooth Lock for OS X stores it in your Mac's Keychain, and OS X maintains the security. Even Bluetooth Lock for iOS has no access to this information. - Bluetooth Lock for iOS and Bluetooth Lock for OS X have been designed with speed in mind. Bluetooth Lock requires an iOS device with Bluetooth LE is running iOS 8 or later, and a Mac with Bluetooth LE (Low Energy) is running OS X Yosemite or later. Macs that support Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy: - iMac late 2012 or later - MacBook Air 2011 or later - MacBook Pro 2012 or later - Mac mini 2011 or later - Mac Pro late 2013 or later Check if your Mac supports Bluetooth Low Energy by clicking the Apple menu > About This Mac > System Report > Bluetooth. Thanks go to all the Bluetooth Lock users for their great feedback and suggestions! Please leave your Feedback & Suggestions in our Knowledge Base: http://bluetooth-lock.uservoice.com
nRF Connect for Mobile
This app is a versatile tool for scanning, exploring, and communicating with Bluetooth Low Energy devices. It also enables your device to act as a peripheral and supports firmware updates for compatible devices.
- Scan and discover Bluetooth LE peripherals
- Communicate with Bluetooth LE devices
- Advertise as a Bluetooth LE peripheral
- Update compatible device firmware (DFU)
- Filter scanned peripherals
- Live RSSI chart
- Log BLE function calls
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nRF Connect is a powerful generic tool that allows you to scan and explore your Bluetooth Low Energy (henceforth Bluetooth LE, also called Bluetooth Version 4.0+ of the Bluetooth specification) devices and communicate with them. nRF Connect also allows your iOS device to advertise as a peripheral, with full support of many of Bluetooth SIG adopted profiles. Additionally, nRF Connect supports Nordic Semiconductor’s Device Firmware Update profile (DFU) capabilities, allowing you to update compatible peripherals! + Features: • Supports DFU on all Nordic Semiconducto-powered devices. • Supports Nordic Thingy™ from Nordic Semiconductor. • Scan and discover nearby Bluetooth LE peripherals. • Filter Scanned Peripherals by Name, Manufacturer, Services (Advertised & Connected) and RSSI Level. • Parsing Multiple Formats of Bluetooth LE Advertisement Data. • Live RSSI Chart of Scanned Bluetooth LE Peripherals. • Complete iPad Support, including Multi-Tasking and Mouse Support as of 13.4. • Logs: Including BLE Function calls, and Export Function as CSV and Text. • Privacy-Oriented: Full-Disclosure of Scanned Data, Advertised Data, and User-Performed Actions held by nRF Connect. • Connecting to Any Connectable Bluetooth LE Smart Device. • Discovery of Services, Characteristics and Descriptors. • Read and Write Characteristics and Descriptors. • Enable and Disable Notifications and Indications. • Advertising as a Bluetooth LE Peripheral. • Setting up a Bluetooth LE (Peripheral) Server and Notifying/Indicating back to connected Central(s). • Low-Fat: nRF Connect for iOS is Very Small, so You Can Always Keep Us With You! >= Requirements: • iOS 16.0 and above. - Notes: nRF Connect also works with our Development Kits, which you may acquire online here: https://www.nordicsemi.com/eng/buy-online
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: nRF Connect for Mobile at 71% against Bluetooth Lock's 25%. nRF Connect for Mobile also leads on rating (4.5 vs 2.3) and ratings volume (473 vs 3). Bluetooth Lock's advantage is iOS requirement (8.0 vs 17.0). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
nRF Connect for Mobile holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 2.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: nRF Connect for Mobile has 473 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 25% of Bluetooth Lock's written reviews are positive against 71% of nRF Connect for Mobile's.
| Parameter | Bluetooth Lock | nRF Connect for Mobile |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.3 (3 ratings) | 4.5 (473 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 25.0% of reviews | 70.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 3 | 473 — better |
| Update frequency | — | Every 5 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 7 MB | 15 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Alice Dev Team | Nordic Semiconductor ASA |
Customer experience
Bluetooth Lock
nRF Connect for Mobile
Bugs and requests
Bluetooth Lock
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
nRF Connect for Mobile
Reported bugs
4 issues- Can't read data from Bluetooth device
- Tries to ask for Bluetooth connection when Bluetooth is off. Asks to connect to devices when Bluetooth is off. Who knows what this app is doing in the background without permission?! What ever it is , it ain't good
- Tapping "tabs" doesn't work (nothing changes in the UI). To get some response from tapping UI controls typically requires (a) launching nRF Connect, (b) switching to another app, (c) switching back to nRF Connect. I've tried uninstalling and re-downloading. Same result. This used to be the bee's knees of BLE tools but it's only worth 1 star at the moment (v2.7.11).
- Cant go past the initial announcement. The app is unresponsive to the taps.
Requested features
4 requests- Where's the mac addresses
- Max rssi limit
- Log view
- We need macros in iOS version
In-app purchases
Bluetooth Lock
No in-app purchases
nRF Connect for Mobile
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Bluetooth Lock free?
Is nRF Connect for Mobile free?
Which has better reviews, Bluetooth Lock or nRF Connect for Mobile?
Do Bluetooth Lock or nRF Connect for Mobile have ads?
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