Octoscope - Electricity & Gas 4+

Brilliant

An app that stands head and shoulders above the crowd. Well worth giving the free trial a go to try the extra features. I particularly like seeing the dynamic Agile price as a complication on my Apple Watch. Happy with the subscription when it kicks in for 12 months next week.

Can’t connect with my API

Turned out to be my fault in copy and paste. All now working fine and getting to grips with the various functions. Thanks to Rob for a very prompt response to my previous review.

Developer Response ,

Hi there,

I'm sorry to hear you're having trouble connecting. If you'd like support with your issue please drop me a line at support@octoscope.app and we can get to the bottom of it & get you connected.

All the best,
Rob
Developer

Ripoff of Octopus Watch

Octoscope is such an obvious copycat of Octopus Watch that I'm surprised Apple doesn't remove it. Octoscope is just ugly, over-full, and clearly here to confuse. The most annoying thing? The need to subscribe to access features that is constantly thrown in your face. You can see the slider to find the best slot but once you want to use the feature you get a pop-up window that you need to subscribe... Octopus Watch has a base app for just £2 that offers 90% of the features of Octoscope! Yeah, nope.

Developer Response ,

Hi there! Thanks for your review, I’m sorry to hear you feel this is a copy of Octopus Watch. I’d like to explain the positioning of the two apps and hopefully I can help you see the ecosystem in a more positive light.

First up, this is not a “copycat” of Octopus Watch. Both are mature apps in a competitive ecosystem that includes many others. As with any crowded market, you’ll find similar features across multiple apps. This is normal software development. Octoscope and Octopus Watch adopt radically different designs and appeal to different users.

You’re right to call out that Octoscope and Octopus Watch have different business models. I am proud that Octoscope is a freemium app. I never bombard users with requests to pay. Users see the paywall once during onboarding and later only if they try to access Pro features. The vast majority of users get great features without paying me a thing. In contrast, Octopus Watch has a price of entry that will discourage many. I understand you prefer paymium apps over freemium ones, and I respect your willingness to pay app developers for their work, but that does not mean Octoscope is a poor choice for other folks.

You’re absolutely right you need a subscription to use Octoscope’s “slot finder” tools. Different apps will restrict different features. On the flip side, Octoscope users get carbon intensity data and daily breakdowns for free (both are subscription features in Octopus Watch). This is another form of choice for users - a good thing. You’ve called Octoscope a copycat but take issue with a difference in feature restrictions. Alas, we cannot have our cake and eat it.

These apps exist in a competitive space. They are different and offer choice. That is good for users.