Equity Maps vs Spark
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Equity Maps
This app helps educators visualize and analyze student participation in classroom discussions. It allows teachers to track who speaks, how often, and the nature of their contributions, fostering reflection and equity.
- Visualize student participation
- Instant feedback and analytics
- Animated playback of discussions
- Track contribution types
- Create custom identity markers
- Export audio and analytics (Premium)
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• Elevate the voices in the room -- help students to reflect & grow! • Provide Instant Feedback – Nurture Reflection – Ignite Collaboration – Promote Equity • Created by teachers, for teachers & their students. Ideal for Socratic seminars, Spider Web™ & Harkness® (*) discussions, Literature Circles, Dialogic lesson designs, or anytime students interact. Effortlessly chart & record students’ interactions to graphically illustrate levels & types of participation. Spur deeper reflection with the discussion maps, instant analytics & animated playback at multiple speeds. NEW IN PREMIUM! – Export audio & class analytics – Post in your LMS or email directly to your students along with their talk time, Checknotes of types of contributions, the discussion map, & your personal feedback (beta). STANDARD FEATURES: • Up to 20 participants in any class w/open seating options • Quick edit features to create groups and classes. • Playback the discussion maps in real time or fast forward • Select & listen to any speaker & view notes linked to their participation • Individual/Group analytics – Include/Exclude participants from the data to see how the dynamics change PREMIUM FEATURES available with in-app upgrade or by downloading Premium today: • Up to 40 participants • Add Identity Markers to track data by groups of students • Export Audio or analytics via email to students or post in LMS or export to CSV (beta) • Track student contributions w/ enhanced Checknotes & access the 17 templates ------- CONFERENCE WITH YOUR STUDENTS OR TEACHERS: • Debrief w/students individually! Review contributions of any one student in the improved participant analytics: see each time the student spoke & playback what they said, or play from the person who spoke before/after, review notations for that student, participation data, or Checknotes… all on one screen! • Give better feedback! Take notes or write comments during or after the discussion that link directly to the student speaking and share with them immediately after. • Identify Markers: customize the groups w/n your class that you’d like to measure such as grade level, language level, race, seating area, or anything you’d like to see. ------- REFLECTIVE DATA AT YOUR FINGERTIPS: • Simply tap on the participants’ icons when they speak & Equity Maps will do the rest by visually charting the interactions & calculating levels of participation. • Track the nature of each participant's contributions with Checknotes, choose among the 17 templates or create your own, or take notes during the discussion that attach to the speaker for review afterward. • The “Feedback Frames” provide key statistics for teachers, students or group members: time spoken, times spoken, gender equity, or customize anything you’d like to measure. TEACHERS: • Enhance your Socratic Seminars, Literature Circles, Harkness®(*) discussions, or full classroom discussions • Monitor & assess Common Core Speaking & Listening Standards, ATL, Dialogic lessons, or seminar criteria • Promote student involvement & self-reflection • Perfect for schools with VPP for 50% discount FACILITATORS & GROUP LEADERS: • Encourage deeper reflection of your group’s goals, norms & processes • Give your boss an Equity Check & share how equitable your last meeting was • Critical Friends Group® coaches & facilitators (CFG work) or in PLCs ADMINISTRATORS & INSTRUCTIONAL COACHES: • Provide teachers an “image” of their classroom instruction like they’ve never seen before! • Revitalize reflective practices for teachers, while reducing anxiety of post-observation meetings • Make your classroom observations more meaningful & reflective ------ Equity Maps® is a registered trademark at the USPTO / U.S. Pat. No 10,553,129 *Equity Maps has been developed completely independent of Phillips Exeter Academy & is not affiliated in any way with the academy. Critical Friends Group® is a registered trademark of the National School Reform Faculty (NSRF®)
Spark
Engage with daily learning puzzles centered around a single theme. Explore history, science, and pop culture through four unique, human-crafted games designed for discovery and fun.
- Daily themed puzzles
- Four unique game modes
- Human-crafted puzzles
- Explore history, science, and pop culture
- Archive of past puzzles
- No timers or tests
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Replace doomscrolling with learning. Each day, Spark explores a single theme through thoughtful puzzles spanning ancient history, mythology, movies, food, geography, and more. With five unique games and new puzzles every day, Spark makes learning part of your routine. Each game offers a different way to explore the day's theme, and each one teaches you as you play. Spark's games include: This or That: Choose between two options to learn more about the day's theme Links: Find the common thread connecting people, places, and ideas Chrono: Put events in order to see how history really unfolded Knockout: Uncover surprising comparisons in a series of fun head-to-head matchups Hindsight: Pinpoint when and where a photo was taken to uncover the story behind it All of Spark's puzzles are crafted by experts, not AI, and designed to spark those "aha" moments that make ideas stick. Explore hundreds of topics in the Library, from ancient history to the animal kingdom, with past themes to revisit anytime. Along the way, you'll uncover facts that are fun to learn and even better to share. From the creators of Elevate and Balance, Spark is part of a collection of mental fitness apps designed to strengthen your mind. For additional information, please read our Terms of Service (https://themindcompany.com/terms-and-conditions?from=spark) and Privacy Policy (https://themindcompany.com/privacy-policy?from=spark).
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Spark at Free against Equity Maps's $1.99. Spark also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (2.8K vs 82). Equity Maps's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (12.1 vs 16.0). On rating, review sentiment, 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
Spark is free to download; Equity Maps costs $1.99 up front. Equity Maps sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Spark sells 11 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Equity Maps against 4.8 for Spark. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Spark has 2.8K ratings behind it against 82, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 100% of Equity Maps's written reviews are positive against 93% of Spark's.
Equity Maps ships an update every 3 months, Spark weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Equity Maps | Spark |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.8 (82 ratings) — better | 4.8 (2.8K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 92.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 82 | 2.8K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | — | #127 — better |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 12.1 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 56 MB | 151 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | David Nelson | The Mind Company |
Customer experience
Equity Maps
Spark
Bugs and requests
Equity Maps
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Spark
Reported bugs
1 issue- AT&T blocking the website as potentially malicious
Requested features
2 requests- More games and puzzles
- Dark mode option
In-app purchases
Equity Maps
- Equity Maps Premium v5.3$7.99
Spark
- Spark+$2.991 Month
- Spark+$4.991 Month
- Spark+$7.491 Month
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- Spark+$9.991 Month
- Spark+1 Year trial4 variants$39.991 Year
- Spark+7 Days trial$39.991 Year
- Spark+3 Days trial$39.991 Year
- Spark Plus1 Year trial$39.991 Year
- Spark+7 Days trial$59.991 Year
- Spark+1 Year trial$59.991 Year
- Spark+7 Days trial$79.991 Year









