Skool Loop vs Ako Tahi
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Skool Loop
This app serves as a central hub for school communications, offering features like push notifications, interview scheduling, and digital forms. It facilitates absentee reporting and provides access to school newsletters and event calendars, streamlining communication for schools and parents.
- Push notifications
- School interviews
- E forms
- Absentee reporting
- School newsletters
- Event calendars
- Translation options
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A comprehensive school app that is a “One Stop Shop” for all school communications. Includes push notifications School interviews E forms Translations options for notices Absentee reporting, with an option of directly reporting to schools SMS Schools’ newsletter and School event calendars. A complete service for schools to use to communicate quickly and precisely to all schools throughout NZ and Australia.
Ako Tahi
Learn and practice over 2,500 everyday Te Reo Māori phrases with this community-driven app. Supports learning through listening, speaking, and repetition, with easy searching and sharing of phrases for daily use.
- 2,500+ everyday Te Reo Māori phrases
- Audio support for pronunciation
- Learn and practice at your own pace
- Quick phrase search
- Easy phrase sharing
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Nau mai, haere mai | Welcome to Ako Tahi A grassroots, whānau-led and community-driven Te Reo Māori app. Learn, listen, practice, and share 2,500+ phrases. Ako Tahi means “Learn Together.” It’s a free Te Reo Māori learning app with 2,500+ commonly used phrases, designed to help you use Te Reo Māori in everyday life, at home, at mahi, and with whānau. Ako Tahi supports learning through touch, vision, listening, speaking, and by challenging yourself and others. What you can do with Ako Tahi: • Explore 2,500+ everyday Te Reo Māori phrases • Listen to audio to support pronunciation • Learn and practice at your own pace through simple repetition • Quickly search and find phrases when you need them • Share phrases easily, perfect for everyday messaging Important note Ako Tahi is not a translation app. You can’t type any word or sentence and receive a full translation. The app contains a curated library of predefined phrases, and search results only show what exists in the app. Dialect and translations Ako Tahi uses the Ngāpuhi dialect (Te Tai Tokerau / Northland). We acknowledge dialect differences across Aotearoa, and our translations into the Ngāpuhi dialect are best-effort. We are supported by whānau and fluent speakers who help review and improve phrases over time, to keep the content as accurate and consistent as possible. We hope this app supports your Te Reo journey. Ngā mihi nui
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Ako Tahi at none against Skool Loop's shown. Ako Tahi also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). Skool Loop's advantage is ratings volume (43 vs 11). On price, review sentiment, update cadence 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.
Ako Tahi holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 43 and 11 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 92% and 91% positive.
Skool Loop ships an update every 2 weeks, Ako Tahi every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on August 25, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Skool Loop | Ako Tahi |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (43 ratings) | 5.0 (11 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 91.7% of reviews — better | 90.9% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 43 — better | 11 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14 | 13.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 193 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Sharlee Ealam | Ako Tahi Limited |
Customer experience
Skool Loop
Ako Tahi
Bugs and requests
Skool Loop
Reported bugs
6 issues- Notifications not arriving or arriving significantly delayed
- Signature recognition failure on absence forms
- Australian app showing only New Zealand regions
- App crashes or glitches during use
- Unauthorized charges to payment methods
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- Regional selection not working properly after reinstall
Requested features
8 requests- Dark mode for easier reading
- Calendar integration with device calendar
- Tag/bookmark feature to read messages later
- Two-way communication system
- Improved signature functionality for absence notes
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- Expand school coverage to more institutions
- Better notification reliability
- Multi-school view without switching
Ako Tahi
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Skool Loop
No in-app purchases
Ako Tahi
No in-app purchases
