SafeExamBrowser vs Plugged In
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SafeExamBrowser
This app creates a secure browser environment for online exams, preventing students from accessing other apps or websites. It locks down devices into an assessment kiosk mode, ensuring exam integrity on both personal and institutional iOS devices.
- Secure kiosk browser environment
- Prevents app switching and website access
- Assessment kiosk mode
- Supports unmanaged and managed iOS devices
- Configurable via API, files, links, and QR codes
- Integrates with LMS and exam systems
- Optional Dock and slider menu for commands
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SafeExamBrowser (SEB) is a secure kiosk web browser environment used to carry out e-assessments that run on exam servers. SEB opens a web browser without an address and search bar, loads a pre-configured webpage and locks an iPad (or iPhone or iPod Touch) into an assessment kiosk mode. This mode prevents students from switching to other apps (unless additional permitted apps are configured), accessing websites and communicating with other students during an exam. SEB enables secure exams on unmanaged iOS devices like students' own iPads as well as on iOS devices owned and managed by an institution. SEB doesn't use a centralized server or cloud service; it can be configured with an API, configuration files, links and QR codes. It can be used with most web-based quiz and e-assessment systems. For improved security and usability, some exam systems provide additional built-in support for SEB. Currently, SEB integrates especially well with learning management systems (LMS) such as Moodle, OpenOlat, ILIAS and with several non-commercial and commercial exam systems, such as Inspera Assessment, Dugga, Exam.net, EvaExam and Ans. SEB uses one of the single app modes provided by iOS. After an exam is submitted, SEB can automatically end the app self-lock assessment mode (an exam invigilator could also use a quit password to end the SEB exam session and unlock the device if necessary). SEB features an optional Dock displaying buttons for various commands. Instead or in addition, a left slider menu shows a list of open browser tabs and commands which can be used to (if enabled in settings) quit an exam session, jump back to the start page of an exam, reload a web page, and navigate back/forward in the browsing history. SEB for iOS uses the same format for encrypted .seb configuration files as the SEB versions for other platforms. Those config files allow to individually configure SEB to display the start page of an exam system or an exam portal page with a list of links to current exams. If SEB for iOS is installed using a mobile device management (MDM) system, its initial configuration can easily be deployed using the "MDM Managed Configuration" feature. You can also directly start an exam with an individual configuration in SEB for iOS using a special config hyperlink. This link can be opened by examinees from Safari, Mail or a messenger app. In addition, you can use QR codes containing SEB links or even full, individual configurations. An exam can directly be started in SEB by using the iOS Camera app or the built-in QR code scanner. SEB also works together with Apple Classroom, teachers can start individually configured exams on all student devices. See https://safeexambrowser.org/ios for more information. SafeExamBrowser for iOS was developed by Daniel R. Schneider, ETH Zurich, IT Services, based on the original idea of Safe Exam Browser by Stefan Schneider, University of Giessen Project concept: Thomas Piendl, Daniel R. Schneider, Damian Büchel, Andreas Hefti, Nadim Ritter, Dirk Bauer, Michael Kern, Kai Reuter, Tobias Halbherr, Karsten Burger, Marco Lehre, Brigitte Schmucki, Oliver Rahs. Safe Exam Browser is released as freeware. The code is subject to the Mozilla Public License Version 1.1 (the "License"); you may only use these files in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/ . Important parts of this project have been carried out as part of the program "AAA/SWITCH – e-Infrastructure for e-Science" led by SWITCH, the Swiss National Research and Education Network and the cooperative project "Learning Infrastructure" (part of the CRUS program "Information scientifique: accès, traitement et sauvegarde") coordinated by SWITCH, and was supported by funds from the ETH Board and the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).
Plugged In
This educational tool connects Paul Mitchell Schools students with their coursework and school resources. Access learning systems, manage your profile, and receive messages from school leaders, all within one app.
- Access to Color, Cutting, and Makeup Systems
- View and update profile information
- Access to Plugged In website content
- Receive school messages
- Educational resource tool
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Plugged In is an enhanced educational and resource tool, exclusive to Paul Mitchell Schools, that enables our Future Professionals to stay connected with their education inside and outside of the classroom. Features and Access Includes: Paul Mitchell Schools System Apps - Future Professionals will have access to The Color System, The Cutting System, and The Makeup System apps from within the Plugged In app. My Profile Access - Future Professionals will have access to view and update their profile information within the Plugged In app. Plugged In - Future Professionals will have access to all content found on our Plugged In educational and resource website. This content includes: Multiple Intelligence, MASTERS, Careers, Professional Development, Mentors, Education, Giving Back, Caper, Media, Contests, Product, and The Buzz. Messages - Future Professionals will have the ability to view and receive individual or group messages from their school leaders. This App is for Paul Mitchell The School students. Get your email and password from your PMTS school today.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Plugged In at 2.0 against SafeExamBrowser's 1.6. SafeExamBrowser's advantage is update cadence (every 3 months vs every 11 months) and ratings volume (50 vs 10). On price, review sentiment, 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.
Plugged In holds the better App Store score, 2.0 against 1.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SafeExamBrowser has 50 ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 7% of SafeExamBrowser's written reviews are positive against 0% of Plugged In's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
SafeExamBrowser ships an update every 3 months, Plugged In every 11 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SafeExamBrowser | Plugged In |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 1.6 (50 ratings) | 2.0 (10 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 7.1% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 50 — better | 10 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months — better | Every 11 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 67 MB | 14 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | ETH Zurich | Robinsage |
Customer experience
SafeExamBrowser
Plugged In
Bugs and requests
SafeExamBrowser
Reported bugs
24 issues- App crashes
- Freezes and becomes unresponsive
- Cannot exit kiosk mode
- Blank page errors
- Slow performance
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- High battery consumption
- Device locking issues
- Setup difficulties
- Poor instructions
- Errors during exams
- Unreliable behavior
- Difficulty uninstalling/quitting
- Device issues (black screen, viruses)
- Inconsistent camera support
- Cheating still possible (reported by some users)
- Data privacy concerns raised
- Unintuitive interface
- Incompatibility with older/newer OS versions
- Configuration issues
- Leads to exam failure
- Developer unresponsiveness
- Not working with iOS 18
- Camera access issues
- Kiosk mode not activating properly on iOS 17
Requested features
4 requests- Better instructions/homepage
- Support for Thai language
- Update for iOS 18
- More user-friendly setup
Plugged In
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
SafeExamBrowser
No in-app purchases
Plugged In
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is SafeExamBrowser free?
Is Plugged In free?
Which has better reviews, SafeExamBrowser or Plugged In?
Do SafeExamBrowser or Plugged In have ads?
Which is updated more often, SafeExamBrowser or Plugged In?
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