Comparison

Washington Manual vs Critical View

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Washington Manual

This medical app provides essential surgical information for healthcare practitioners. It offers quick access to guidelines, algorithms, and patient care details, with offline functionality. Users can add notes and annotations to personalize their learning experience.

Highlights
  • Point-of-care clinical information
  • Algorithms and formulas
  • Preoperative and postoperative care
  • Offline content access
  • SmartSearch technology
  • Rich-text notes and voice memos
  • Annotations
Features
Read full description

"Try before you buy" - Download the FREE App, which includes sample content. In-App purchase required to unlock all content. ABOUT: The Washington Manual® Surgery Survival Guide The Washington Manual® Surgery Survival Guide provides mobile healthcare practitioners with the latest in trusted clinical information for more accurate, confident and informed decision-making at point-of-care. Prepared by residents and fellows at Washington University School of Medicine, this survival guide provides all the essential information that every surgery intern needs from Day 1 on the wards - including daily routine, rounds, chart reviews, preoperative and postoperative care, operating room conduct, radiology, critical care, and interaction with families, colleagues, and allied health professionals. Content includes algorithms, useful formulas, patient notes, and common calls and complaints. Easy-to-navigate screens present evaluation, diagnostic testing, and treatment guidelines for common problems in general surgery, neurosurgery, orthopaedic surgery, urology, and plastic surgery. Coverage also includes crashing patients, tubes and drains, bleeding, codes, and nutrition. SPECIAL FEATURES: Locate a disease, symptom or medication in the fastest possible manner: - Use "Spotlight Search" from Home screen - Tap and Hold launch icon to open Last Topic, History, Favorites .. - Navigate using multiple indices - History to open frequently visited pages - Bookmarks - No internet connection is required to access the content after the initial download. Find information quickly using powerful SmartSearch technology. Search part of term for those hard to spell medical terms. NEVER FORGET ANYTHING: Mark topics with relevant information: - Rich-text notes - Voice memos - Annotations with scribble, doodle or text You choose the method to note this regardless of the context you are in to ensure that the important facts are available whenever you access the topic, whether it is tomorrow or six months from now. Content licensed from printed ISBN 10: 781743680 Content licensed from printed ISBN 13: 978-0781743686 If you have any questions or comments, email us any time: customersupport@skyscape.com or call 508-299-3000 Privacy Policy - https://www.skyscape.com/terms-of-service/privacypolicy.aspx Terms and Conditions - https://www.skyscape.com/terms-of-service/licenseagreement.aspx Author(s): Washington University School of Medicine, Jeremy Goodman MD, Nirmal Veeramachaneni MD & Emily Winslow MD Publisher: Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

About

Critical View

Features
Read full description

You find out at 9pm that you're on tomorrow's lap chole. You have one evening, and you don't know what you'll be asked. Critical View is 100 general surgery procedures written for that evening. Anatomy, steps, scenarios, and the questions attendings actually ask — filtered to your training year, so a PGY-1 isn't buried in what a chief is expected to know and a chief isn't shown the basics. 975 teaching items. 523 questions. 143 named traps. WHAT A TRAP IS Most of what goes wrong in the OR isn't not knowing. It's the answer that sounds right. The cystic artery you're sure you've identified. The plane you're confident about. Every trap in this library is a specific, named wrong answer the app tells you about before you give it out loud. TWO MODES Brief — read the procedure. Anatomy, indications, critical steps, next-step scenarios, classic attending questions. Five sections, expand what you need. Quiz — be asked it cold. Questions weighted by how often they come up and how appropriate they are for your level. Reveal, then mark it honestly. Missed questions come back, in this session and the next. FILTERED TO YOUR TRAINING YEAR Set your level, PGY-1 through PGY-5, and the library adjusts. There's also a stretch question from the tier above, for when you want to be pushed. NO ACCOUNT, NO TRACKING, NO NETWORK CALLS AT ALL The app makes no network requests. Not one. There is no account to create, no server to sync with, no analytics, and no third-party SDKs. Everything — your training year, your missed questions, your theme — stays on your device. That also means it works in a basement call room with no signal, which is often exactly where you'll open it. WHAT THIS IS NOT This is not an ABSITE question bank. It's not a substitute for Cameron, Mastery, or SCORE. It won't help with a written exam. It's a study aid for surgical trainees, not a medical device, not a clinical decision tool, and it does not direct patient care. Nothing here substitutes for your own clinical judgement, your attending's direction, your institution's protocols, or current published guidelines. Verify before you act on anything you read. WRITTEN AND CHECKED BY ONE SURGEON Every line was written and reviewed by a practicing general surgeon. Not crowdsourced, not scraped, not generated. One person, 100 procedures. ANNUALLY RE-VERIFIED Guidelines change. Every guideline-dependent item in the library is re-checked against current sources each year, and new procedures are added. That work is what a subscription pays for, and every update is included. PRICING Free for 7 days, then $49.99 a year. Monthly and a one-time lifetime unlock are also available. Cancel any time in your account settings. LEGAL Terms of Use: https://criticalview.fiskllc.com/terms.html Privacy Policy: https://criticalview.fiskllc.com/privacy.html Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel any time in your Apple Account settings.

Screenshots

Washington Manual4 screens
Critical View4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Critical View at none against Washington Manual's shown. Critical View also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 7 months). Washington Manual's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.1). On price, in-app purchases and device support 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Washington Manual sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Critical View sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $8.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Washington Manual ships an update every 7 months, Critical View every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 6 level
Washington Manual versus Critical View: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWashington ManualCritical View
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 7 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size45 MB24 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperSkyscape Medpresso IncFisk LLC

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Washington Manual

One-time1
  • Washington Manual Surgery$49.99
3 purchases

Critical View

Subscriptions2
  • Critical View Monthly$8.991 Month
  • Critical View Annual7 Days trial$49.991 Year
One-time1
  • Critical View Lifetime$149.99

Questions

Is Washington Manual free?
Washington Manual is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Critical View free?
Critical View is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Washington Manual or Critical View have ads?
Washington Manual shows ads; Critical View does not.
Which is updated more often, Washington Manual or Critical View?
Washington Manual ships an update every 7 months, and Critical View every 3 weeks. Most recently, Washington Manual was updated on October 22, 2026 and Critical View on October 25, 2026.

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