BDRC Mobile vs Sacred Spaces
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
BDRC Mobile
Access a vast digital library of Buddhist texts in Asian languages on your mobile device. Search and view digitized manuscripts and books, with offline search capabilities. Requires internet for image viewing.
- Search BDRC library offline
- View digitized Buddhist texts
- Access Open Access Tibetan collection
- Mobile access to digital archive
- Browse manuscripts and books
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A mobile application to search through and view the BDRC library. Buddhist Digital Resource Center is the world’s leading digital conservator of Buddhist texts in Asian languages and has digitized over 20 million pages of manuscripts and printed books. BDRC Mobile provides mobile access to the Open Access Tibetan part of the BDRC library, otherwise available on our website. The app’s search tool can work offline, but the image viewer requires an Internet connection.
Sacred Spaces
Explore Tibetan Buddhist art and practice within sacred spaces. This app offers virtual access to a shrine room and enhances understanding of Buddhist activities and objects.
- Virtual shrine room exploration
- Art object engagement
- Understanding Tibetan Buddhism
- Complementary exhibition experience
- Educational tool
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Explore how Tibetan Buddhists encounter and engage with art objects in sacred spaces. Released with the opening of 'Encountering the Buddha: Art and Practice across Asia' at the Freer|Sackler, this app centers on the Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room from the Alice S. Kandell Collection. In the three-year exhibition, the app complements and enhances the immersive viewing experience of the shrine room. At home, the app offers virtual access to the shrine room and acts as a tool for understanding Tibetan Buddhism, its sacred spaces, and the activities and objects therein.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Sacred Spaces at every 3 weeks against BDRC Mobile's every 15 months. Sacred Spaces also leads on ratings volume (4 vs 1) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 12.0). On price, rating, 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.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for BDRC Mobile against 5.0 for Sacred Spaces. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 4 respectively.
BDRC Mobile ships an update every 15 months, Sacred Spaces every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.
| Parameter | BDRC Mobile | Sacred Spaces |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) | 5.0 (4 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 14.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 4 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 15 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 | 9.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 15 MB | 231 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Buddhist Digital Resource Center | Smithsonian Institution |
Customer experience
BDRC Mobile
Sacred Spaces
In-app purchases
BDRC Mobile
No in-app purchases
Sacred Spaces
No in-app purchases
