IPA Phonetic Keyboard vs Molecule Simulator
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
IPA Phonetic Keyboard
This free keyboard provides easy access to all IPA and extended IPA symbols. Its intuitive layout mirrors the IPA chart, making symbol input fluid and efficient for linguists, language learners, and enthusiasts.
- Full IPA chart (2020) symbols
- ExtIPA chart (2016) symbols
- Organized symbol sections
- Intuitive symbol layout
- Convenient input for common characters
- Completely free, no ads
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Behold the first completely FREE IPA keyboard on the App Store designed for linguists, language learners, and hobbyists. It is designed to be lightweight and fluid, matching up to the user experience of the system emoji keyboard. =FEATURES= - Includes ALL symbols on the newest standard IPA chart (2020 ver.) - Includes most symbols (the ones available in Unicode) on the newest standard extIPA chart (2016 ver.) - Symbols are divided into sections just like the IPA chart(-duh!): consonants, non-pulmonic, other symbols, vowels, suprasegmentals, tones and word accents, and diacritics - Symbols are arranged naturally, with a layout designed for you to find the symbols you want more quickly (especially the vowels, it's cleverly designed to match the layout on the IPA chart) - Convenient input for "[]", "//", "~", "◌", space, and return on the top of the keyboard - Completely free, NO ADS =EXTERNAL LINKS= For more information on IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet), refer to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet The developer, Vince14Genius's GitHub: https://www.github.com/Vince14Genius/
Molecule Simulator
Visualize the 3D structures of molecules using data from PubChem and Protein Data Bank. Explore molecules in various viewing modes and download an extensive library of compounds.
- 3D molecular visualization
- Space filling mode
- Ball-and-stick mode
- Data from PubChem
- Data from Protein Data Bank
- Downloadable molecule library
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This app is a molecular viewer. With the data on PubChem and Protein Data Bank, it can show us 3D structure of molecules. Both space filling mode and ball-and-stick mode. --------------------------------------------- Contains some pre-installed modes. And you can download all kinds of molecules from PubChem or Protein Data Bank.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Molecule Simulator at none against IPA Phonetic Keyboard's 3. Molecule Simulator also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 92%). IPA Phonetic Keyboard's advantage is ratings volume (172 vs 24). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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. IPA Phonetic Keyboard sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Molecule Simulator asks for nothing beyond the download.
IPA Phonetic Keyboard holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: IPA Phonetic Keyboard has 172 ratings behind it against 24, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 92% of IPA Phonetic Keyboard's written reviews are positive against 100% of Molecule Simulator's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on September 17, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | IPA Phonetic Keyboard | Molecule Simulator |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (172 ratings) — better | 4.3 (24 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 92.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 172 — better | 24 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Vincent Cai | 仕清 刘 |
Customer experience
IPA Phonetic Keyboard
Molecule Simulator
Bugs and requests
IPA Phonetic Keyboard
Reported bugs
2 issues- Vowel [ʁ] displays incorrectly
- Keyboard disappears after switching, requiring settings access to re-enable
Requested features
4 requests- Add angle brackets and parentheses for orthographic notation
- Implement a 'frequently used' section for common symbols
- Allow users to rearrange the keyboard layout
- Add support for laryngeal notation in Proto-Indo-European
Molecule Simulator
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
IPA Phonetic Keyboard
- Donation: Buy me a drink$2.99
- Obsolete/Non-Standard Symbols$5.99
- Donation: Buy me a meal$9.99
Molecule Simulator
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is IPA Phonetic Keyboard free?
Is Molecule Simulator free?
Which has better reviews, IPA Phonetic Keyboard or Molecule Simulator?
Do IPA Phonetic Keyboard or Molecule Simulator have ads?
Which is updated more often, IPA Phonetic Keyboard or Molecule Simulator?
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