Comparison

UCL Assistant vs Cambridge Spiral

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

Head to head
About

UCL Assistant

Manage your student life at University College London with this app. View your timetable, find lecture locations, check library and study space availability with live seating maps, and search for community members.

Highlights
  • Personal timetable viewing
  • Lecture directions
  • Library and study space availability
  • Live seating maps
  • UCL community search
  • Room booking information
Features
Read full description

A brand new and beautiful app to manage your student life at University College London (UCL)! ◆ View your personal timetable and get instant directions to your lectures. ◆ Check the availability of all UCL libraries and study spaces, including in the new Student Centre. Want to know which floor or room has the most seats free? You now have that information right in the palm of your hand! Not sure which seats are free? No problem! Just use the live seating maps to see every free seat on whichever library floor you choose. ◆ Search for members of the UCL community, including students and lecturers, and tap to email them. Nice and easy! ◆ Find every centrally bookable room at UCL, see how big it is and whether it is currently in use, and then tap to navigate right there. ◆ Made with love by and for students ◆ Fully open source. Got feedback, suggestions or even some new code to improve the app? We welcome it! https://github.com/uclapi/ucl-assistant-app This app and its platform have been built by the UCL API Team, a group of students working with UCL's Information Services Division (ISD) to provide students with a brand new ecosystem that allows anyone within the UCL Community to build apps with UCL data. Interested in building an app just like UCL Assistant yourself? Head over to uclapi.com and log in with your UCL Account.

About

Cambridge Spiral

Access Cambridge University Press textbooks on your iOS device. Download content for offline reading, add bookmarks, and make personal annotations. Quickly find topics with full-text search capabilities.

Highlights
  • Download textbooks for offline access
  • Online and offline reading
  • Add bookmarks
  • Personal annotations
  • Full-text search
Features
Read full description

Cambridge Spiral gives you access to textbooks from your institution’s subscription to Higher Education from Cambridge University Press. Install the app to access the content on your iOS device. With Cambridge Spiral, you can: • Download Cambridge University Press textbook content to your iOS device (subject to a valid institutional subscription) • Read the content online or offline, anytime and anywhere • Add bookmarks and personal annotations, making it easy to go back to key sections • Find topics quickly with the full text search

Screenshots

UCL Assistant4 screens
Cambridge Spiral4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: UCL Assistant at 50% against Cambridge Spiral's 11%. UCL Assistant also leads on update cadence (every 3 months vs every 6 months) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 13.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

UCL Assistant ships an update every 3 months, Cambridge Spiral every 6 months. Both last shipped on November 3, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
UCL Assistant versus Cambridge Spiral: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUCL AssistantCambridge Spiral
PriceFreeFree
Rating—1.0 (13 ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews — better10.5% of reviews
Number of ratings—13 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 months — betterEvery 6 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS11.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size31 MB91 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperUCLCambridge University Press & Assessment (App)

Customer experience

UCL Assistant

Written reviews8 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral12.5%
Negative37.5%

Cambridge Spiral

All ratings11 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews19 reviews
Positive10.5%
Neutral5.3%
Negative84.2%

In-app purchases

None

UCL Assistant

No in-app purchases

None

Cambridge Spiral

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is UCL Assistant free?
UCL Assistant is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Cambridge Spiral free?
Cambridge Spiral is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do UCL Assistant or Cambridge Spiral have ads?
Neither UCL Assistant nor Cambridge Spiral shows ads.
Which is updated more often, UCL Assistant or Cambridge Spiral?
UCL Assistant ships an update every 3 months, and Cambridge Spiral every 6 months. Most recently, UCL Assistant was updated on November 3, 2026 and Cambridge Spiral on November 3, 2026.

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