Open vs Sharpen
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Open
Access your educational courses and content directly from your mobile device. Download materials for offline use, update your profile, and receive important notifications. Students can track grades and badges, while teachers can grade assignments on the go.
- Access courses on mobile
- Download content for offline use
- Update profile information
- Receive course notifications
- View grades and badges (student)
- Grade assignments (teacher)
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Welcome to the Open LMS Mobile App! With the Open LMS Mobile App, you can: • Access your courses directly from your mobile device • Download content for offline access • Update your profile information • Receive course notifications and messages • As a student: view your course grades and awarded badges on your profile • As a teacher: grade assignments both online and offline • ...and much more! We love feedback! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave us a note and a rating on the Store.
Sharpen
This app revolutionizes college exam preparation by assessing your knowledge, identifying weak areas, and offering personalized AI-driven study plans. Access quizzes, videos, flashcards, and AI-powered study assistance to boost your exam readiness.
- AI-driven study recommendations
- Personalized knowledge assessment
- Multiple quiz modes
- Bite-sized video lessons
- AI study buddy (Ask Sharpen)
- Textbook-aligned content
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Sharpen is the new college study app that revolutionizes exam prep. Sharpen assesses your current knowledge, identifies areas for improvement, and provides personalized AI-driven study recommendations to boost your exam readiness. Choose from three quiz modes, flashcards, bite-sized videos, chapter summaries, and practice problems, all seamlessly aligned with your college textbook. Or use Ask Sharpen, your AI study buddy, to break down topics and generate new study content tailored to your queries. Features: NEW Ask Sharpen: Enter queries and Sharpen’s AI engine provides deep-dives, links you to related study activities, and generates new learning content. NEW Improve: AI-driven insights show your strengths, knowledge gaps, and personalized study recommendations based on past sessions. Quiz Bank: Thousands of questions across three modes (basic, advanced, and exam). Exam-like Questions: Fill-in-the-blank, multiple choice with images, standard multiple choice, and single choice. Exam Timer: Simulate the exam environment with a built-in timer. Bite-Sized Videos: Concise videos that explain key concepts. Flashcards: Learn key terms from your textbook. Step-by-Step Practice Problems: Reinforce understanding with detailed practice problems. Visual Chapter Summaries: Summarize chapters visually for better retention. Trusted Content: Content built by McGraw Hill subject matter experts and aligned to your textbook. Disciplines covered: McGraw Hill Textbooks & OpenStax Textbooks: Accounting, Algebra, American Government, American History, Anatomy & Physiology, Biology, Business, Business Law, Business Math, Chemistry, Economics, Engineering, Human Resources, Investments, Management, Marketing, Medical Assisting, Medical Terminology, Microbiology, Music, Nutrition, Psychology, Spanish, and others. Testimonials: “I’m rocking the exams and my understanding in class thanks to Sharpen.” “This app is amazing! It gets right to the point & connects with my book for school.” “Fantastic resource! I love the bite-sized lessons, quizzes, and design.” Download Sharpen today and experience a simpler, more effective way to study for exams and class. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Sharpen at 4.7 against Open's 2.6. Sharpen also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (3.2K vs 84). Open's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 8) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads 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
Both are free to download. Sharpen sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $11.99 per month. Open asks for nothing beyond the download.
Sharpen holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 2.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sharpen has 3.2K ratings behind it against 84, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 19% of Open's written reviews are positive against 38% of Sharpen's.
Open ships an update every 2 months, Sharpen every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Open | Sharpen |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.6 (84 ratings) | 4.7 (3.2K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 18.8% of reviews | 38.2% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 84 | 3.2K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | — | #196 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 70 MB | 193 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 12+ |
| Developer | PeopleFluent, Inc. | McGraw-Hill |
Customer experience
Open
Sharpen
Bugs and requests
Open
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Sharpen
Reported bugs
4 issues- Incorrect answer registrations
- Repeated questions across chapters
- Inability to restart quizzes
- Crashing and freezing issues
Requested features
4 requests- Expand subject coverage to include more disciplines
- Improve stability and reduce crashes
- Add support for landscape mode and multitasking on iPad
- Provide more variety and randomization of practice questions
In-app purchases
Open
No in-app purchases
Sharpen
- Sharpen+7 Days trial$11.991 Month
- Sharpen+$17.991 Month
- Sharpen+7 Days trial$17.991 Month
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- Sharpen+ 3 month$29.993 Months
- Sharpen+ 3 month7 Days trial$29.993 Months
- Sharpen+ 12 month BTS7 Days trial$59.991 Year
- Sharpen+ 12 month$89.991 Year
- Sharpen+ 12 month7 Days trial$89.991 Year
