Comparison

Sandbox AR vs GowanusAR

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

Head to head
About

Sandbox AR

Create, build, and explore immersive virtual worlds using augmented reality. This app allows users to scale creations to life-size and share them with others. It's designed to bring interactive technology into educational settings.

Highlights
  • Create, build, and explore in AR
  • Life-size scale exploration
  • Share creations via QR code
  • Capture snapshots and videos
  • Teacher audio descriptions (DE:X subscribers)
  • Link to curated resources (DE:X subscribers)
Read full description

--- Multi award-winning augmented reality maker app --- - BETT Awards 2023 Best AR/VR ! - GESS Awards 2023 Best Digital XR / VR / AI Product - spaces4learning New Product Award 2022 ! -- What is Sandbox? -- Experience, build, and explore in AR with Discovery Education Sandbox. Designed as a companion to the award-winning Discovery Education Experience learning platform, bring immersive technology and content into the classroom. Choose from hundreds of models and create a virtual world to experience and share with fellow students and teachers. Use life size mode to scale up and walk inside your own creation! -- Features -- • Create, build and explore in augmented reality. • Explore creations in life-size scale! • Share your sandboxes with other users with a simple QR code. • Capture snapshots and videos of your sandbox. -- Enhanced features for DE:X subscribers -- As a Discovery Education Experience or Espresso subscriber, access additional features to add teacher audio descriptions to sandboxes and add links to your own curated resources on Experience or Espresso. Integrate with studio boards and access future additional model packs.

About

GowanusAR

Experience the history of Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal through an immersive augmented reality application. Discover stories, sounds, and speculative futures embedded in the landscape as you explore the neighborhood.

Highlights
  • Augmented Reality Navigation
  • Immersive Spatial Audio
  • Interactive Storytelling
  • Speculative Histories
  • Location-based AR experiences
Features
Read full description

GowanusAR is an immersive augmented reality (AR) experience that brings the layered histories of Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal to life. Walk the streets and uncover voices, stories, and sounds embedded in the land. In our debut scene, you’ll encounter speculative futures, industrial pasts, and sonic portals, all triggered by your location. Features: Augmented Reality Navigation: Explore a site-specific scene designed to unfold as you move through the Gowanus neighborhood. Immersive Audio: Spatial soundscapes respond to your position, layering narration, ambiance, and historical textures. Interactive Storytelling: Engage with dynamic AR elements that reveal hidden aspects of Gowanus’ environmental and cultural evolution. Speculative Histories: Encounter narrative fragments that blur the boundaries between past, present, and possible futures. This is just the beginning. More scenes and voices will be released soon. Headphones recommended. Location access required.

Screenshots

GowanusAR4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: GowanusAR at 5.0 against Sandbox AR's 4.8. GowanusAR also leads on device support (3 vs 1). Sandbox AR's advantage is ratings volume (16 vs 1) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 5 months). 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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

GowanusAR holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sandbox AR has 16 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sandbox AR ships an update every 2 months, GowanusAR every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Sandbox AR versus GowanusAR: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSandbox ARGowanusAR
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (16 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings16 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS14.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size1.6 GB1.2 GB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDiscovery Education Inc.Sarah Drury

In-app purchases

None

Sandbox AR

No in-app purchases

None

GowanusAR

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Sandbox AR free?
Sandbox AR is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is GowanusAR free?
GowanusAR is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Sandbox AR or GowanusAR?
GowanusAR is rated higher. Sandbox AR averages 4.8 out of 5 from 16 ratings, while GowanusAR averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Sandbox AR or GowanusAR have ads?
Neither Sandbox AR nor GowanusAR shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sandbox AR or GowanusAR?
Sandbox AR ships an update every 2 months, and GowanusAR every 5 months. Most recently, Sandbox AR was updated on October 24, 2026 and GowanusAR on October 6, 2026.

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