Comparison

SmartFriends vs Unciphered

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

Head to head
About

SmartFriends

Engage in daily brain training challenges with friends to boost cognitive skills. Compete in IQ tests covering logic, spatial reasoning, and number sequences. Track progress and climb leaderboards in a fun, competitive environment.

Highlights
  • Daily IQ challenges
  • Logic puzzles
  • Spatial reasoning tests
  • Number sequence problems
  • Leaderboard competition
  • Score sharing
Features
Read full description

Tired of endless scrolling and mindless TV? Time to switch your brain back on. With SmartFriends, you train your brain every day — and more importantly, in a fun way. Why fun? Because you do it together with friends. That keeps you motivated. ••• Only for real smarties ••• One IQ challenge every day. The same for everyone. Logic, spatial reasoning, number sequences, and more. No excuses. No distractions. Just you versus the brainteaser. Beat your friends and climb the leaderboard. Solved it? Share your score and challenge them. That healthy competition keeps you coming back. Get smarter. Download SmartFriends. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Unciphered

Decode hidden proverbs by solving cryptograms where letters correspond to numbers. Solve crossword-style clues to reveal letters that fill in the entire puzzle. Enjoy daily puzzles, track your progress, and collect solved wisdom.

Highlights
  • Daily cryptogram puzzles
  • Crossword-style clue solving
  • Offline play
  • Progress tracking
  • Journal of solved proverbs
  • Accessibility features
Read full description

A proverb is hiding on every board. Each letter became a number — the same number always hides the same letter — and the way in is through the clues: solve a small crossword-style clue, and every letter you prove fills in across the whole puzzle. Piece by piece, the hidden phrase comes back into the light. Unciphered is free to play from start to finish. Optional extras: coin packs, and The Wisdom Collection — four harder chapters, 80 more phrases — a one-time purchase, kept forever. ONE PUZZLE EVERY DAY A fresh cryptogram each day keeps your streak alive, and a two-week calendar lets you go back for days you missed. Filling in the past pays coins and completes the calendar — but the streak only counts the days you truly showed up. QUESTS THAT EARN SECRET LEVELS Finish the day's small quests — the daily plus a level you've never solved — and you earn one of the hidden levels, yours to keep forever. A JOURNAL OF DECODED WISDOM Every phrase you solve is saved with a short, true fact about where it came from. The journal becomes your own collection of proverbs, one solve at a time. MADE TO BE COMFORTABLE • Works completely offline — planes, trains, anywhere • No account, no sign-up, nothing to configure • Full VoiceOver support, large text sizes, Reduce Motion • Light and dark, on iPhone and iPad • Hints when you want them: reveal a letter or a whole word Unciphered is free to play from start to finish. Optional extras: coin packs, 4 harder bonus chapters, 80 new phrases, a one-time purchase kept forever).

Screenshots

SmartFriends4 screens
Unciphered4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Unciphered at none against SmartFriends's shown. Unciphered also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and review sentiment (100% vs 83%). SmartFriends's advantage is ratings volume (138 vs 2). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. SmartFriends sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Unciphered sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Unciphered holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SmartFriends has 138 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 83% of SmartFriends's written reviews are positive against 100% of Unciphered's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SmartFriends ships an update every 2 weeks, Unciphered every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
SmartFriends versus Unciphered: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSmartFriendsUnciphered
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (138 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews83.1% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings138 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 6 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size73 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSmartFriends B.V.Ahmed ElGhoroury

Customer experience

SmartFriends

All ratings138 ratings
Positive90.6%
Neutral3.6%
Negative5.8%
Written reviews59 reviews
Positive83.1%
Neutral5.1%
Negative11.9%

Unciphered

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

SmartFriends

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • App not loading puzzles
  • Diagrams not accessible with screen readers
  • Glitchy when enlarging challenge images
  • Issues with lifetime access purchases
  • Landscape mode for larger images when app is portrait only

Requested features

7 requests
  • Fix advertisements interrupting gameplay
  • Improve puzzle logic and presentation
  • Enhance graphics clarity (e.g., yellow on white)
  • Make puzzles more varied and adult-oriented
  • Improve accessibility for visually impaired users (diagram descriptions)
Show 2 more
  • Allow larger puzzle/choice display in portrait mode
  • Make the app free or more accessible without constant purchases

Unciphered

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

SmartFriends

Subscriptions6
  • Premium Special Offer!3 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Premium Monthly Subscription3 Days trial$4.491 Month
  • Free Trial | Premium Monthly7 Days trial$4.491 Month
Show 3 more
  • Premium Special Offer!3 Days trial$19.991 Year
  • Premium Yearly Subscription3 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • Free Trial | Premium Yearly7 Days trial$29.991 Year
One-time4
  • 3 x genius challenges$0.99
  • 10 x genius challenges$2.49
  • Tip 1$4.99
Show 1 more
  • Tip 3$14.99
4 purchases

Unciphered

One-time4
  • Coins 100$0.99
  • Coins 350$2.99
  • Premium chapters$4.99
Show 1 more
  • Coins 800$5.99

Questions

Is SmartFriends free?
SmartFriends is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Unciphered free?
Unciphered is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, SmartFriends or Unciphered?
Unciphered is rated higher. SmartFriends averages 4.6 out of 5 from 138 ratings, while Unciphered averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do SmartFriends or Unciphered have ads?
SmartFriends shows ads; Unciphered does not.
Which is updated more often, SmartFriends or Unciphered?
SmartFriends ships an update every 2 weeks, and Unciphered every 6 days. Most recently, SmartFriends was updated on October 17, 2026 and Unciphered on October 10, 2026.

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