Comparison

CellWalk vs Explorer Glide

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

Head to head
About

CellWalk

Explore a living cell in 3D, from whole organisms down to atoms. An AI tutor guides your learning with interactive lessons and detailed explanations of molecular structures. Features augmented reality for an immersive educational experience.

Highlights
  • 3D cell exploration
  • Molecular-level detail
  • AI-powered tutor (Ako)
  • Augmented reality visualization
  • Interactive learning paths
  • Guided tours
  • Siri integration
Features
Read full description

CellWalk puts a living cell in your hands and on your desk. Zoom from a whole cell down to the atoms in DNA. Explore a cell modeled protein by protein from real structures discovered by scientists. Start your journey with Ako, an AI tutor that helps you understand what you see. Built for students, teachers and anyone curious about how life works at the molecular scale. 2025 Apple Design Award finalist. EXPLORE A REAL CELL Zoom from a whole Mycoplasma cell down to single atoms. Thousands of proteins, DNA and RNA, ribosomes and membranes, rendered from published scientific data. Tap any molecule to learn what it is and what it does. Tap any term for an explanation at your level, written on your device with Apple Intelligence. Place molecular scenes in your space with augmented reality on compatible iPhone and iPad devices. LEARN WITH AKO Ako helps you build understanding through questions. It brings molecular structures into view, invites you to look closer and explain what you notice, then builds on your answers to help you make connections. Socratic learning, one discovery at a time. Type or dictate. Ask anything about what’s on screen or in your space. Your Ako lessons, your progress in them and what Ako has learned about you stay with you: on your device and, if you use iCloud, in your own iCloud. Get more of Ako with CellWalk Pro. GUIDED TOURS Start your journey with The Molecular Design of Life, a complete tour of the Mycoplasma cell made with Dr. David Goodsell. Each tour includes a guided narration, free explore mode and Ako practice lessons to test your understanding. CellWalk Pro adds more guided tours and lessons with an expanded library of cells and organisms. Explore the incredible molecular machines that power neurons and thought, or dive into the architecture of a virus like HIV. LEARN BY DOING Step into the Central Dogma of Biology with a hands-on interactive lesson on the all new Learning Path. Learn how the instructions in DNA are read and translated into the proteins that build and sustain your cells. WHAT’S FREE Explore The Molecular Design of Life tour and its accompanying Ako lesson and explore modes, and try the “What is a Protein?” interactive lesson on the Learning Path. You can also ask Ako in-depth questions with a free daily allowance. CELLWALK PRO Unlock all other guided tours and their accompanying Ako lessons, a larger daily question allowance and longer answers from Ako. Choose a monthly or annual auto-renewing subscription. One subscription covers iPhone, iPad and Mac. ASK FROM ANYWHERE Say “Ask CellWalk a biology question” and Siri answers from CellWalk’s own content without opening the app. “Continue my lesson in CellWalk” picks up where you left off. On iPhone and iPad, use Visual Intelligence on a textbook diagram, choose Search CellWalk with an Image, and tap a match to open that tour, lesson or molecule. HOW THE AI WORKS Ako is built with the Foundation Models framework. Where Apple Intelligence is available, it answers on Private Cloud Compute, and the on-device model explains the terms you tap. OpenAI, a third-party AI service, plans lessons and answers when Apple Intelligence isn’t available on your device or in your region. The app asks your permission before sending your first question. You can change that permission under Account → Privacy. CellWalk doesn’t require a separate CellWalk account, and AI requests aren’t tied to your name. Find details under Account → Privacy → About CellWalk & AI. Apple Intelligence features require iPhone 15 Pro or later, an iPad with M1 or A17 Pro or later, or a Mac with Apple silicon. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Terms of Service: https://cellwalk.ca/terms-of-service Privacy Policy: https://cellwalk.ca/privacy

About

Explorer Glide

Features
Read full description

Lean to the left and the bird turns left. Look down and it swoops low over the rooftops, then tip your head back and it climbs again. Explorer Glide lets children explore the real world from above, steering a bird with nothing but their head, over real satellite maps of anywhere on Earth. FLY ANYWHERE Start at Uluru, the Great Barrier Reef, the Grand Canyon, the Pyramids, Mount Fuji or the Amazon. Or type in your own street, your school, or a park you know. If it is on the map, you can fly over it. STEER WITH YOUR HEAD The front camera watches how you tilt. Lean to turn. Look down to swoop, and tip your head back to climb. There is nothing to hold and nothing to press. Arrow keys work as well, for anyone who would rather sit still. BRING BACK A MAP Turn on the path and your flight draws itself across the map while you fly. At the end you can save a picture of the whole journey, showing your route, where you started and how far you went. It prints well and looks good on a classroom wall. LEARNING ABOUT MAPS Distances are given in things a child can picture, like blue whales end to end or laps of a running track. Height is described rather than measured, from skimming the rooftops to up with the clouds. The compass reads in words instead of degrees. You can switch between satellite photos, photos with names on them, and a plain drawn map, which is a simple way to see how a map relates to the ground it describes. NOTHING TO WIN OR LOSE There is no score, no timer and no way to fail. Children fly for as long as they want and stop when they are ready. ON EVERY SCREEN Explorer Glide runs on iPhone, iPad and Mac. It works best on a bigger screen that can sit still on a desk, where there is more room to see where you are going.

Screenshots

CellWalk4 screens
Explorer Glide4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Explorer Glide at none against CellWalk's 3. Explorer Glide also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 27.0). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. CellWalk sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Explorer Glide asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
CellWalk versus Explorer Glide: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCellWalkExplorer Glide
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (73 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews91.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings73 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS27.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size555 MB7 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperAko Biotica Inc.Paul Hamilton

Bugs and requests

CellWalk

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • ATP synthase described backwards
  • Renderer noise causes nausea
  • Buggy and low framerate
  • Renderer not responsive to head movements

Requested features

10 requests
  • More cells to explore (eukaryotic, mammalian, computer cells)
  • More content and depth
  • Expand on descriptions with an 'expand on' feature
  • Add tutorials for new users
  • Add color to highlighted text for easy reference
Show 5 more
  • Depict a minimal eukaryotic cell
  • Depict a cell undergoing mitosis
  • Make cell models free-floating instead of behind windows
  • Option to purchase additional content
  • Update renderer for responsiveness to head movements

Explorer Glide

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

3 purchases

CellWalk

Subscriptions2
  • CellWalk Pro Monthly$9.991 Month
  • CellWalk Pro Annual$79.991 Year
One-time1
  • Pro Lessons$39.99
None

Explorer Glide

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is CellWalk free?
CellWalk is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Explorer Glide free?
Explorer Glide is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do CellWalk or Explorer Glide have ads?
Neither CellWalk nor Explorer Glide shows ads.

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