Core Anesthesia vs PreOpApp Kids
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Core Anesthesia
This app offers a curriculum of audio episodes for CRNAs and students to earn CEUs, pass tests, and review for boards. Designed for busy schedules, episodes can be listened to anywhere and include printed outlines and sources.
- Continuing education episodes
- Board review content
- Podcast format for on-the-go learning
- Printed outlines and sources included
- Designed for CRNAs and students
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Core Anesthesia is continuing education and board review built for nurse anesthetists, made by CRNAs who remember how little time there is. Learn by listening. The curriculum is delivered as podcast episodes you can take anywhere: the commute, the gym, the drive between clinical sites. Every episode comes with learning objectives, a printed outline, cited sources, and a read-along transcript. EARN AANA CE CREDIT • Class A credits logged as you listen • Certificates ready to download when you need them • No paperwork and no separate reporting STUDY WITH PURPOSE • 1800+ practice questions with rationales that explain the answer • Custom quizzes across 19 anesthesia categories • See which topics are strong and which need work • High-yield cheat sheets and procedure videos • Search that finds the episode, sheet, or clip you meant TAKE IT OFFLINE Download episodes and cheat sheets for flights, commutes, and dead zones. Anything you save stays available with no signal. For SRNAs preparing for boards and CRNAs maintaining certification. End user license agreement: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
PreOpApp Kids
This app uses interactive games and friendly characters to help children and their families feel less anxious about upcoming surgery. It provides visual preparation, smart guidance, and resources for parents, aiming to build confidence and reduce stress.
- Interactive games for hospital familiarization
- Friendly characters for reassurance
- Kid-friendly visual preparation stories
- Smart reminders for surgical preparation
- Parent resources and guidance
- Physiology-responsive calming experiences
- Motivational challenges for anesthesia induction
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PreOpApp™ Kids is a patent-pending pediatric surgery preparation app with innovative technology designed to make preparing for surgery easier and less stressful for children and families. Created by a pediatric anesthesiologist, PreOpApp™ Kids helps parents and caregivers prepare their child for surgery and anesthesia with child-friendly education, calming tools, fasting reminders, stories, and interactive activities. Key Features: Interactive Games: Engaging, age-appropriate activities that help children become familiar with the hospital and operating room environment while encouraging calm breathing, focus, and emotional regulation. Practice blowing into the anesthesia mask with Little Hottie™! Also practice making a calming, centering Mandala that will sync with your child’s heart rate on the day of surgery with Mandala Sync™! Friendly Characters: A spark of courage flame (Little Hottie™), a cheerful goldfish, a cuddly sheep, a curious kitten, and other companions guide children through their surgical journey with warmth and reassurance. Kid-Friendly Hospital Preparation: Visual storytelling helps children understand what happens before surgery, reducing fear of the unknown and helping them feel more prepared. Download the Dream Fetcher interactive book today, available in the Kid Zone of PreOpApp™ Kids. Smart Guidance: Gentle, timely reminders that support surgical preparation, reduce last-minute stress, ease the burden on busy families, and help everyone stay on track. Enter your child’s arrival time for their surgery and this app will tell you what to do next to prepare your child. No stress. Future versions of PreOpApp™ Kids are designed to support secure integration with hospital systems to further improve communication between families and their surgical and anesthesia teams. Parent Resources: Practical guidance and tips for caregivers to help prepare their child for surgery with confidence. Beyond Preparation: Utility on the Day of Surgery Clinical Support: PreOpApp™ Kids can be used by anesthesiologists, CRNAs, CAAs, child life specialists, and other anesthesia team members to help support calmer transitions during induction of anesthesia. It can also support children in the preoperative holding area and provide comfort during transport to the operating room. Physiology-Responsive Experiences: A key innovation of PreOpApp™ Kids is that its games gently synchronize with a child’s natural breathing rhythm and heart rate. Visual and audio elements flow in real time with the child, creating a calming, immersive experience that supports connection and comfort during anesthesia induction. Motivational Challenges: Interactive games that invite children to remember playful details as they drift off to sleep — a modern, engaging alternative to familiar counting challenges like “How high can I count?” during anesthesia induction or counting sheep to fall asleep. Buy Mandala Sync™ today in the Kid Zone of PreOpApp™ Kids. Why PreOpApp™ Kids? Surgery can be overwhelming for children and families. By blending evidence-based approaches with engaging games and interactive technology, PreOpApp™ Kids makes preparation feel less scary and more empowering. Children learn what to expect, families feel supported, and the hospital experience becomes calmer for everyone involved. Created by a pediatric anesthesiologist, PreOpApp™ Kids is designed to complement the care children receive in hospitals while giving parents peace of mind that their child feels safe, supported, and ready. PreOpApp™ Kids: Turning surgery prep into a journey of learning, confidence, and calm — from at home to the operating room. Educational guidance is based on published anesthesia guidelines and supporting literature: sources available inside the app.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: PreOpApp Kids at free against Core Anesthesia's free with in-app purchases. PreOpApp Kids also leads on update cadence (every 11 days vs every 3 weeks) and review sentiment (100% vs 90%). Core Anesthesia's advantage is ratings volume (537 vs 17) and chart position (#196 vs unranked). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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. Core Anesthesia sells 14 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and PreOpApp Kids sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Core Anesthesia against 4.9 for PreOpApp Kids. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Core Anesthesia has 537 ratings behind it against 17, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 90% of Core Anesthesia's written reviews are positive against 100% of PreOpApp Kids's.
Core Anesthesia ships an update every 3 weeks, PreOpApp Kids every 11 days. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.
| Parameter | Core Anesthesia | PreOpApp Kids |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (537 ratings) | 4.9 (17 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 90.2% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 537 — better | 17 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 11 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #196 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 52 MB | 1.0 GB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Student Nurse Anesthesia LLC | LN Welsh MD Anesthesiologist, LLC |
Customer experience
Core Anesthesia
PreOpApp Kids
Bugs and requests
Core Anesthesia
Reported bugs
5 issues- Episodes won't play offline or without Wi-Fi despite having data
- Premium subscription doesn't always unlock premium-labeled episodes
- Home screen categories don't display all available episodes
- Inconsistent episode visibility between app and podcast platforms
- Playback buffering and connectivity issues in the car
Requested features
6 requests- Chronological episode listing (1 to most recent)
- Better filtering and sorting options
- Episode download capability for offline listening
- Improved search functionality for specific topics
- Clearer distinction between free and premium content
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- Enhanced navigation to reduce confusion about available episodes
PreOpApp Kids
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Core Anesthesia
- Student Premium Monthly7 Days trial$9.991 Month
- CRNA Premium Monthly3 Days trial$64.991 Month
- Student Premium Yearly7 Days trial$99.991 Year
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- CRNA Premium Quarterly$179.003 Months
- CRNA Premium Yearly3 Days trial$599.001 Year
- Airway Core Module$49.99
- Equipment Core Module$49.99
- Pharmacology Core Module$49.99
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- Anatomy Core Module$149.99
- core_crna_10$199.00
- core_crna_30$299.00
- CRNA USAP 25%$449.99
- CRNA Promotion$539.00
- core_crna_60$599.00
PreOpApp Kids
- Little Hottie$2.99
- Mandalasync Game$2.99
- Dream Fetcher Book$9.99
Questions
Is Core Anesthesia free?
Is PreOpApp Kids free?
Which has better reviews, Core Anesthesia or PreOpApp Kids?
Do Core Anesthesia or PreOpApp Kids have ads?
Which is updated more often, Core Anesthesia or PreOpApp Kids?
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