Comparison

Elsevier eBooks+ vs SAMS Conferences

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

Head to head
About

Elsevier eBooks+

Access your medical textbooks offline and enhance your learning with tools for note-taking, highlighting, and flashcard creation. Sync your progress and annotations across devices for a seamless study experience.

Highlights
  • Offline book access
  • Note-taking and highlighting
  • Flashcard creation
  • Cross-device syncing
  • In-book search
  • Figure viewing and zooming
Features
Read full description

The Elsevier eBooks+ Bookshelf companion app provides on and offline access to the books in your eBooks+ account on the Content Library page. Enhance your reading experience with tools designed to build and improve your medical knowledge; making and sharing notes, highlighting key text, and creating flashcards. Elsevier eBooks Features: • Download books to your iOS device for easy online or offline reading. • Simple, user-friendly navigation and a clean reading experience. • Search inside your current book or across your full library. • Select text to create notes or highlights from your mobile device. • Tap to open figures, view captions, and pinch to zoom. • Sync your bookmarks, last page read, and all of your notes and highlights between your iOS device and our desktop or web-based eBooks+ apps. Requirements: • Elsevier eBooks+ account • One or more books available in your eBooks+ Bookshelf account • iOS 17+

About

SAMS Conferences

This app serves as an official guide for a national symposium, providing attendees with access to the full conference schedule, session and speaker details, and interactive venue maps. It offers real-time updates for both in-person and remote participants.

Highlights
  • Full conference schedule access
  • Detailed session and speaker information
  • Interactive venue maps
  • Real-time event updates
  • Remote participation support
Features
Read full description

The official app of the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) conferences. It puts everything you need at the conference on your phone, from the first session to your CME certificate. PLAN YOUR CONFERENCE • Browse general and parallel sessions, workshops and social activities • Open any session to see its agenda, speakers and moderators, with full speaker bios • Add sessions to My Schedule. The app flags any that overlap. • See which workshops you're approved to attend YOUR QR BADGE • Your personal QR code is your conference pass. Show it at check-in. • My Benefits shows everything included in your registration • Activity tickets show whether each one is valid or already checked in SOCIAL ACTIVITIES • See every social event and sign up in one tap • Know right away when an activity is full • Open the venue in Maps and see which shuttles go there SHUTTLES • Full timetable for every route, with all stops • Live status: on time, delayed, departed or cancelled • A "Your next shuttle" card so you never miss your ride • Set a reminder before any departure • Open any stop in Maps NETWORKING • Scan another attendee's QR code to add them to My Network • Keep private notes on each contact FEEDBACK & CME • Session and workshop feedback forms appear in My Surveys when they open. Your answers are anonymous. • Complete your CME evaluation in the app, page by page • Submitting it issues your CME certificate, which is also emailed to you CERTIFICATES • See all your certificates in one place • Save or share them as a PDF • Post to LinkedIn in one tap, with a caption ready to paste • Anyone can verify a certificate online STAY UPDATED • Push notifications for announcements, new surveys and certificates • A notification inbox so you can catch up anytime YOUR PROFILE • Add a photo, bio, specialty and your LinkedIn, X and website links • Update your details or reset your password anytime ABOUT THE CONFERENCE • Conference overview, planning committee, sponsors and contact information Not registered yet? Continue as a guest to explore the program. FOR CONFERENCE STAFF • Scan attendee badges to check them in • Manage attendance and view the attendee roster

Screenshots

Elsevier eBooks+4 screens
SAMS Conferences4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: SAMS Conferences at 100% against Elsevier eBooks+'s 43%. SAMS Conferences also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 2 months) and monetization model (free vs freemium). Elsevier eBooks+'s advantage is ratings volume (1.9K vs 4). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

SAMS Conferences holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Elsevier eBooks+ has 1.9K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 43% of Elsevier eBooks+'s written reviews are positive against 100% of SAMS Conferences's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Elsevier eBooks+ ships an update every 2 months, SAMS Conferences every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Elsevier eBooks+ versus SAMS Conferences: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterElsevier eBooks+SAMS Conferences
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (1.9K ratings)5.0 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews42.9% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.9K — better4
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size183 MB42 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperElsevier Inc.Syrian American Medical Society Foundation

Customer experience

Elsevier eBooks+

All ratings1,873 ratings
Positive93.8%
Neutral1.8%
Negative4.4%
Written reviews63 reviews
Positive42.9%
Neutral17.5%
Negative39.7%

SAMS Conferences

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Elsevier eBooks+

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Figures placed at the end of chapters
  • Search function only works for single words
  • Inability to clear search history
  • Freezing and crashing issues
  • Incompatibility with older devices

Requested features

8 requests
  • More highlighting and note-taking options
  • Ability to write, draw, or paste images on pages
  • Separate flashcard option integration with Anki/Quizlet
  • More font size options
  • Streamlined text selection for voiceover
Show 3 more
  • Page turning instead of scrolling
  • Ability to write on pages
  • Interactive features

SAMS Conferences

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Elsevier eBooks+

No in-app purchases

None

SAMS Conferences

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Elsevier eBooks+ free?
Elsevier eBooks+ is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is SAMS Conferences free?
SAMS Conferences is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Elsevier eBooks+ or SAMS Conferences?
SAMS Conferences is rated higher. Elsevier eBooks+ averages 4.7 out of 5 from 1.9K ratings, while SAMS Conferences averages 5.0 from 4 ratings.
Do Elsevier eBooks+ or SAMS Conferences have ads?
Neither Elsevier eBooks+ nor SAMS Conferences shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Elsevier eBooks+ or SAMS Conferences?
Elsevier eBooks+ ships an update every 2 months, and SAMS Conferences every 4 days. Most recently, Elsevier eBooks+ was updated on November 7, 2026 and SAMS Conferences on October 30, 2026.

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