# Google vs Files

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Google at 59% against Files's 14%. Google also leads on rating (4.6 vs 2.9) and update cadence (every 6 days vs every 8 months). Files's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 37) and ads (none vs shown). On price there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Google sells 22 in-app purchases, starting at $0.89 per month. Files asks for nothing beyond the download.

Google holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 2.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Google has 5.2M ratings behind it against 7.4K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 59% of Google's written reviews are positive against 14% of Files's.

Google ships an update every 6 days, Files every 8 months. Both last shipped on October 15, 2026.

## The numbers

| Metric | Google | Files |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.6 (5.2M ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/google/id284815942/reviews)** | [2.9 (7.4K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/files/id1232058109/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **5.2M** | 7.4K |
| Positive reviews | **59.2% of reviews** | 14.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | **Every 6 days** | Every 8 months |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Free** |
| Best chart rank | **#1** | — |
| Size | 512 MB | 5 MB |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | **11.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Vision Pro** |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Google](https://appshunter.io/developer/281956209) | [Apple Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/284417353) |

## What reviewers say

### Google

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/google/id284815942)

**Currently charting:** #1 Top Free · Utilities, #12 Top Free, #136 Top Grossing · Utilities (US App Store)

This app provides a comprehensive search experience, integrating AI for quick answers and personalized content. It allows you to search using images, voice, or text, and offers features like song identification and real-time translation.

**Highlights:** AI Overviews for quick answers, Image search with Lens, Hum to Search for song identification, Personalized Discover feed, Real-time camera translation, Home screen search widget

**Features:** Apple Wallet

**In-app purchases (22)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 30 GB | $0.89 | per month |
| 100 GB | $1.99 | per month |
| 100 GB | $1.99 | per month |
| 100 GB | $1.99 | per month |
| 200 GB | $2.99 | per month |
| 200 GB | $2.99 | per month |
| Google AI Plus (400 GB) | $4.99 | per month |
| Google AI Plus (400 GB) | $4.99 | per month |
| Google AI Plus (2 TB) | $9.99 | per month |
| 2 TB | $9.99 | per month |
| 100 GB | $19.99 | per year |
| Google AI Pro (5 TB) | $19.99 | per month |
| Google AI Pro (5 TB) | $19.99 | per month |
| Google AI Pro (2 TB) | $19.99 | per month |
| 5 TB | $24.99 | per month |
| 200 GB | $29.99 | per year |
| 200 GB | $29.99 | per year |
| Google AI Plus (400 GB) | $49.99 | per year |
| 10 TB | $49.99 | per month |
| Google AI Plus (2 TB) | $99.99 | per year |
| 30 TB | $149.99 | per month |
| 5 TB | $249.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Reliable and feature-packed
- 👍 Seamless integration with other Google services
- 🔍 Accurate and personalized search results
- 📱 Intuitive and smooth interface
- 🔍 Helpful Google Assistant

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
- 🔍 Biased or irrelevant search results
- 📱 Slow performance and freezing issues
- 🔍 Forced use of Google Lens
- 🔍 Difficulty removing unwanted content from feed

**Reported bugs**

- Search bar freezes or takes a long time to load
- Tabs disappearing or not saving properly
- Inability to save images or access image search
- Crashing or force closing issues
- Inconsistent dark mode/light mode behavior

**Requested features**

- Option to disable Google Lens
- Improved tab management
- Ability to customize news feed interests
- Restore image download functionality
- Dedicated search mode for trucks and larger vehicles


### Files

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/files/id1232058109)

Manage files from your device, cloud storage, or external drives in one place. Organize with tags, search, and access recent documents easily. Share files and connect to network drives.

**Highlights:** Access files from device, cloud, and external drives, Recents view with high-resolution thumbnails, Organize files with tags, Search and navigate folders, Connect to cloud services (Dropbox, OneDrive, etc.), Connect to file servers (SMB), Pin favorite folders

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Easy to use
- 🚀 Smooth performance
- 💡 Useful for storing and organizing files
- 🔒 Secure file storage

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Frequent crashes
- 🐛 Files disappearing or not saving properly
- 🐛 Unreliable sync with cloud services
- 🐛 Limited functionality compared to desktop file managers
- 🐛 Buggy PDF annotation and editing

**Reported bugs**

- Files app not showing any files after iOS 15 update
- Inability to delete downloaded files
- Keyboard glitches when editing documents
- Inconsistent behavior when transferring files to external storage

**Requested features**

- Add ability to view file extensions
- Improve search functionality
- Allow more customization of the interface
- Integrate better with other Apple apps and services
- Add support for more cloud storage providers


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Google free?

Google is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Files free?

Files is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Google or Files?

Google is rated higher. Google averages 4.6 out of 5 from 5.2M ratings, while Files averages 2.9 from 7.4K ratings.

### Do Google or Files have ads?

Google shows ads; Files does not.

### Which is updated more often, Google or Files?

Google ships an update every 6 days, and Files every 8 months. Most recently, Google was updated on October 15, 2026 and Files on October 15, 2026.

---

*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*