Comparison

Universalis vs Discerning Hearts

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

Head to head
About

Universalis

This app provides daily Catholic Mass readings and the Liturgy of the Hours. It offers offline access to prayers, saints' biographies, and commentaries, with customizable display options and optional spoken audio add-ons.

Highlights
  • Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office)
  • Daily Mass readings and prayers
  • Offline access
  • Customizable display (fonts, themes)
  • Saints' biographies and reflections
  • Optional spoken audio add-on
  • Latin and English options
Features
Read full description

Universalis is a missal and a breviary, and more besides. It gives you the Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) and the Mass for every day; plus valuable additional material. Tens of thousands of people use Universalis daily. Come and join them! • Single purchase: the app lasts for ever. It does not need a subscription to make it work. • No Internet needed: everything you need is already built in. • No cleverness needed: each day, Universalis works out exactly what you need to see. • View any date: past, present and future. • Use your own local calendar: USA, Canada, Singapore, Ireland, and every diocese in Australia, New Zealand and the UK. • Easy to read and use: a choice of fonts; big or small type; dark or light theme; page-turning or scrolling. • Optional add-on: spoken audio read by real human beings (this needs a subscription: see below). • Latin if you want it: by itself or alongside the English. • Help and support: tips and instructions are included; or press “Contact Us” to send us a message, and we will reply. EXTRA MATERIAL • The “About Today” page tells you what saints are being celebrated today, worldwide. It includes reflections, biographies and illustrations. • “Mass Today” gives you the Order of Mass and today’s readings and prayers, all in one page. Bishops have been known to use it to say Mass from their iPads! • “Spiritual Reading” gathers the patristic and hagiographic readings for all the saints and feasts of the day. • “The Rosary” has a verse of Scripture for every Hail Mary of every Mystery. Spoken audio is included. • Daily Books takes selected spiritual classics and presents them in daily instalments to focus and enrich your prayer life. • Commentaries on the day’s Mass readings from a leading biblical scholar. And more – Home Screen widgets; liturgical events for your iOS calendar; daily email service; copy and paste into other apps; reminders and alarms; Mass readings on your Apple Watch. LITURGY OF THE HOURS (Divine Office) The complete official Liturgy of the Hours of the Catholic Church, as used worldwide. Morning (Lauds), daytime (Terce, Sext and None), evening (Vespers), night (Compline) and the deeply reflective Office of Readings. Do as many or as few of them as you like. • The psalms and canticles match the official English and American books. Scripture readings – United States: RSV. Elsewhere: Jerusalem Bible (with RSV as an optional add-on). READINGS AT MASS The exact prayers and readings at Mass for each day. • England, Wales, Scotland: the official ESV version. • United States: the official NAB version. • Elsewhere: Jerusalem Bible readings and Grail psalms, as used at Mass in most of the English-speaking world. OPTIONAL ADD-ON AUDIO (in-app purchase required) Just press the button and listen! If you want to see what you are hearing, the text is highlighted to follow the sound. After an initial download, no Internet is required. Works with CarPlay too. • Spoken English Liturgy of the Hours: every Hour of every day of every year. Monthly or annual subscription. • Spoken English Mass Readings: First and Second Reading and the Gospel. Jerusalem Bible translation only. Monthly or annual subscription. (You can listen to a sample before subscribing. Following App Store rules, subscriptions renew automatically but you can cancel auto-renewal at any time.) • Sung Latin Compline (Night Prayer): by the boys of the Schola Cantorum of the London Oratory School. Single purchase. -- Privacy policy and terms of service: universalis.com/n-ios-privacy.htm

About

Discerning Hearts

Access a vast library of spirituality audio and video podcasts on demand. Explore topics from the lives of saints to prayer and Catholic social teaching, featuring renowned authors and spiritual leaders.

Highlights
  • On-demand audio and video podcasts
  • Streaming content
  • Topics on prayer and discernment
  • Content from leading authors and teachers
  • Focus on saints and Catholic social teaching
  • Discussions on liturgy and everyday prayer
Features
Read full description

Spirituality audio & video podcasts. Free ON_DEMAND & STREAMING content. A school of prayer and discernment for the New Evangelization! The best authors, teachers, spiritual leaders discussing topics that affect our everyday lives. Shows range from Inside the Pages w/Kris McGregor to series with Fr. Timothy Gallagher, Deacon James Keating, Dr. Anthony Lilles, Dr. R. R. Reno, Mike Aquilina, Joseph Pearce, Msgr. John Esseff, Archbishop George J. Lucas, and many others. From the lives of the saints to the basics of Catholic Social teaching, from the Sacred Liturgy to prayer in the everyday moments of our lives, we walk together as we fulfill our call to be saints in the making.

Screenshots

Universalis4 screens
Discerning Hearts4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Discerning Hearts at Free against Universalis's $9.99. Discerning Hearts also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 10). Universalis's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (9.7K vs 965). On rating, review sentiment, 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

Discerning Hearts is free to download; Universalis costs $9.99 up front. Universalis sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Discerning Hearts asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Universalis against 4.9 for Discerning Hearts. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Universalis has 9.7K ratings behind it against 965, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 94% of Universalis's written reviews are positive against 97% of Discerning Hearts's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Universalis ships an update every 3 weeks, Discerning Hearts every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Universalis versus Discerning Hearts: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUniversalisDiscerning Hearts
Price$9.99Free — better
Rating4.9 (9.7K ratings)4.9 (965 ratings) — better
Positive reviews94.3% of reviews96.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings9.7K — better965
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationPaidFree — better
Best chart rank#3 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.615.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size78 MB51 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperUniversalis PublishingDiscerning Hearts

Customer experience

Universalis

All ratings9,729 ratings
Positive98.5%
Neutral0.6%
Negative0.9%
Written reviews653 reviews
Positive94.3%
Neutral3.1%
Negative2.6%

Discerning Hearts

All ratings964 ratings
Positive99.1%
Neutral0.3%
Negative0.6%
Written reviews130 reviews
Positive96.9%
Neutral0.8%
Negative2.3%

User reviews

Universalis

From 9.7K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🙏 Wonderful Catholic app
  • 🙌 Great app for Catholic devotions
  • 📚 This is a wonderful app for the laity
  • 🙏 Excellent resource for Mass and Liturgy of the Hours
  • 🌟 Comprehensive and easy to use

Room to improve

  • 🤔 Hymns selection could be improved
  • 🤔 Navigation can be confusing
  • 🤔 Kenyan version text does not match book
  • 🤔 Difficult to navigate, missing menu buttons

Discerning Hearts

From 965 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🙏 Spiritual nourishment
  • 🕰️ Variety of content
  • 📚 Solid Catholic teaching
  • 🌟 Inspiring speakers
  • 🕊️ Deepens faith and prayer life

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App crashes
  • 🔍 Difficulty navigating content
  • 💾 Lack of download/offline functionality

Bugs and requests

Universalis

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Gospel readings sometimes incorrect
  • App crashes when trying to change hymns or readings

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add Salesian saints and young saints
  • Include NAB translation for US users
  • Add option for 1962 liturgical calendar
  • Improve hymn selection, especially for seasons
  • Implement more inclusive language in prayers

Discerning Hearts

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Crashes on launch
  • Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions

Requested features

3 requests
  • Bookmark/favorites feature
  • Text search functionality
  • Improved user interface

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Universalis

Subscriptions6
  • Daily Mass Readings1 Month trial$1.991 Month
  • Daytime Hours1 Month trial$2.991 Month
  • All Hours1 Month trial$2.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • Daily Mass Readings1 Month trial$19.991 Year
  • Daytime Hours1 Month trial$29.991 Year
  • All Hours1 Month trial$29.991 Year
One-time4
  • Add-on translation: RSV Hours$1.99
  • Sung Latin Compline$3.99
  • Revelations of Divine Love$5.99
Show 1 more
  • Journey into Light$5.99
None

Discerning Hearts

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Universalis free?
Universalis costs $9.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Discerning Hearts free?
Discerning Hearts is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Universalis or Discerning Hearts?
Discerning Hearts is rated higher. Universalis averages 4.9 out of 5 from 9.7K ratings, while Discerning Hearts averages 4.9 from 965 ratings.
Do Universalis or Discerning Hearts have ads?
Neither Universalis nor Discerning Hearts shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Universalis or Discerning Hearts?
Universalis ships an update every 3 weeks, and Discerning Hearts every 3 months. Most recently, Universalis was updated on November 4, 2026 and Discerning Hearts on November 1, 2026.

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