PubMed On Tap vs Orkov
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
PubMed On Tap
Access and manage biomedical literature from PubMed and PubMed Central. Find, display, and import reference information and full-text articles. Organize your references and share them easily.
- Search PubMed and PubMed Central
- Import reference information and PDFs
- Organize references in groups
- Email references for import
- Advanced boolean searches
- Search for full text
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••• Check out Bookends - PubMed On Tap's big brother ••• PubMed On Tap searches PubMed and PubMed Central to find, display, and import reference information and PDFs of the full article (requires access privileges). You can search your personal reference library, organize your references in groups (static and smart), and email references from your device to yourself or others in a form suitable for reading or importing into other reference management apps. Many features are optimized for reference retrieval and management (advanced boolean searches, search for Full Text or Free Full text, recall recent searches, etc.).
Orkov
Access and search critical research information from PubMed on your iPhone. This app allows you to search journals, save articles and PDFs, and add notes. It provides a powerful and easy-to-navigate interface for medical research on the go.
- Search PubMed (Basic & Advanced)
- Retrieve full text articles & PDFs
- Save searches, abstracts & articles
- Add notes to saved content
- Built-in browser
- Navigate lengthy articles with 'Jump' button
- Find related articles
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ORKOV - THE SEARCH AUTHORITY ON "http://www.pubmed.gov" www.pubmed.gov (PubMed) Empowers you with instant access to critical and needed research information ‘Anywhere; and at ‘Anytime’ on demand 24 by 7. Search PubMed from your iPhone with Orkov's powerful and advanced search capability. All the options of PubMed's web pages are wrapped into a powerful iPhone app that is easy to use and navigate. Search journals and review abstracts. Bookmark, download and save PDFs of Full Text articles whenever available and email the abstracts, search results, full text and downloaded PDF articles with notes. FEATURES include the following: • Search PubMed (Basic and Advanced Searches) • Retrieve full text articles and PDFs from PubMed, PubMed Central and other sources when available. • Link to other full text article sources • Retain Search History • Save searches, abstracts and full text articles • Keep notes with your full text articles, PDF downloads and abstracts • Link to LoanSome Doc to borrow journals • Navigate lengthy full text articles quickly with our exclusive "Jump" button. Our ‘Jump’ button dynamically populates main sections of an XML based full text article • Zoom in on Figures • Find related articles (to multiple levels) • Find related articles by authors (to multiple levels) • Built-in browser (No need to leave or close Orkov) for viewing documents available through other services • Immediate, Complete and FREE two week instant access to all the features of Orkov
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: PubMed On Tap at 66% against Orkov's 0%. PubMed On Tap also leads on ratings volume (1K vs 1) and update cadence (every 6 months vs every 12 months). Orkov's advantage is price (Free vs $2.99) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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
Orkov is free to download; PubMed On Tap costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Orkov holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PubMed On Tap has 1K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 66% of PubMed On Tap's written reviews are positive against 0% of Orkov's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
PubMed On Tap ships an update every 6 months, Orkov every 12 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | PubMed On Tap | Orkov |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.8 (1K ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 65.7% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1K — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months — better | Every 12 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 5 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | ReferencesOnTap | Visual Soft Inc. |
Customer experience
PubMed On Tap
Orkov
Bugs and requests
PubMed On Tap
Reported bugs
2 issues- Your application does not open on my ipad after download
- Crashes on load/run every time, even after reset and/or reinstallation
Requested features
7 requests- Ability to save favorite search words
- Ability to highlight parts of abstract text
- Option to sort the library by author, date, publication type
- Option to create more than one library within the app
- Option to save search history for future retrieval
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- Option of folders for easy paper organization
- Safari or Zotero integration
Orkov
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
PubMed On Tap
No in-app purchases
Orkov
No in-app purchases
