Creative Whack Pack vs Sidebar Chat
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Creative Whack Pack
This app offers 100 interactive creativity strategies to stimulate innovative thinking. It's designed to help users break free from habitual thought patterns and explore new perspectives through illustrated cards, stories, examples, and questions.
- 100 interactive creativity strategies
- Illustrated cards with stories and examples
- Explorer, Artist, Judge, and Warrior strategies
- Creative Workshops for focused sessions
- Stimulates innovative thinking
- Suitable for individual or group use
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The Creative Whack Pack's 100 interactive creativity strategies stimulate you to think creatively. It PROVOKES your creativity. • "The most impressive brainstorming tool in the App Store, hands down." —Innovation Tools • The iPhone/iPad Universal App has 36 NEW CARDS (up from the original 64)! • "An App Store #1 Best-Seller" (Business Category) • “The Creative Whack Pack displays business brilliance." — USA Today The Creative Whack Pack is the App Store's "premier creative thinking/innovation tool." The Creative Whack Pack is a “creative workshop in an App.” It consists of 100 illustrated creativity strategies. Each of these is packed with stories, examples, and questions. These 100 creativity strategies will “whack” you out of your habitual thought patterns and allow you to look at what you're doing in a fresh way. Use the workshops to stimulate your thinking. •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• For: Creatives, business people, educators, students, coaches, designers, and anyone else who'd like to boost their creativity. •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Based on the million-selling Creative Whack Pack card deck, this App can serve you as a: Creativity tool, mind jogger, Oracle, workshop, and coach. “A cross between a tarot card and a best friend, the Creative Whack Pack forces your psyche to look in the mirror and challenge what it sees.” — Elle Magazine •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• The Creative Whack Pack is a “creative workshop in an App.” It consists of 100 illustrated creativity strategies. Each of these packed with stories, examples, and questions. — 25 Explorer strategies highlight places to find new information. — 25 Artist strategies provide techniques to generate new ideas. — 25 Judge strategies lend decision-making advice. — 25 Warrior strategies give you the “kick” you need to get your ideas into action. Work with these interactive creative strategies in the Creative Workshops. You can use the Creative Whack Pack by yourself, or with colleagues and friends. The ideas you generate will delight you! Your involvement in each session can be as brief a 30-second “quick hit of stimulation,” or as long as ten-minute “creative workshop.” Roger von Oech created this product. His seminars and products have enhanced the creative thinking skills of millions worldwide. He is the author of the creativity classic A "Whack on the Side of the Head," "A Kick in the Seat of the Pants," "Expect the Unexpected," and "The Creative Contrarian." He also created the popular Ball of Whacks (set of magnetic design pieces), the X-Ball, and the Star-Ball. He earned his Ph.D. from Stanford University in the “History of Ideas.” “Roger von Oech has won a loyal following around the country.” — BusinessWeek Magazine “Business Brilliance!” —USA Today “What a technique!” —ABC’s 20/20
Sidebar Chat
This app connects you with high-achieving peers for small group coaching. It aims to help you become a better leader, manager, and person by fostering trusted advisory relationships.
- Small group coaching
- Peer advisory matching
- Leadership development
- Managerial skill enhancement
- Personal growth support
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We provide small group coaching to help you do your greatest work—and we match you with high-achieving peers who become your most trusted advisors. Our mission is to help you become the best leader, manager, and human being that you can be.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Sidebar Chat at none against Creative Whack Pack's 1. Sidebar Chat also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 3 months). Creative Whack Pack's advantage is ratings volume (226 vs 3). On price, rating, 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
Both are free to download. Creative Whack Pack sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Sidebar Chat asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Creative Whack Pack against 5.0 for Sidebar Chat. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Creative Whack Pack has 226 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Creative Whack Pack ships an update every 3 months, Sidebar Chat monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 18, 2026 and June 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Creative Whack Pack | Sidebar Chat |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (226 ratings) | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 96.8% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 226 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 35 MB | 55 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Creative Think | Sidebar Technology, Inc. |
Customer experience
Creative Whack Pack
Sidebar Chat
Bugs and requests
Creative Whack Pack
Reported bugs
2 issues- Login Screen Freezing
- Incompatibility with Older iOS Versions
Requested features
4 requests- Save Progress in Workshops
- More Frequent Content Updates
- Improved Social Sharing Options
- Graphical/UI Enhancements for Newer Devices
Sidebar Chat
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Creative Whack Pack
- Full Version$1.99
Sidebar Chat
No in-app purchases







