Populi vs Tooling U
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Populi
This app connects to a college management system, allowing faculty and students to manage coursework, attendance, and communication. It offers features for grading, submitting assignments, checking grades, and accessing course materials.
- Automatic attendance via Bluetooth beacon
- Grade assignments and run discussions
- Submit assignments and take tests
- Check grades and view course bulletin boards
- Manage admissions leads
- View and pay balances, show ID card
- Search library and place holds
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For use with the Populi college management system. * Uses the same Populi login you use at your school. * Use your iPhone’s Bluetooth beacon to automatically take attendance. * Faculty can grade assignments, run discussions, take attendance, and post to course Bulletin Boards. * Students can check grades, submit assignments, take tests, contribute to discussions, and check in for attendance. * Faculty and students can join course conferences. * Add new admissions leads. * View and pay your balance, show your ID Card, view your calendars, look up school contacts, and keep up with To-Dos. * Search your Library and place holds on resources. * Browse, join and interact with groups. As a group administrator you can also manage group members and content.
Tooling U
Access manufacturing classes on your mobile device. This app provides easy access to your scheduled courses, including audio, video, and interactive content, for a convenient learning experience on the go.
- Access manufacturing classes
- View schedules
- Play audio and video content
- Interactive learning elements
- Mobile-friendly format
- User-friendly interface
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This free app offers convenient, easy access to manufacturing classes for students currently registered with Tooling U-SME. Use your existing username and password to log into your schedule on any tablet or smartphone and enjoy all the features of Tooling U-SME classes, including audio, videos, and interactive elements. It’s all your content available online, in a user-friendly, mobile format that delivers training wherever you go.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Tooling U at 4.4 against Populi's 2.5. Tooling U also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 7 months) and ratings volume (206 vs 26). Populi's advantage is review sentiment (28% vs 18%). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Tooling U holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 2.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Tooling U has 206 ratings behind it against 26, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 28% of Populi's written reviews are positive against 18% of Tooling U's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Populi ships an update every 7 months, Tooling U weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Populi | Tooling U |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.5 (26 ratings) | 4.4 (206 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 27.5% of reviews — better | 17.6% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 26 | 206 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 15 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 75 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Populi, Inc | Society of Manufacturing Engineers |
Customer experience
Populi
Tooling U
Bugs and requests
Populi
Reported bugs
41 issues- App stays on 'continue' page
- App is hacked
- App does not work on opening
- Assignments won't submit
- Files no longer open
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- App logs out users
- Cannot open files through the app
- Application feels stuck at v1
- App works only half the time
- App is full of bugs and crashes
- App frequently loses ability to view lessons and tests
- Error message: needs to be updated, but no update available
- App signs out every time it's opened
- Unable to access posted files
- Unable to login after iPhone update
- White screen of death after login
- App logs out constantly
- White screen of death when trying to log back in
- Cannot access lessons page
- App crashes when scrolling
- App freezes when navigating
- Cannot access lessons page on classes
- Inability to stay logged in
- Random logouts
- Developer claims issue fixed, but it's not
- App keeps logging out 3-4 times a day
- Problems with staying logged in
- Last update was 6 months ago
- Institution does not populate on login screen
- App is useless, like using a browser
- App not designed for iPads
- App uses center of screen on iPad
- Menu missing after upgrade
- Files no longer visible, 'unable to connect to Populi'
- App broke after iOS update
- App pops open and closes immediately
- New app update crashes immediately upon opening
- App doesn't communicate well with Populi server
- App doesn't offer same features as website
- App is slow
- Attendance feature is time consuming
Requested features
27 requests- Overhaul UI
- Add tabs to navigation
- Enable location and Bluetooth
- Accessibility support (font/icon size)
- Dark mode
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- Upload assignments from OneDrive/Dropbox
- Integration with online meeting apps
- Face ID unlock
- Save payment information
- Deep link push notifications
- Comment on assignments from app
- iPad version
- Print lessons
- Submit assignments
- Take tests
- Make all website features available on app
- Update app to include more website features
- Allow files to be opened in other programs
- View attendance
- View grades for all classes
- View past terms
- View degree audit
- View class dashboard
- Post/respond to class dashboard
- Save attendance default to 'present'
- Mail functionality
- Full complement of Populi features (bill paying, news feed, rosters, calendars)
Tooling U
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Populi
No in-app purchases
Tooling U
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Populi free?
Is Tooling U free?
Which has better reviews, Populi or Tooling U?
Do Populi or Tooling U have ads?
Which is updated more often, Populi or Tooling U?
Other comparisons
