Comparison

Puppet Pals vs EarthViewer

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

Head to head
About

Puppet Pals

Bring your stories to life by creating animated shows in real time. Choose actors and backdrops, then record your movements and voice to produce unique performances. Unleash your creativity with endless storytelling possibilities.

Highlights
  • Real-time animation recording
  • Create actors from photos
  • Use photos as backdrops
  • Zoom and rotate characters
  • Downloadable creative characters
  • Director's Pass for all content
Read full description

Create your own animated shows in real time! Pick your actors and backdrops, drag them onto the stage, and tap record. Your movements and voice are captured live, ready to play back, save, and watch again. Act out a pirate adventure on the high seas, a spooky monster showdown, or a Wild West escape — and mix any characters and scenes however you like. Your shows are only limited by your imagination. FREE FEATURES - A stage full of characters and backdrops to perform with - Turn a photo into a character or a backdrop - Record shows with live animation and audio - Zoom, rotate, and flip characters as you perform - Save shows and watch them anytime CREATIVE CLUB (optional subscription) Join the Creative Club to unlock the full show: - Imagine any character or backdrop, describe it, and watch AI bring it to life - Every character and scene pack included - Record shows up to 10 minutes long - Draw your own characters and backdrops - Export your shows as videos - Widescreen stage and full control over the end-of-show outro Choose your plan, monthly or annual: - Essentials — includes 40 AI creations per month - Unlimited — includes up to 1,000 AI creations per month SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel your subscription anytime in your App Store account settings. Any unused portion of a free trial is forfeited when you purchase a subscription. Privacy Policy: https://www.polishedplay.com/puppetpals1/privacy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Puppet Pals is fully usable without a subscription — the Creative Club just adds more magic.

About

EarthViewer

Explore Earth's 4.5 billion-year history with this interactive time machine. See how continents, oceans, and climate have changed over eons, track landmarks and fossils, and visualize scientific data like temperature and biodiversity. Discover the dynamic evolution of our planet.

Highlights
  • Continental reconstructions over billions of years
  • Sea level and temperature maps
  • Track landmark and fossil movements
  • Visualize atmospheric composition and biodiversity
  • Explore geological eons, eras, and periods
  • Automated play modes and animations
Features
Read full description

What did Earth’s continents and oceans look like 250 million years ago, or even 1 billion years ago? What do we know about the climate back when our planet formed? How has sea level changed since the melting of the last ice age and what does the future hold? EarthViewer is like a time machine for exploring Earth’s deep history. Based on the latest scientific research, it lets you scroll through the last 4.5 billion years with your fingertips. Follow a favorite landmark, be it Greenland or New York City, as its position shifts through time, or watch a famous fossil like Tiktaalik make an incredible journey from its origin to its current location. Layer your view of shifting continents with data on atmospheric composition, temperature, biodiversity, day length, and solar luminosity, to get a more complete view of our dynamic planet. EarthViewer features include: • Continental reconstructions and accompanying data dating back billions of years • Sea level maps for the last 21,000 year and for 8,000 years into the future • Global temperature maps for the last 100+ years • Ability to manipulate the globe and zoom to any location • Locations of modern cities tracked back over 500 million years • In-depth features on major geological and biological events in Earth history • Clickable details on geologic eons, eras, and periods • Automated play modes • Animations between globe and flat map projections • Extensive reference list • Suggestions for classroom use The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is a non-profit medical research organization that ranks as one of the nation’s largest philanthropies. HHMI’s BioInteractive initiative opens a window on cutting-edge science through interactive web features, short films, virtual labs, and scientific animations. Since teachers play a pivotal role in launching the careers of future scientists and in helping the public understand the beauty and import of science, the BioInteractive team partners with the teaching community to create and distribute media that is engaging and relevant to the science curriculum.

Screenshots

Puppet Pals4 screens
EarthViewer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: EarthViewer at 4.4 against Puppet Pals's 3.8. EarthViewer also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 10) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 6 months). On price, ratings volume, 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

Both are free to download. Puppet Pals sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. EarthViewer asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

EarthViewer holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 52 and 107 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of Puppet Pals's written reviews are positive against 83% of EarthViewer's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Puppet Pals ships an update every 6 months, EarthViewer every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Puppet Pals versus EarthViewer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPuppet PalsEarthViewer
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.8 (52 ratings)4.4 (107 ratings) — better
Positive reviews70.9% of reviews83.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings52107 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.09.3 — better
Further details — not scored
Size77 MB108 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPolished Play, LLCHoward Hughes Medical Institute

Customer experience

Puppet Pals

All ratings53 ratings
Positive69.8%
Neutral7.5%
Negative22.6%
Written reviews213 reviews
Positive70.9%
Neutral7.5%
Negative21.6%

EarthViewer

All ratings101 ratings
Positive86.1%
Neutral2.0%
Negative11.9%
Written reviews124 reviews
Positive83.1%
Neutral5.6%
Negative11.3%

User reviews

Puppet Pals

From 52 App Store ratings

What we love

  • ⭐ Great app for classrooms and education
  • 🤩 Lots of fun and creativity
  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 💯 Awesome for making videos and animations
  • 🎨 Ability to use own photos and characters

Room to improve

  • 💰 Many features require paid upgrade
  • 🤬 Frustrating that you can't use own characters without paying
  • 🐛 Bugs with exporting and saving videos
  • 🙄 Limited free content

EarthViewer

From 107 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🌍 Comprehensive geological history visualization from 4.6 billion years ago to present
  • 📚 Excellent educational resource for teachers and students
  • 🎨 Beautiful and intuitive interface design
  • 🆓 Free app with extensive features and data
  • 🔄 Smooth continental drift animation and timeline controls

Room to improve

  • 🚫 Cannot exit app without force-closing or restarting device
  • 🐛 App freezes when switching between map projections
  • 📱 Not optimized for newer iOS versions
  • 🌏 Australia appears incorrectly in ancient Earth viewer
  • 🔲 Grid coordinates (lat/lon) not displaying properly

Bugs and requests

Puppet Pals

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes when trying to export videos
  • Saved videos not playing back properly
  • Issues with using own photos and characters

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add more characters, backgrounds, and themes
  • Allow exporting and sharing of videos
  • Improve video editing and recording features
  • Add sound effects and background music options

EarthViewer

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • App cannot be closed normally - requires force quit or device restart
  • App freezes when switching from flat map to globe view
  • Australia appears in incorrect locations in ancient Earth viewer
  • Grid coordinates (latitude/longitude) not displaying
  • Globe transparency and image distortion on iPad
Show 7 more
  • Geological Events toggle switch not functioning
  • Incompatible with iOS 13 and newer versions
  • Timeline scrolling limited when entire era not visible
  • App won't open or close on some devices
  • Hadean Epoch atmosphere incorrectly shown as blue
  • Antarctica appearance inconsistent between Paleo and Ice Age views
  • Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum information inaccurate

Requested features

16 requests
  • Add Pangea Proxima/Pangea Ultima supercontinent visualization
  • Add Kenorland supercontinent (2500 Mya)
  • Include future Earth continental drift predictions (0-250 million years)
  • Add Pleistocene ice age details with smaller time increments
  • Include ground-level view of Earth with animals and landscapes
Show 11 more
  • Add 2D map projection option (Plate Carree, Mollweide)
  • Add period/stage names to timeline
  • Implement location services to show current user location
  • Add search functionality for extinct species
  • Increase zoom capability for detailed regional analysis
  • Add plate tectonics layer with labeled plates and spreading zones
  • Include other planets and solar system formation
  • Add French language support
  • Add smooth video-like morphing between time periods
  • Fixed rotation axis option for Earth
  • Multiple globe views from different vantage points

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Puppet Pals

One-time10
  • Wild West$0.99
  • Political Par-tay$0.99
  • Monsters$0.99
Show 7 more
  • Talk Shows$0.99
  • Pirates$0.99
  • Fairytale$0.99
  • Zombie Attack$0.99
  • On the Farm$0.99
  • Christmas$0.99
  • Director's Pass$3.99
None

EarthViewer

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Puppet Pals free?
Puppet Pals is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is EarthViewer free?
EarthViewer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Puppet Pals or EarthViewer?
EarthViewer is rated higher. Puppet Pals averages 3.8 out of 5 from 52 ratings, while EarthViewer averages 4.4 from 107 ratings.
Do Puppet Pals or EarthViewer have ads?
Neither Puppet Pals nor EarthViewer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Puppet Pals or EarthViewer?
Puppet Pals ships an update every 6 months, and EarthViewer every 2 months. Most recently, Puppet Pals was updated on November 6, 2026 and EarthViewer on November 1, 2026.

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