Comparison

Physical Exam Essentials vs FP Notebook

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

Head to head
About

Physical Exam Essentials

This app provides a quick overview of patient physical exams, serving as a reference for medical students and professionals. It helps users remember exam techniques, view illustrations, and understand the significance of findings. It's designed for quick reviews of procedures across various medical categories.

Highlights
  • Quick overview of patient physical exams
  • Illustrations of exam maneuvers
  • Clinical Correlates for findings
  • Descriptions of special tests
  • Guide for describing findings
  • 14 different examination categories
Features
Read full description

**Now available for iPad!** Physical Exam Essentials is your source for a quick overview of the patient physical exam. This is the ‘must-have’ reference app for anyone studying, practicing or interested in medicine. Never forget important exam techniques again. Click “…More” to learn why you should download this App today! ***** An Essential medical app “As a third year, this has become one of my essential apps that is on the homepage of my iPhone. Along with epocrates, eyechart, and imurmur, I use this multiple times a week. It’s comprehensive and simple to navigate! A must buy!” - doc someday  ***** Ultimate quick and dirty “Great for medical students or anyone who might need to brush up on a comprehensive physical exam. Complete with pictures of normals and detailed instructions, you will never go into an OSCE or examine a patient without knowing what to do. Great app!” - Rob Kaye  Maybe you’re in medical school with exams coming up. After gallons of coffee and many sleepless nights spent pouring over notes and textbooks, you still wonder if you’re going to make it. Preparing for a career in medicine requires learning a daunting amount of information and technique. When facing an important test of your knowledge and abilities, like the physical examination of a patient, nerves can derail all of your memorization and confidence, in a hurry. You know the material; you just need a little last minute boost and memory jogger to quell the stage fright. That’s where Physical Exam Essentials comes to the rescue. This application lets you look up selected terms, view illustrations of physical exam maneuvers, read the Clinical Correlates to discover the significance of certain findings and find descriptions of special tests. Physical Exam Essentials even offers a guide for describing your findings. Physical Exam Essentials is not a comprehensive medical reference. Rather, it is a handy overview resource that is perfect for medical students, pre-meds, health professionals and anyone who practices or has an interest in medicine. Conveniently located on your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, this application provides quick, easy-to-use reviews of procedures and techniques for 14 different categories: * The Health History 
* The General Survey
 * Skin and Nails
 * HEENT and Neck
 * Thorax and Lungs 
* Breast and Axillae 
* Cardiovascular Exam
 * Peripheral Vascular System 
* Abdominal Exam
 * Male G*******a, Anus, Rectum, Prostate 
* Female G*******a, Anus, Rectum 
* Mental Status Exam
 * Cranial Nerves 
* Neurological Exam
 As you can see, Physical Exam Essentials has got you covered for examining your patients. That’s not all, though. Just look at some of the other features you get! * Attractive, easy to navigate interface * Look up certain selected terms in Wikipedia, Google, or Google images 
* Pictures in each section help to illustrate physical exam maneuvers 
* Includes "Clinical Correlates" which highlight the significance of certain physical exam findings 
* "Presentation Tips" included to help you describe your findings
 * Includes descriptions of special tests that are not usually performed in a routine physical exam 
* Content and images added and updated regularly
 Forget carrying those heavy textbooks everywhere you go. Sometimes, all you need is your iDevice and Physical Exam Essentials. Download this amazingly helpful application now. You and your patients will be glad that you did.

About

FP Notebook

A comprehensive medical reference for primary care and emergency clinicians, offering rapid access to over 6100 interlinked topic pages. Content is updated monthly through literature reviews and conferences, providing up-to-date information for medical professionals.

Highlights
  • Rapid access medical reference
  • Over 6100 interlinked topic pages
  • Content updated monthly
  • 31 specialty books
  • 700+ chapters
  • Point-of-care tool
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Family Practice Notebook is a rapid access, point-of-care medical reference for primary care and emergency clinicians. Started in 1995, this collection now contains over 6100 interlinked topic pages divided into a tree of 31 specialty books and over 700 chapters. FP Notebook’s content is updated monthly with systematic literature reviews and conferences. Please purchase an auto-renewing subscription to receive the latest content. The text content for this mobile application is identical to its online counterparts: fpnotebook.com and fpnotebook.com/mobile. Although access to this application is not restricted, the information found here is intended for use by medical providers. Non-clinical users may find the material challenging to understand, and should address specific medical concerns with their medical providers. Try before you buy with a 14-day FREE trial. After that it's only $24.99/year for access, including continuous content updates. Privacy Policy/Terms & Conditions - http://www.fpnotebook.com/disclaimer.htm

Screenshots

Physical Exam Essentials3 screens
FP Notebook4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: FP Notebook at Free against Physical Exam Essentials's $2.99. FP Notebook also leads on rating (4.8 vs 2.7) and ratings volume (3.3K vs 10). Physical Exam Essentials's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and iOS requirement (10.2 vs 14.3). On 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

FP Notebook is free to download; Physical Exam Essentials costs $2.99 up front. FP Notebook sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Physical Exam Essentials asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

FP Notebook holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 2.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: FP Notebook has 3.3K ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 44% of Physical Exam Essentials's written reviews are positive against 61% of FP Notebook's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Physical Exam Essentials ships an update every 7 months, FP Notebook every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
Physical Exam Essentials versus FP Notebook: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPhysical Exam EssentialsFP Notebook
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating2.7 (10 ratings)4.8 (3.3K ratings) — better
Positive reviews44.1% of reviews61.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings103.3K — better
Update frequencyEvery 7 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaid — betterSubscription
Best chart rank—#55 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS10.2 — better14.3
Further details — not scored
Size23 MB134 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperHipposoft, LLCAtmosphere Apps, Inc.

Customer experience

Physical Exam Essentials

All ratings10 ratings
Positive20.0%
Neutral40.0%
Negative40.0%
Written reviews93 reviews
Positive44.1%
Neutral21.5%
Negative34.4%

FP Notebook

All ratings3,297 ratings
Positive96.6%
Neutral1.2%
Negative2.2%
Written reviews72 reviews
Positive61.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative38.9%

User reviews

Physical Exam Essentials

From 10 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great quick reference
  • 👍 Useful for studying
  • 👍 Good for medical students
  • 👍 Informative content
  • 👍 Easy to navigate

Room to improve

  • 👎 Lacks depth/superficial content
  • 👎 Outdated interface/design
  • 👎 Annoying disclaimer/ads
  • 👎 Not comprehensive enough
  • 👎 Poorly formatted

FP Notebook

From 3.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🌟 Excellent, comprehensive medical reference
  • ⚡️ Efficient, concise, and easy to use
  • 🧠 Invaluable for medical students, residents, and practitioners
  • 🤝 Highly recommended by users
  • 🕰️ Frequently used and relied upon for years

Room to improve

  • 💰 Subscription model frustrates some users who previously had free access
  • 🐞 Occasional app freezing or crashing issues reported
  • 🔍 Built-in search function could be improved

Bugs and requests

Physical Exam Essentials

Reported bugs

7 issues
  • App no longer works after iOS update
  • Doesn't work
  • Download issue
  • Incorrect abdominal quadrants labelling
  • Advertisements on a PAID app
Show 2 more
  • New version includes advertisements
  • Disclaimer popping up constantly

Requested features

18 requests
  • MSK section
  • Ability to change font size
  • Update app overall
  • Add musculoskeletal system
  • Add MSK section with specific tests
Show 13 more
  • Improve interface design
  • Optimize for newer iOS versions
  • Add more detail/explanations
  • Add trial/demo option
  • Add larger font option
  • Add retina artwork
  • Add iPhone 6/6 Plus support
  • Add musculoskeletal exam
  • Add tabs for inspection, palpation, percussion, auscultation
  • Explain non-normal findings
  • Explain techniques for performing exams
  • Add more pictures
  • Add dark mode option

FP Notebook

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • App freezing or crashing on certain devices
  • Subscription issues or unexpected charges

Requested features

2 requests
  • Ability to earn continuing education credits through the app
  • Improved search functionality

In-app purchases

None

Physical Exam Essentials

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

FP Notebook

Subscriptions3
  • Monthly Subscription$1.991 Month
  • Annual Subscription$19.991 Year
  • Annual Sub14 Days trial$24.991 Year

Questions

Is Physical Exam Essentials free?
Physical Exam Essentials costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is FP Notebook free?
FP Notebook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Physical Exam Essentials or FP Notebook?
FP Notebook is rated higher. Physical Exam Essentials averages 2.7 out of 5 from 10 ratings, while FP Notebook averages 4.8 from 3.3K ratings.
Do Physical Exam Essentials or FP Notebook have ads?
Neither Physical Exam Essentials nor FP Notebook shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Physical Exam Essentials or FP Notebook?
Physical Exam Essentials ships an update every 7 months, and FP Notebook every 2 months. Most recently, Physical Exam Essentials was updated on September 30, 2026 and FP Notebook on October 3, 2026.

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