The Elements by Theodore Gray vs Universe in a Nutshell
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
The Elements by Theodore Gray
Explore the building blocks of the universe with this interactive guide to the periodic table. Discover beautifully photographed elements, fascinating stories, and detailed 3D models of over 500 objects, all presented in multiple languages.
- Living periodic table interface
- Rotating 3D element samples
- Detailed 3D object models
- Pinch-zoom and 3D stereo viewing
- Multilingual support
- Fascinating stories and facts
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From Theodore Gray comes a beautifully produced app introducing and educating users on the elements of the periodic table and how they combine to form the world around us. The Elements is a rich and engaging love story, told in words and pictures - allowing you to experience the beauty and fascination of the building blocks of our universe in a way you've never seen before. Start off on a living periodic table where every element is shown with a smoothly rotating sample. To read about gold, tap the gold nugget. Immediately you see the sample filling the screen, photographed to razor sharpness and rotating around a complete circle in front of your eyes. Enjoy the extensive array of facts and figures. Next find a fascinating story about the element, surrounded by carefully photographed objects representing it. Every one of these objects, well over 500 in total, is a freely rotatable, live object that you can examine from all sides and pinch zoom to see in unprecedented detail. Touch the element name at the top of the page and you can see that element’s name in over a dozen different languages. Choose one and you’ll find that the entire book, stories, captions and all, switches to that language: The Elements includes both the full English original text and over a dozen full translations. Pinch-zoom or tap any object to bring it up full screen, where you can split into a pair of stereo 3D images, allowing you to see all 500 objects pop off the screen in 3D, and you can spin the objects, in 3D, with the touch of a finger. This book will show everyone there’s a lot more to the periodic table than a bunch of numbers and letters. Features include: • Beautifully composed pages for every Element in the periodic table • Fun stories and fascinating facts • All objects pinch-zoom with amazing detail and rotate in 3D • Engaging introduction explaining the structure of the periodic table • Engaging introduction explaining the structure of the periodic table • Fully translated into English, Catalan, Croatian, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish ------------ Reviews: “The iPad’s splendor and power may be best shown by The Elements... it’s not like any ebook you’ve seen. The periodic table of elements comes to life.” – USA Today
Universe in a Nutshell
Explore the vastness of the universe, from subatomic particles to distant galaxies, through an interactive, swipe-based journey. Understand true scale by comparing objects and discover fascinating facts about over 250 animated illustrations. Immerse yourself in the cosmos with original music.
- Interactive scale exploration
- Seamless zooming from 10^-35m to 10^26m
- Fun facts about objects
- Explanations for each object
- Over 250 animated illustrations
- Original music soundtrack
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The range of size in the universe, from the tiniest particles to the epic galaxies - we take you on a journey of size that lets you explore it all with a single swipe. How big is a planet, compared to a human? And how small is an atom really? You can’t fully wrap your head around the scope of things by just reading about them – so this app lets you experience them in comparison to get a feeling for their true scale. By simply swiping you can zoom in and out all the way from the world of fundamental particles up to the largest stars at the edge of the observable universe. Seamless zooming between the scales of 10^-35 meters to 10^26 meters (no math required) Amazing fun facts for various scale levels, like the smallest bacterium and the largest black hole Tap any object for an explanation of what it is and how it works Beautifully animated illustration of more than 250 objects Original Kurzgesagt music to complement your experience
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Universe in a Nutshell at $2.99 against The Elements by Theodore Gray's $9.99. Universe in a Nutshell also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 3 months) and rating (4.9 vs 4.6). On ads, in-app purchases 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
The Elements by Theodore Gray costs $9.99 and Universe in a Nutshell $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Universe in a Nutshell holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Universe in a Nutshell has 2.5K ratings behind it against 123, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 73% of The Elements by Theodore Gray's written reviews are positive against 89% of Universe in a Nutshell's.
The Elements by Theodore Gray ships an update every 3 months, Universe in a Nutshell every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | The Elements by Theodore Gray | Universe in a Nutshell |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | $2.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.6 (123 ratings) | 4.9 (2.5K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 73.1% of reviews | 89.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 123 | 2.5K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | — | #127 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1.5 GB | 320 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | NatureGuides Ltd. | in a nutshell - kurzgesagt GmbH |
Customer experience
The Elements by Theodore Gray
Universe in a Nutshell
User reviews
The Elements by Theodore Gray
From 123 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 💎 Stunning visuals and 3D animations
- 📚 Comprehensive information on elements
- 🎨 Engaging and humorous writing style
- 🏫 Excellent educational tool for all ages
Room to improve
- 🔍 Difficult to navigate and find specific elements
- 🔌 Massive file size takes up a lot of storage
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
- 💰 Expensive for the limited content
Universe in a Nutshell
From 2.5K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🤩 Fascinating and educational
- 🎨 Beautiful artwork and animations
- 🎶 Relaxing background music
- 📚 Comprehensive information on a wide range of topics
- 🔍 Intuitive and easy to navigate
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes on some devices, especially older iPhones
- 🔍 Difficulty comparing sizes of objects due to positioning
- 🕹️ Laggy animations and transitions on some devices
- 🌐 Lack of offline functionality
Bugs and requests
The Elements by Theodore Gray
Reported bugs
3 issues- Element descriptions cut off on iPhone 6 Plus
- Crashes when switching landscape orientations
- Unable to download app after initial purchase
Requested features
4 requests- Add option to disable animations
- Improve periodic table navigation
- Include more detailed scientific information
- Support multiple languages and spellings
Universe in a Nutshell
Reported bugs
2 issues- Crashes on launch for some users
- Overlapping hit boxes make it difficult to select certain objects
Requested features
6 requests- Add more objects to explore (e.g. Uranus, Eris, more moons, etc.)
- Implement a search function to quickly find specific objects
- Add the ability to compare multiple objects side-by-side
- Include more in-depth scientific information and facts
- Provide an option to have the descriptions read aloud
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- Improve the smoothness of zooming and panning
In-app purchases
The Elements by Theodore Gray
No in-app purchases
Universe in a Nutshell
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is The Elements by Theodore Gray free?
Is Universe in a Nutshell free?
Which has better reviews, The Elements by Theodore Gray or Universe in a Nutshell?
Do The Elements by Theodore Gray or Universe in a Nutshell have ads?
Which is updated more often, The Elements by Theodore Gray or Universe in a Nutshell?
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