Comparison

The Elements by Theodore Gray vs The Elementals

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Living periodic table interface
  • Rotating 3D element samples
  • Detailed 3D object models
  • Pinch-zoom and 3D stereo viewing
  • Multilingual support
  • Fascinating stories and facts
Features
Read full description

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

About

The Elementals

Explore a vibrant periodic table where each element is brought to life with unique personalities. Learn about their melting and boiling points, and delve into the fascinating world of electron configurations in an engaging and interactive way.

Highlights
  • Interactive periodic table
  • Elements with personalities
  • Melting and boiling points
  • Electron configurations
  • Educational science app
Features
Read full description

A fun periodic table where the elements have personality. Discover the melting and boiling points of each of the elements or the configuration of the electrons.

Screenshots

The Elements by Theodore Gray4 screens
The Elementals4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: The Elementals at Free against The Elements by Theodore Gray's $9.99. The Elementals also leads on ratings volume (583 vs 122) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 17.0). The Elements by Theodore Gray's advantage is rating (4.6 vs 3.5) and review sentiment (73% vs 52%). On update cadence, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

The Elementals is free to download; The Elements by Theodore Gray costs $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

The Elements by Theodore Gray holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 122 and 583 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 73% of The Elements by Theodore Gray's written reviews are positive against 52% of The Elementals's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

The Elements by Theodore Gray ships an update every 3 months, The Elementals every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
The Elements by Theodore Gray versus The Elementals: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThe Elements by Theodore GrayThe Elementals
Price$9.99Free — better
Rating4.6 (122 ratings) — better3.5 (583 ratings)
Positive reviews73.0% of reviews — better52.4% of reviews
Number of ratings122583 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.09.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size1.5 GB59 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNatureGuides Ltd.Simon Madine

Customer experience

The Elements by Theodore Gray

All ratings122 ratings
Positive89.3%
Neutral3.3%
Negative7.4%
Written reviews477 reviews
Positive73.0%
Neutral9.6%
Negative17.4%

The Elementals

All ratings588 ratings
Positive56.1%
Neutral15.8%
Negative28.1%
Written reviews126 reviews
Positive52.4%
Neutral21.4%
Negative26.2%

User reviews

The Elements by Theodore Gray

From 122 App Store ratings

What 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

The Elementals

From 583 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🤗 Cute and lovable elements
  • 👍 Helpful for learning the periodic table
  • 🎓 Great for memorization and studying
  • 💻 Simple and easy to use

Room to improve

  • 🤔 Lacks detailed information about elements
  • 🙃 Oversimplified representation of atoms
  • 🧪 No ability to interact with or combine elements
  • 🥱 Basic and boring for more advanced users

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

The Elementals

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Electron configurations not accurately represented
  • Some elements have spelling errors or inconsistencies

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to mix and combine elements
  • Include more detailed information about each element (properties, uses, etc.)
  • Implement Bohr and Lewis models of atoms
  • Allow customization and personalization of elements
  • Incorporate animations and sounds to make it more engaging

In-app purchases

None

The Elements by Theodore Gray

No in-app purchases

None

The Elementals

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is The Elements by Theodore Gray free?
The Elements by Theodore Gray costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is The Elementals free?
The Elementals is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, The Elements by Theodore Gray or The Elementals?
The Elements by Theodore Gray is rated higher. The Elements by Theodore Gray averages 4.6 out of 5 from 122 ratings, while The Elementals averages 3.5 from 583 ratings.
Do The Elements by Theodore Gray or The Elementals have ads?
Neither The Elements by Theodore Gray nor The Elementals shows ads.
Which is updated more often, The Elements by Theodore Gray or The Elementals?
The Elements by Theodore Gray ships an update every 3 months, and The Elementals every 2 months. Most recently, The Elements by Theodore Gray was updated on October 14, 2026 and The Elementals on October 15, 2026.

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