Comparison

The Elements by Theodore Gray vs BEAKER by THIX

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

BEAKER by THIX

Explore a virtual laboratory with 150 chemicals. Mix, heat, and shake substances to observe reactions. Collaborate with friends using AirMix™ for shared experiments. Additional tools enhance complex operations.

Highlights
  • Virtual lab with 150 chemicals
  • Interactive mixing, heating, and shaking
  • Real-time chemical reactions
  • Multiplayer via AirMix™
  • Additional experimental tools
  • Simulated ignition and boiling
Features
Read full description

Explore 150 chemicals in a virtual lab in the BEAKER app. Add in chemicals, heat it up, and shake your device to start reactions. Pour them out to clean it up. Or team up with your friends to pour chemicals between each other via AirMix™. Use virtual Match, Lid and Burner to assist your experiment. Or get the extra five tools - Blender, Cooler, Separator, Filter and Meter to do even more complex operations. Start (tap or hold on chemicals to add) - CaO + H2O - K + H2O (fire) - Na + H2O (fire) - Al + Br2 (fire) Ignite (swipe your finger and hold, like striking a match) - Ignite Mg, C, Al - Ignite H2 + O2 (explosion) Heat Up (swipe in from the lower right corner to turn on Burner) - Boil Water (H2O) - Heat Fe + HNO3 (color transformation) Shake (shake to accelerate reactions) - CuSO4 + H2O + Mg (color transformation) - AgNO3 + H2O + Cu (precipitation) - AgNO3 + H2O + NaCl (precipitation) AirMix* (nearby BEAKERs will pair automatically) - Pour Na into Cl2 (fire) - Pour CH3COOH into NaHCO3 + Blue (bubbles) - Pour NaCl + H2O into AgNO3 + H2O (precipitation) * AirMix requires an Internet connection and geolocation services. If any chemicals or reactions are missing, please contact us at support@thixlab.com. Your suggestions are greatly valuable to us. Learn More http://thixlab.com/beaker.html Follow Us Facebook: http://facebook.com/thixlab Twitter: @thixlab

Screenshots

The Elements by Theodore Gray4 screens
BEAKER by THIX4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: The Elements by Theodore Gray at 4.6 against BEAKER by THIX's 3.9. The Elements by Theodore Gray also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and review sentiment (73% vs 51%). BEAKER by THIX's advantage is price ($0.99 vs $9.99) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 17.0). On ratings volume, update cadence, 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

The Elements by Theodore Gray costs $9.99 and BEAKER by THIX $0.99 up front. BEAKER by THIX sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. The Elements by Theodore Gray asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

The Elements by Theodore Gray holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 123 and 284 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 73% of The Elements by Theodore Gray's written reviews are positive against 51% of BEAKER by THIX's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

The Elements by Theodore Gray ships an update every 3 months, BEAKER by THIX every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
The Elements by Theodore Gray versus BEAKER by THIX: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThe Elements by Theodore GrayBEAKER by THIX
Price$9.99$0.99 — better
Rating4.6 (123 ratings) — better3.9 (284 ratings)
Positive reviews73.1% of reviews — better50.8% of reviews
Number of ratings123284 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.09.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size1.5 GB56 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNatureGuides Ltd.THIX LLC

Customer experience

The Elements by Theodore Gray

All ratings122 ratings
Positive89.3%
Neutral3.3%
Negative7.4%
Written reviews479 reviews
Positive73.1%
Neutral9.6%
Negative17.3%

BEAKER by THIX

All ratings283 ratings
Positive68.9%
Neutral13.8%
Negative17.3%
Written reviews295 reviews
Positive50.8%
Neutral17.6%
Negative31.5%

User reviews

The Elements by Theodore Gray

From 123 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

BEAKER by THIX

From 284 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great for experimenting
  • 👍 Realistic reactions
  • 💡 Useful for learning chemistry

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and bugs
  • 🔒 Paywall for basic features
  • 🔋 Performance issues on some devices

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

BEAKER by THIX

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Liquids and solids behaving unrealistically
  • Crashes when mixing certain chemicals
  • AirMix not working as advertised
  • UI elements disappearing or malfunctioning

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more elements and compounds
  • Improve accuracy of chemical reactions
  • Implement a periodic table view
  • Add support for exothermic/endothermic reactions
  • Improve AirMix functionality

In-app purchases

None

The Elements by Theodore Gray

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

BEAKER by THIX

One-time1
  • All ToolsFree

Questions

Is The Elements by Theodore Gray free?
The Elements by Theodore Gray costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is BEAKER by THIX free?
BEAKER by THIX costs $0.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, The Elements by Theodore Gray or BEAKER by THIX?
The Elements by Theodore Gray is rated higher. The Elements by Theodore Gray averages 4.6 out of 5 from 123 ratings, while BEAKER by THIX averages 3.9 from 284 ratings.
Do The Elements by Theodore Gray or BEAKER by THIX have ads?
Neither The Elements by Theodore Gray nor BEAKER by THIX shows ads.
Which is updated more often, The Elements by Theodore Gray or BEAKER by THIX?
The Elements by Theodore Gray ships an update every 3 months, and BEAKER by THIX every 2 months. Most recently, The Elements by Theodore Gray was updated on October 22, 2026 and BEAKER by THIX on October 21, 2026.

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