HudsonAlpha iCell vs Mosyle School
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
HudsonAlpha iCell
Explore the inner workings of animal, plant, and bacteria cells in a 3D interactive environment. Tap on cellular components to learn their names and functions. Rotate and zoom to get a comprehensive understanding of cellular biology.
- 3D interactive cell models
- Animal, plant, and bacteria cell examples
- Tap to select and learn organelle functions
- Rotate and zoom functionality
- Adjustable text size and description levels
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***Updated 3.6.1*** iCell now works even better on the iPhone. We have added larger text for all descriptions and included the ability to change text description levels for the iPhone as well as the iPad. iCell gives students, teachers, and anyone interested in biology a 3D view inside a cell. Included are examples of three types of cells: animal, plant, and bacteria. Learn about the various parts of the cell, which biologists, biochemists, and DNA researchers at the HudsonAlpha Institute study and use to advance the limits of biotechnology. You can use your finger to tap on parts of the cell to select and zoom in on that particular organelle. Each organelle comes with a name and a short description of its function in the cell. For a better view of each cell, hold down one finger on the screen, and drag to rotate around the cell or selected organelle. You can zoom in and out by pinching or flaring with two fingers at once. We hope you enjoy!
Mosyle School
This tool simplifies the management of Apple devices for educational institutions, enabling secure student device usage for learning. It offers robust classroom management features to minimize distractions and enhance student focus, while providing IT staff and teachers with shared control and real-time insights.
- Apple device deployment and configuration
- Classroom distraction elimination
- Student focus monitoring
- Internet access regulation
- App management and installation
- Real-time device inventory and reports
- Shared IT and teacher management
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Mosyle School is an MDM solution designed exclusively for Education that streamlines the Apple device management process, simplifies iPad, Mac and Apple TV deployments for Schools and Districts, while ensuring students safely utilize devices for learning. It’s easy to set up, manage, and maintain, while being powerful enough to create the ideal learning environment for any School or District. THE BEST MDM SOLUTION TO GET THE MOST OUT OF ALL OF APPLE’S PROGRAM AND OS FEATURES: - Configure all management settings with Mosyle School to harness all Apple’s education features and deployment programs; - Connect Mosyle School with Apple School Manager, Device Enrollment Program and Volume Program Purchase to assign devices, apps, and configure device settings, apps, and books; - Get the most out of Apple’s Shared iPad and the Classroom App for iPad; UNIQUE & EFFECTIVE CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT TOOLS: - Quickly eliminate any distractions from the devices; - Ensure student focus and attention is within the intended educational application; - Easily assess students during class to evaluate student progress; - Check compliance of student devices and solve any issues right in the classroom; - Customize and regulate student Internet access during class time; - Select apps allowed during class and remotely install them on student devices. AN ALWAYS-ON, CLOUD-BASED & SCALABLE SOLUTION TO SIMPLIFY DEPLOYMENTS: - Quickly take inventory and view reports of your device fleet in real time; - Shared management between IT Staff and Teachers; - Create time-based policies and restrictions – to work whether it’s before, during or after school; - Receive notifications when specific events occur across the managed device fleet; - Implement in any type of deployment model (BYOD, School Owned, 1:1 and Shared); - Rapid and easy device enrollment processes and flows; - Automatic load-balancing and fault tolerance across multiple Tier 3 data centers, with a 99.9% uptime guarantee. *Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life. Mosyle School is designed to embrace and fully integrate with Apple’s new education features, and deployment programs (Apple School Manager, Device Enrollment Program and Volume Purchase Program). We're so excited with all the new possibilities we decided to include all necessary configuration with them in our basic, free plan. No hidden costs!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: HudsonAlpha iCell at 70% against Mosyle School's 13%. HudsonAlpha iCell also leads on rating (3.0 vs 1.8) and update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 2 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
HudsonAlpha iCell holds the better App Store score, 3.0 against 1.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 296 and 92 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 70% of HudsonAlpha iCell's written reviews are positive against 13% of Mosyle School's.
HudsonAlpha iCell ships an update every 4 weeks, Mosyle School every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | HudsonAlpha iCell | Mosyle School |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.0 (296 ratings) — better | 1.8 (92 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 69.8% of reviews — better | 13.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 296 — better | 92 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 13.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 83 MB | 84 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology | Mosyle |
Customer experience
HudsonAlpha iCell
Mosyle School
User reviews
HudsonAlpha iCell
From 296 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Helpful for learning about cells
- 🚀 Great 3D visuals and interactive features
- 💡 Different levels of complexity for various users
- 🎓 Useful for students and teachers
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
- 🔍 Limited content and organelles covered
- 🤔 Lacking in-depth information and functionality
- 🙄 Boring and oversimplified for some users
Mosyle School
From 92 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- ⭐ Works for schools
- 👍 Easy to set up (for IT)
- 💰 Cost-effective for schools
Room to improve
- 👎 Restricts app access
- 👎 Rearranges apps alphabetically
- 👎 Cannot uninstall
- 👎 Privacy concerns (screen recording)
- 👎 Device management issues
Bugs and requests
HudsonAlpha iCell
Reported bugs
3 issues- Frequent crashes and app instability
- Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
- Missing or incorrectly labeled organelles
Requested features
4 requests- Add more cell types (e.g. fungi, virus)
- Provide quizzing and assessment features
- Improve level of detail and explanations
- Allow users to explore cell structures in more depth
Mosyle School
Reported bugs
6 issues- Device management starts randomly
- Apps disappear and cannot be recovered
- App won't open during Zoom meetings
- App crashes everything
- App rearranges apps alphabetically
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- App slows down device speed
Requested features
7 requests- Allow users to uninstall
- Allow users to keep apps in original place
- Add more apps to the store
- Admin console for QR codes
- Allow users to play games during free periods/lunch
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- Fix app rearrangement issue
- Allow users to control screen recording permissions
In-app purchases
HudsonAlpha iCell
No in-app purchases
Mosyle School
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is HudsonAlpha iCell free?
Is Mosyle School free?
Which has better reviews, HudsonAlpha iCell or Mosyle School?
Do HudsonAlpha iCell or Mosyle School have ads?
Which is updated more often, HudsonAlpha iCell or Mosyle School?
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