TimeTree vs Animal Class
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
TimeTree
Explore a vast public knowledge base of evolutionary timescales and divergence times among organisms. This app uses a hierarchical system to find and present molecular time estimates from scientific literature, allowing users to compare species and view summary statistics.
- Explore evolutionary timescales
- View organism divergence times
- Access scientific literature data
- Hierarchical tree-based system
- Compute summary statistics
- Compare species divergence
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TimeTree 4 is a public knowledge-base for information on the evolutionary timescale of life. This application allows easy exploration of the thousands of divergence times among organisms in the scientific literature. A tree-based (hierarchical) system is used to identify all published molecular time estimates bearing on the divergence of two chosen organisms, such as species, compute summary statistics, and present the results. Names of two taxa to be compared are entered in the search window and the results are presented on a set of self-explanatory tabs. TimeTree 4 contains data from 2,274 studies including 50,632 species. We will be adding more data in the future as it comes in from researchers. TimeTree 4 requires iOS 8.0 or newer. The TimeTree project is jointly directed by Blair Hedges (Center for Biodiversity, Temple University) and Sudhir Kumar (Institute for Genomics and Evolutionary Medicine, Temple University). This project has been supported, in part, by grants from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, NASA Astrobiology Institute, and Science Foundation of Arizona.
Animal Class
Explore animal classification with engaging trivia and stunning photography. Features nine categories, including mammals, reptiles, and birds, plus warm-up and bonus rounds.
- Animal classification information
- Engaging trivia questions
- Global animal photography
- Nine distinct categories
- Warm-up and bonus rounds
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Animal class includes information on how animals are classified, engaging trivia questions, and photography from around the world. There are nine categories to choose from including: mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, fish, arthropods, plus a warm-up session and a bonus round.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Animal Class at 4.6 against TimeTree's 4.0. Animal Class also leads on update cadence (every 6 days vs every 8 months) and review sentiment (75% vs 65%). TimeTree's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 12.0). On price, ratings volume, 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
Both are free to download. Animal Class sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. TimeTree asks for nothing beyond the download.
Animal Class holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 10 and 22 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 65% of TimeTree's written reviews are positive against 75% of Animal Class's.
TimeTree ships an update every 8 months, Animal Class every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | TimeTree | Animal Class |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (10 ratings) | 4.6 (22 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 65.1% of reviews | 75.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 10 | 22 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 8 months | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 66 MB | 246 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Arizona and Penn State Universities | Darren McNally |
Customer experience
TimeTree
Animal Class
In-app purchases
TimeTree
No in-app purchases
Animal Class
- Unlock Pro$9.99









