IU Mobile vs Top Hat
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
IU Mobile
This app serves as a central hub for Indiana University students, consolidating essential information and services from various university systems. It provides a personalized experience to help students navigate their academic journey, access updates, and find support.
- University message center
- Access to updates and services
- Search for support
- Content from Knowledge base, People, One.IU
- Personalized student experience
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IU Mobile is a digital gateway for Indiana University students. It pulls together information and services from multiple systems to helps current students navigate learning at IU from one native environment. In other words, it’s a personalized, custom experience for all IU audiences. IU Mobile lets students get messages from the university, access updates and services on the main pages, or search for support. It pulls in content from Knowledge base, People, One.IU, and places information--so students are always up-to-date.
Top Hat
Enhance your learning experience with interactive resources, in-class participation tools, and dynamic digital textbooks. Engage with professors and peers, and test your knowledge with quizzes and polls to improve comprehension and retention.
- Follow lecture slides on your device
- In-class response system
- In-app discussions with peers and professors
- Dynamic, interactive digital textbooks
- Take polls and quizzes
- Access graded and non-graded homework
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Top Hat is the perfect companion app to our comprehensive assessment platform that helps you learn better before, during and after class. Top Hat makes learning fun and engaging (seriously!) and sets you up for success, helping you connect with your professors, your peers and the content you’re learning in and out of the classroom. Here’s what Top Hat offers you: Compelling resources, delivered on your smartphone or laptop: • Follow your prof’s lecture slides on your own device • Contribute in class with an easy-to-use response system that’s always with you • Participate with your profs and peers using in-app discussions Content tailored to your course: • Experience dynamic, interactive textbooks loaded up with images, videos, audio clips and more • Read your digital materials from anywhere and keep them forever Quizzes, tests and polls that improve learning comprehension: • Challenge yourself by taking polls and quizzes on your own devices • Improve your knowledge retention with interactive assessment elements • Check for gaps in your understanding with graded and non-graded homework and short quizzes Thanks for using Top Hat. As you experience the app, we’d love to get your feedback: support@tophat.com or follow us on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook @TopHat
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Top Hat at 4.6 against IU Mobile's 3.9. Top Hat also leads on ratings volume (23K vs 187) and chart position (#125 vs unranked). IU Mobile's advantage is review sentiment (36% vs 14%). 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.
Top Hat holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Top Hat has 23K ratings behind it against 187, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 36% of IU Mobile's written reviews are positive against 14% of Top Hat's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
IU Mobile ships an update monthly, Top Hat fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 5, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | IU Mobile | Top Hat |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.9 (187 ratings) | 4.6 (23K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 35.6% of reviews — better | 14.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 187 | 23K — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | — | #125 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 63 MB | 162 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Indiana University | Top Hat Monocle |
Customer experience
IU Mobile
Top Hat
User reviews
IU Mobile
From 187 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy navigation and user-friendly interface
- ⚡ Quick access to essential campus resources
- 🎓 Helpful for new students finding classes and campus
- 🚌 Useful bus tracking and schedule features
- 💳 Convenient digital Crimson Card access
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and app freezes
- 🔐 Constant forced re-authentication and logouts
- ⏳ Slow loading times and unresponsive performance
- 🌐 Functions as a web wrapper rather than native app
- 📵 Poor mobile optimization and screen compatibility
Top Hat
From 23K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Smooth and intuitive interface
- 👍 Useful for attendance and in-class quizzes
- 💡 Potential for interactive learning
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
- 🔋 High battery consumption
- 💰 Expensive subscription fees
- 🔒 Privacy concerns with location tracking
Bugs and requests
IU Mobile
Reported bugs
15 issues- App crashes on startup or during use
- Login loops - requires re-authentication constantly
- Update required message with no available update
- Incompatibility with newer iOS versions
- Screen rotation issues on iPad
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- Crimson Card not visible on smaller devices (iPhone SE)
- Email loading icon stuck indefinitely
- Randomly opens wrong emails
- Class schedule reverts to previous semesters
- Widget fails to update schedule
- Duo authentication not displaying
- App closes immediately after opening
- Cannot access laundry, dining, or class information
- Keyboard doesn't display properly
- Connection failures despite strong internet
Requested features
14 requests- Save username and password securely
- Biometric login (Face ID/fingerprint)
- Grade book access
- Reply to class messages functionality
- Faculty-specific features for instructors
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- Syllabus tab access
- OneStart integration
- Canvas/course assignment details
- Laundry status checking
- Dining hall hours display
- Sports schedule information
- Persistent login sessions
- Dark mode option
- Widget functionality for class schedules
Top Hat
Reported bugs
3 issues- Answers not registering correctly
- Slides not loading properly on mobile devices
- Inconsistent performance across platforms
Requested features
3 requests- Add page numbers and search functionality to ebooks
- Improve syncing between mobile and web versions
- Allow more flexible location settings for attendance
In-app purchases
IU Mobile
No in-app purchases
Top Hat
No in-app purchases
