Loughborough Wave Lab vs Optics
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Loughborough Wave Lab
This educational app helps students grasp electromagnetic wave concepts through interactive simulations. It features a virtual ripple tank, waveguide simulator, and Young's Double Slit experiment. Educators can create custom simulations for an enhanced learning experience.
- Virtual pond and ripple tank
- Sinusoidal pulse generation
- Waveguide simulation
- Young's Double Slit experiment
- Custom simulation mode
- Educator-authored simulation uploads
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Loughborough Wave Lab is an educational learning app designed to aid students in their understanding of electromagnetic wave concepts in an engaging and entertaining way! Features include: • Virtual pond • Persistent Sinusoidal Pulses • Virtual Ripple Tank • Waveguide Simulator • Young's Double Slit Experiment • Custom Simulation Mode Loughborough Wave Lab is intended to accompany teaching on Electromagnetic phenomena and to provide students with an interactive way of seeing these principles in action! Educators can now author their own custom simulation files, upload them to a web server and then have Loughborough Wave Lab execute the simulations using a WiFi or cellular data connection to download the configurations and display them to the user. This uses the new, open-source configuration standard CEML which has been introduced by the developer (available at www.github.com/danielrbrowne/CEML)
Optics
This app allows users to simulate various optical phenomena, including light sources, reflection, and refraction. It supports ideal lenses and mirrors, and includes tools for angular measurement. It's designed for educational purposes, helping users visualize and understand optics concepts.
- Simulate beam and point light sources
- Simulate reflection in plane or arc mirrors
- Simulate refraction in plane or arc interfaces
- Simulate ideal lens/mirror equations
- Angular measurement tool
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Optics simulation ▶Simulate various light sources:beam, and point source ▶Simulate reflection in plane or arc mirror ▶Simulate refraction in plane or arc interfaces, including both refracted and reflected rays ▶Simulate ideal lens/mirror, which obeys lens/mirror equation ▶Angular measurement
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Loughborough Wave Lab at 80% against Optics's 30%. Loughborough Wave Lab also leads on rating (4.5 vs 3.2) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). Optics's advantage is iOS requirement (7.0 vs 13.0). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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. Optics sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Loughborough Wave Lab asks for nothing beyond the download.
Loughborough Wave Lab holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 13 and 6 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 80% of Loughborough Wave Lab's written reviews are positive against 30% of Optics's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 months. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.
| Parameter | Loughborough Wave Lab | Optics |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (13 ratings) — better | 3.2 (6 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 80.0% of reviews — better | 30.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 13 — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 | 7.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 5 MB | 86 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Daniel Browne | 继岭 陈 |
Customer experience
Loughborough Wave Lab
Optics
In-app purchases
Loughborough Wave Lab
No in-app purchases
Optics
- Professional$0.99
Questions
Is Loughborough Wave Lab free?
Is Optics free?
Which has better reviews, Loughborough Wave Lab or Optics?
Do Loughborough Wave Lab or Optics have ads?
Which is updated more often, Loughborough Wave Lab or Optics?
Other comparisons
