AO Surgery Reference vs The eFACE
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
AO Surgery Reference
Access a comprehensive online repository of surgical knowledge for fracture management. It provides detailed guidance on diagnosis, treatment, and aftercare for numerous fracture types, supported by extensive illustrations and expert review.
- 353 fracture types covered
- 172 surgical approaches
- 1222 surgical procedures
- Over 30,000 illustrations
- Feline, canine, and equine fracture care
- Powerful search function
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QUICK ONLINE REFERENCE IN CLINICAL LIFE Gain easy access to the award-winning AO Surgery Reference. AO Surgery Reference is an online repository for surgical knowledge. It describes the complete surgical management process from diagnosis to aftercare for all fractures of a given anatomical region, and also assembles relevant material that the AO has published before. It gives access to: • aid in surgical decision making for 353 fracture types • 172 approaches • 1222 surgical procedures • all richly illustrated with more than 30'000 Illustrations and much more. To ensure the quality of the content, it is authored, edited, and peer reviewed by experienced AO Faculty from all over the world, some of which are also well-known textbook authors/editors. This is a relaunch of the AO Surgery Reference app utilizing the same responsive user interface that was released February 2020. The highlights are: • Consistent navigational logic and user experience on all screen sizes • Inclusion of feline, canine, and equine fracture care • Combination of Preparation – Approach – Reduction and Fixation – Aftercare into one step called treatment. • Introduction of a powerful search function, allowing simplifications of the user interface as it replaces previous shortcuts.
The eFACE
This medical application provides quantitative and graphic assessments of facial function scores for patients with unilateral facial paralysis. It analyzes resting, dynamic, and synkinesis movements, offering clinician-rated scores for 16 facial function features.
- Quantitative facial function scoring
- Graphic depiction of facial scores
- Analysis of resting facial positions
- Assessment of dynamic facial movements
- Synkinesis (misrouting) scoring
- Clinician-rated scores for 16 features
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Application designed to provide rapid quantitative and graphic depiction of facial function scores in patients suffering from unilateral facial paralysis, using visual analog scales. The instrument is divided into resting (static) readings, dynamic movement readings, and synkinesis (misrouting) scores. During real-time examination of the patient, or afterwards from a video clip of facial movements, the app can be used to obtain clinician-rated scores for 16 separate facial function features. Graphs provide data regarding resting facial positions, and dynamic facial movements, and synkinesis features.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: AO Surgery Reference at 86% against The eFACE's 0%. AO Surgery Reference also leads on price (Free vs $9.99) and rating (4.4 vs 2.0). On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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
AO Surgery Reference is free to download; The eFACE costs $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
AO Surgery Reference holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 2.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: AO Surgery Reference has 14 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 86% of AO Surgery Reference's written reviews are positive against 0% of The eFACE's.
AO Surgery Reference ships an update every 6 months, The eFACE every 55 months. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | AO Surgery Reference | The eFACE |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $9.99 |
| Rating | 4.4 (14 ratings) — better | 2.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 85.8% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 14 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months — better | Every 55 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 25 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 12+ |
| Developer | AO Foundation | Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary |
Customer experience
AO Surgery Reference
The eFACE
In-app purchases
AO Surgery Reference
No in-app purchases
The eFACE
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is AO Surgery Reference free?
Is The eFACE free?
Which has better reviews, AO Surgery Reference or The eFACE?
Do AO Surgery Reference or The eFACE have ads?
Which is updated more often, AO Surgery Reference or The eFACE?
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