AO Surgery Reference vs Mobile Airway Card
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.
Mobile Airway Card
A quick reference tool for pediatric otolaryngologists. It provides essential information for residents, fellows, and attending physicians in the field.
- Pediatric otolaryngology reference
- Designed for physicians
- Quick information access
- Resident and fellow resource
- Attending physician tool
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A reference card for pediatric otolaryngologists. Designed for resident, fellow, and attending physicians.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Mobile Airway Card at 4.9 against AO Surgery Reference's 4.4. Mobile Airway Card also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 86%). AO Surgery Reference's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 26.0). 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Mobile Airway Card holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 14 and 7 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 86% of AO Surgery Reference's written reviews are positive against 100% of Mobile Airway Card's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | AO Surgery Reference | Mobile Airway Card |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (14 ratings) | 4.9 (7 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 85.8% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 14 — better | 7 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Every 6 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 38 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | AO Foundation | Joseph Alward |
Customer experience
AO Surgery Reference
Mobile Airway Card
In-app purchases
AO Surgery Reference
No in-app purchases
Mobile Airway Card
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is AO Surgery Reference free?
Is Mobile Airway Card free?
Which has better reviews, AO Surgery Reference or Mobile Airway Card?
Do AO Surgery Reference or Mobile Airway Card have ads?
Which is updated more often, AO Surgery Reference or Mobile Airway Card?
Other comparisons
