ReactionFlash vs Tap OChem Lite
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ReactionFlash
This app serves as a comprehensive flashcard-style learning tool for named chemical reactions. It provides detailed information on reaction mechanisms and examples from scientific literature, with a quiz mode to test user knowledge.
- Learn named chemical reactions
- Understand reaction mechanisms
- View literature examples
- Quiz mode for knowledge testing
- Flashcard interface
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Want to refresh your memory on named chemical reactions before an exam or a group meeting? Get all the details with ReactionFlash(R) as a great way to learn named reactions, understand their mechanisms and view examples published in peer-reviewed literature. Designed and developed in consultation with Professor Dr. Erick M. Carreira of ETH Zürich, the app covers 1'266 named chemical reactions, by far the largest collection of Named Reactions. Professor Carreira has helped ensure that we have all the fundamental reactions that should be part of every chemist’s toolkit: from the best-known ones to the ones only Nobel Prize winners remember! The app is designed like a set of flash cards so it can be used as a learning tool as well as a reference. Each ‘card’ shows the reaction, its mechanism and examples from peer-reviewed, published literature. It also has a quiz mode that lets you test your knowledge. Linking into Reaxys enables you to find the most recent examples of each reaction, many with experimental details. Reaxys delivers experimental facts from the literature, enabling researchers to find the best synthetic routes and conditions. Find out more at https://www.elsevier.com/solutions/reaxys Download the app now and see if you know all the named reactions! Summary: - Learn named reactions - Review and understand mechanisms - Explore examples published in peer-reviewed literature - Take the ReactionFlash quiz and see how much you know If you need support, please contact us at reactionflash@elsevier.com. Reaxys and ReactionFlash are trade marks of Elsevier Limited, used under license.
Tap OChem Lite
Visualize and understand key organic chemistry concepts, molecules, and reactions through high-quality animations. This app offers a taste of the full version, featuring common undergraduate organic chemistry topics with accompanying text descriptions and electron-pushing diagrams.
- Organic reaction animations
- Key concept visualizations
- Electron pushing diagrams
- Text descriptions
- Periodic table reference
- Molecules in motion
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Understand organic chemistry! Visualize many of the most important concepts, molecules, and reactions! Check out the full version of “Tap OChem”! In addition to the content in the lite version, the full version contains over 170 concepts, reactions, molecules, and reference topics! Tap OChem Lite puts many organic reactions and concepts at your fingertips. The reactions and concepts included are some of the most common from the one year sequence of undergraduate organic chemistry that is offered at major colleges and universities. We have even thrown in a simple periodic table for reference! Whether you are studying for a midterm exam, MCAT, or PCAT, this app can facilitate your learning. Designed by two award winning chemists with over 45 years of combined teaching at major universities, Tap OChem Lite displays organic chemistry reactions and concepts in high quality animations. The Lite version will give you a taste of the full version where more than 130 animations and descriptions are available along with many more reference tables. The Lite version includes full animation and text versions of the following: Substitution reactions (4 animations, all SN2), Elimination reactions (3 animations, all E2), Alkene reactions (3 animations), Alkyne reactions (2 animations), Epoxide Chemistry (2 animations), Benzene reactions (2 animations), Butadiene chemistry (1 animation), Key concepts (8 animations). The concepts section includes valence bond theory, conformational analysis of alkanes, and one stereochemistry animation. The molecules in motion section has 8 animations, both acyclic and cyclic compounds. Also some intermediates are included (tert-butyl radical and allyl radical). Each animation has an accompanying text that drills down to the main features of each reaction or concept. These are short, quick to find, descriptions with important information regarding each reaction or concept. For each reaction, text descriptions include electron pushing diagrams. In this version we've kept the full color diagrams in the accompanying text. More information regarding Tap OChem and Tap OChem Lite can be found at our website www.tapochem.com. In addition to the animations being very sharp on your iPhone, they also look great on an iPad. This new version is now native for both iPhone and iPad. In addition, they are excellent quality for projecting in a classroom (an adapter is required). iPad 2 or higher and iPhone 5 or higher can be used for projection.
Screenshots
Verdict
ReactionFlash and Tap OChem Lite both sit at 4.8 stars, but that hides the real split: 81% of ReactionFlash's written reviews are positive against 50% of Tap OChem Lite's. ReactionFlash also leads on update cadence (every 4 months vs every 11 months). On price, rating, ratings volume 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.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for ReactionFlash against 4.9 for Tap OChem Lite. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 41 and 20 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 81% of ReactionFlash's written reviews are positive against 50% of Tap OChem Lite's.
ReactionFlash ships an update every 4 months, Tap OChem Lite every 11 months. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ReactionFlash | Tap OChem Lite |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (41 ratings) | 4.9 (20 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 80.6% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 41 — better | 20 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months — better | Every 11 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 14.5 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 37 MB | 536 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Elsevier Limited | Tap OChem, LLC |
Customer experience
ReactionFlash
Tap OChem Lite
In-app purchases
ReactionFlash
No in-app purchases
Tap OChem Lite
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is ReactionFlash free?
Is Tap OChem Lite free?
Which has better reviews, ReactionFlash or Tap OChem Lite?
Do ReactionFlash or Tap OChem Lite have ads?
Which is updated more often, ReactionFlash or Tap OChem Lite?
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