Fraction Circles vs Pattern Shapes, by MLC
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Fraction Circles
This app offers a digital manipulative for learning fractions. It includes a simple game to warm up fraction learning and a challenge to test knowledge of fraction names. Updates are free for life, with more games planned.
- Digital fraction manipulative
- Fraction learning game
- Fraction name challenge
- Free lifetime updates
- iPad support
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Three Apps for the Price of One Fraction Circles is a Great Digital Manipulative Warm Up Fraction Learning with a Fun but Simple Game Challenge your Knowledge of Fraction Names Updates are Free for Life - that means more fraction circle games coming soon...
Pattern Shapes, by MLC
This app allows students to explore geometry and fractions through interactive shape manipulation. Users can create designs, fill outlines, measure angles, and annotate their work. It's an open-ended educational tool for learning mathematical concepts.
- Explore geometry and fractions
- Create custom designs
- Measure angles with protractor
- Duplicate, resize, and recolor shapes
- Fill built-in outlines
- Annotate work with drawing tools
- Share creations via image or code
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Students use Pattern Shapes to explore geometry and fractions, creating their own designs, or filling in outlines. As they work with the shapes students explore geometric relationships, think about angles, investigate symmetry, and compose and decompose larger shapes. Many of these explorations lead naturally to thinking about fractions as parts of a whole. This virtual version of pattern blocks is an open-ended educational tool, ideal for elementary classrooms and other learning environments that use iPads. Pattern blocks are a key model used in Bridges in Mathematics, second edition. Online preview available at: www.mathlearningcenter.org/bridges FEATURES • Rotate shapes in increments of 15 degrees. • Measure angles with the protractor tool. • Duplicate and change the color and size of shapes. • Fill the built-in outlines with shapes or create your own to share with others. • Choose between a triangular or square grid, or a blank background. • Hide and reveal work with resizable covers to create your own problems and model strategies. • Use the drawing tools to annotate work and show understanding. • Add equations, expressions, and descriptions with the math text and writing tools. • Share your work by saving an image or providing a share code to others. ABOUT US This resource is brought to you by The Math Learning Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to K-12 education since 1976. Our mission is to inspire and enable individuals to discover and develop their mathematical confidence and ability. www.mathlearningcenter.org This app was crafted by Clarity Innovations. We help improve teaching and learning by creating solutions that match promising technologies with the needs of education. Visit us: www.clarity-innovations.com
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Pattern Shapes, by MLC at 70% against Fraction Circles's 25%. Pattern Shapes, by MLC also leads on ratings volume (17 vs 1). Fraction Circles's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.2) and update cadence (every 12 months vs every 26 months). 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.
Fraction Circles holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pattern Shapes, by MLC has 17 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 25% of Fraction Circles's written reviews are positive against 70% of Pattern Shapes, by MLC's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Fraction Circles ships an update every 12 months, Pattern Shapes, by MLC every 26 months. The most recent releases landed on August 10, 2026 and June 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Fraction Circles | Pattern Shapes, by MLC |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | 4.2 (17 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 25.0% of reviews | 70.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 17 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 12 months — better | Every 26 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPad | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 14.7 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 12 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Hooda Math LLC | The Math Learning Center |
Customer experience
Fraction Circles
Pattern Shapes, by MLC
In-app purchases
Fraction Circles
No in-app purchases
Pattern Shapes, by MLC
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Fraction Circles free?
Is Pattern Shapes, by MLC free?
Which has better reviews, Fraction Circles or Pattern Shapes, by MLC?
Do Fraction Circles or Pattern Shapes, by MLC have ads?
Which is updated more often, Fraction Circles or Pattern Shapes, by MLC?
Other comparisons
