SPEEDSim vs Pic2Mag
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SPEEDSim
Explore complex ecological and epidemiological models through interactive simulations. This tool introduces cellular automaton models and allows hands-on manipulation of parameters to visualize spatial dynamics. It's designed for educational outreach and scientific exploration.
- Interactive spatial simulations
- Cellular automaton models
- Parameter customization
- Visualize spatial dynamics
- Graph summaries over time
- Save images to Photos
- Pinch-to-zoom and pan
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Spatial Population Ecological and Epidemiological Dynamics Simulator (SPEED Sim) is a tool that enables hands-on interactive exploration of the spatial dynamics of various computational models in population ecology and epidemiology. The app also provides several cellular automaton models as an introduction to these kinds of simulations. This app has been used in numerous K-12 educational outreach venues, including: * Expanding Your Horizons workshops to stimulate interest in STEM fields among middle-school girls * 4-H workshops for middle- and high-school students * Workshop at the Maine Science Festival * Various visits to K-12 schools * An exhibit at the Maine Discovery Museum, a children's museum in Bangor, Maine The app currently includes twelve different models: - Conway's Game of Life: a classic cellular automaton that was created by mathematician John Conway in 1970. - Vants: (Langton's Virtual Ants) demonstrates how extremely complex behaviour can arise from a set of very simple rules. - Majority/Voter: models peer pressure, genetic drift or the spread of opinions and ideas. - Diffuse: physics model of particles randomly diffusing around (e.g. particles of ink in a jar of water) - Diffusion-Limited Aggregation: models a process similar to crystallization, with diffusing particles aggregating out of solution. - Cyclic Cellular Automaton: a generalized version of 'rock-paper-scissors.' - SIRS epidemiological model (Susceptible-Infectious-Recovered-Susceptible): demonstrates an infectious disease spreading through a population, where individuals have temporary immunity after recovering from the infection. - Dispersal2: a population model where individuals disperse their offspring at two local scales. - Fragmented Landscape:a population model with local and long-distance dispersal on a spatially structured heterogeneous landscape. - Competitive Species: an extension of the Fragmented Landscape model above, but with two species competing for available habitat with different strategies. - Block Disturbance: a spatial population ecology model where births occur individually, but when death occurs, entire blocks of sites go extinct simultaneously. - Vaccinated Communities epidemiological model: shows how the dynamics of an infectious disease are affected not only by the total amount of vaccination in a population, but also by the variability in vaccination levels among different communities. - Internet Worms: simulates the spread of malicious software spreading through the internet using biologically inspired dispersal strategies. The simulation models allow you to change all parameters controlling the dynamics. Images of the detailed spatial dynamics can be displayed, as well as graphs summarizing the behavior over time. Both types of images can be saved to the Photos library. New patterns can be interactively drawn in the system by simply moving your finger around on the lattice. You can also pinch-to-zoom, and then pan around using two fingers. Most of the models allow you to load images from the camera and run simulations on them. Tap the Options menu at the bottom of the Lattice screen to load images from the camera or the Photos library. For example: load the Diffuse model, turn on Walls mode in the Parameters tab, and then run the model on a photo of yourself. Note that the simulations are generally computational intensive and will run more quickly on newer iOS devices or when you select a smaller lattice size. The speed adjuster brought up from the Options menu near the bottom of the Lattice screen lets you slow down the simulation to observe the dynamics more closely. The larger screen on iPads allows for a much nicer interface, but the app is fully functional on iPhones and iPod Touches as well. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. DMS-0718786 and DMS-0746603 to David Hiebeler.
Pic2Mag
Visualize magnetic and electric fields by drawing magnets or charges. This educational tool helps students understand physics concepts by displaying field lines and voltage potentials. It offers a free, ad-free learning experience for iOS devices.
- Draw magnets to visualize magnetic fields
- Draw charges to visualize electric fields
- Magnetostatic and Electrostatic modes
- Field line and voltage potential plotting
- Caches results for faster processing
- Ad-free learning experience
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The user draws the magnets and the Pic2Mag program draws the magnetic fields. The Field Calculator program now has a Magnetostatic mode, and an Electrostatic mode to plot either magnetic fields or electric fields. The program designed to help students learn Magnetic fields and Electric fields. You can draw magnets and look at the magnetic field, or you can draw electric charges and look at the electric voltage field. The best free magnetic science program you can download! No advertisements, it's just all app. The app can process most images in just a few minutes. The app caches it's results so the more that you use it, the faster the program processes images. Red pixels represent magnets with a North pole surface facing the observer, and Blue pixels represent magnets with a South pole surface facing the observer. Pink pixels represent positive electric charges, and Dark Purple pixels represent negative electric charges
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Pic2Mag at 5.0 against SPEEDSim's 2.7. SPEEDSim's advantage is update cadence (every 4 months vs every 31 months) and ratings volume (18 vs 1). 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.
Pic2Mag holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 2.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SPEEDSim has 18 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
SPEEDSim ships an update every 4 months, Pic2Mag every 31 months. The most recent releases landed on September 9, 2026 and July 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SPEEDSim | Pic2Mag |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.7 (18 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 18 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months — better | Every 31 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 14 MB | 108 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | David Hiebeler | Michael Snyder |
Customer experience
SPEEDSim
Pic2Mag
In-app purchases
SPEEDSim
No in-app purchases
Pic2Mag
No in-app purchases









