Comparison

ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard vs Newsela Student

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard

Create and share voice-over whiteboard tutorials with this intuitive app. Easily record lessons, import images and documents, and share your creations with a global community or privately with students. Ideal for educators and anyone wanting to explain concepts visually.

Highlights
  • Voice-record tutorials
  • Import images and documents
  • Draw and erase tools
  • Unlimited lesson length
  • Share recordings online
  • Create student groups
  • Organize lessons into courses
Features
Read full description

Turn your iPad into your personal interactive whiteboard! ShowMe allows you to record voice-over whiteboard tutorials and share them online. It’s an amazingly simple app that anyone can use, no matter how young or old! INTUITIVE AND POWERFUL - Record your ShowMe tutorial right away — no manuals or complicated menus needed - Drop in images onto the whiteboard - Easily switch between drawing and erasing (as well as pausing and playing) to make your ShowMe flow from concept to concept - You can make your ShowMe as long or as short as it needs to be, and record as many ShowMe’s as you want. Go nuts! - Once you’re finished recording, upload your ShowMe to share with the community (or keep it private if you prefer) - Discover awesome tutorials created by other members of the ShowMe community A VARIETY OF USES - Easily explain a range of topics from math to chemistry to music theory to basket weaving. - Add ShowMe’s to your Do-It-Yourself blog - Attach a personal message to any travel photos you want to share - Diagram offensive and defensive strategies for sports - Grade student work with commentary explaining the reasoning behind their performance - Use ShowMe as an interactive whiteboard substitute Implement a “flipped classroom” - Showcase your ShowMes online and share your knowledge with your students, friends, family, or the world! FEATURES - Voice-record - Multiple brush colors - Enter text - Pause and erase - Import pictures from your photo library, built-in camera, or web image search - Import documents as pictures from Dropbox, or Google drive - Create video from any document - Unlimited lesson length - Free to upload and share your recordings with friends - Easy embedding for sharing anywhere - Manage students with Groups USING GROUPS "Groups" allows teachers to share their ShowMes and interact with students privately. A teacher with ShowMe Premium subscription can create an unlimited amount of groups and invite their students. Students can join groups for free! SHOWME PREMIUM ShowMe Premium is an auto-renewing monthly or yearly subscription which unlocks all ShowMe features. For just $9.99 a month or $89.99 a year: - Upload up to 300 hours of ShowMes - Post privately - Create study groups - Markup and share any documents in groups - Import documents into ShowMe - Search and import images from the web - Download your video files - Create student accounts - Create courses COURSES With "Courses" ShowMe creators can organize multiple ShowMe lessons and tutorials into one comprehensive lesson plan. PAID COURSES The ShowMe Marketplace allows premium users to earn extra income by posting paid premium courses for other educators or students within the ShowMe community. AS SEEN ON - TechCrunch - Business Insider - Numerous teacher blogs and educational blogs WE’RE HERE FOR YOU The ShowMe team is small, nimble, and quick to respond to suggestions/requests. Follow us on twitter at @showmeapp. Or feel free to drop us a line at support@showme.com with any questions, concerns, or stories about how you’re using ShowMe. LEGAL Privacy Policy: http://www.showme.com/privacy Terms & Conditions: http://www.showme.com/termsofuse - Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase - Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period - Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal - Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase - No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during active subscription period

About

Newsela Student

This app offers engaging articles on diverse topics, each presented at five different reading levels. It includes activities and quizzes to deepen understanding, automatically adjusting difficulty to keep learners challenged and motivated. Students can track their progress and practice vocabulary.

Highlights
  • Leveled articles on any topic
  • Adjustable reading levels
  • Integrated activities and quizzes
  • Offline annotation and submission
  • Real-time progress tracking
  • Vocabulary practice (Power Words)
  • Curated and custom learning sets
Features
Read full description

Connect what’s happening in class to what’s happening in the world around you. Newsela brings authentic, real-world content into the classroom with embedded scaffolds that build knowledge, reading comprehension, and confidence across subject areas. Explore high-interest non-fiction articles, Generation Genius videos, and interactive PhET Simulations. What students can do in this app: EXPLORE HIGH-INTEREST TOPICS Discover fresh content across current events, science, technology, animals, sports, arts, pop culture, engineering, space, and more. READ YOUR OWN WAY Customize the experience with adjustable reading supports like Language Translation and Listen mode. INTERACT WITH ARTICLES Annotate text, take Polls, complete Checks for Understanding, and use Guided Highlighting. STAY ON TRACK View assignments, check due dates, and set up reminders. TAKE ON READING CHALLENGES Pick from a library of interesting articles, build independent reading habits, and earn classroom rewards. Why educators love Newsela: PROVEN SKILL GROWTH Research shows regular Newsela use can lead to up to four (4) additional months of literacy growth. RELEVANT AND TRUSTED Developed by expert learning designers in partnership with trusted publishers to deliver standards-aligned, engaging content each week. What educators are saying: “We need tools that are ever-changing, just like the world.” - New Jersey educator “Gives [students] something they can practice independently.” - Ohio teacher “They are pushing themselves to read at more difficult levels.” - Virginia teacher “They were able to connect to the novel, thereby bringing it to life.” - Michigan educator Since 2013, Newsela has worked toward one mission: Meaningful classroom learning for every student, every day. To get started, download the app and sign in with your school account or learning management system (LMS). Terms of Service: https://newsela.com/legal/terms Privacy Policy: https://newsela.com/legal/newsela-privacy-policy Help Center: https://help.newsela.com/en/

Screenshots

Newsela Student4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Newsela Student at none against ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard's 10. Newsela Student also leads on device support (3 vs 1). ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 2 months). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Newsela Student asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard against 4.7 for Newsela Student. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 14K and 29K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 70% of ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard's written reviews are positive against 76% of Newsela Student's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard ships an update monthly, Newsela Student every 2 months. Both last shipped on November 7, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard versus Newsela Student: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShowMe Interactive WhiteboardNewsela Student
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (14K ratings)4.7 (29K ratings) — better
Positive reviews69.5% of reviews75.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings14K29K — better
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size55 MB38 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLearnbat, Inc.Newsela

Customer experience

ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard

All ratings13,579 ratings
Positive90.9%
Neutral4.2%
Negative4.9%
Written reviews489 reviews
Positive69.5%
Neutral7.4%
Negative23.1%

Newsela Student

All ratings28,929 ratings
Positive93.6%
Neutral2.8%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews315 reviews
Positive75.6%
Neutral3.8%
Negative20.6%

User reviews

ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard

From 14K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Helpful for teaching and learning
  • 💡 Great for creating instructional videos
  • 🎨 Allows for creative expression
  • 🤩 Loved by students and teachers

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and glitches
  • 💰 Expensive subscription model
  • 🔒 Lack of offline functionality
  • 🔍 Limited search and organization features
  • 🖌️ Could use more drawing/editing tools

Newsela Student

From 29K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Good app for different reading levels
  • 📚 Variety of informative articles
  • 🎓 Useful for education and learning
  • 🤓 Helps improve reading and vocabulary
  • 🙌 Great resource for teachers and students

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App crashes frequently
  • 🔍 Lack of specific search options
  • 💤 Boring or one-sided content
  • 🤔 Grading system needs improvement
  • 📱 Mobile app issues (login, navigation)

Bugs and requests

ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Unexpected loss of work and unsaved drafts
  • Syncing issues between recorded audio and drawings
  • Compatibility problems with newer iOS versions
  • Inconsistent performance on different devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to rearrange and delete slides
  • Improve video editing capabilities
  • Integrate with more cloud storage services
  • Optimize interface for larger iPad screens
  • Allow offline access and local file storage

Newsela Student

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Login issues on iOS 12
  • Binder page frequently freezes or glitches
  • Inability to see all available article sets
  • Replying and submitting work takes too long

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add word definitions or translations
  • Implement auto-save for writing assignments
  • Introduce a teacher-specific version of the app
  • Expand content to include more global news
  • Improve multitasking and split-screen support

In-app purchases

10 purchases

ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard

Subscriptions5
  • Groups$9.991 Month
  • ShowMe Premium$9.991 Month
  • ShowMe Premium$13.991 Month
Show 2 more
  • ShowMe Premium$89.991 Year
  • ShowMe Premium$129.991 Year
One-time5
  • Color Pack - Goldfish$0.99
  • Color Pack - Cake Shop$0.99
  • Color Pack - Plum basket$0.99
Show 2 more
  • Color Pack - Shades of blue$0.99
  • Save Private ShowMes$2.99
None

Newsela Student

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard free?
ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Newsela Student free?
Newsela Student is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard or Newsela Student?
Newsela Student is rated higher. ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard averages 4.6 out of 5 from 14K ratings, while Newsela Student averages 4.7 from 29K ratings.
Do ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard or Newsela Student have ads?
Neither ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard nor Newsela Student shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard or Newsela Student?
ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard ships an update monthly, and Newsela Student every 2 months. Most recently, ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard was updated on November 7, 2026 and Newsela Student on November 7, 2026.

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