Piazza vs UIC SAFE
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Piazza
This platform facilitates communication and learning for higher education. Students can ask and answer questions, while instructors can monitor student engagement. It provides real-time updates and a centralized space for class interactions.
- Ask and answer questions
- Real-time updates
- Centralized class communication
- Student engagement monitoring
- Mobile access for students and instructors
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Piazza is the leading social learning platform for higher education, used by hundreds of thousands of students and more than 15 thousand professors for centralized class communications and polling. If you're a student, the Piazza app lets you ask and answer questions in all your Piazza classes from your mobile device, and updates you in real time when your peers are engaged. If you're an instructor, the app gives you a simple way to check in on your students during those spare moments between meetings. Stay connected to your class with Piazza!
UIC SAFE
This official campus safety app connects students, faculty, and staff to university security systems. It offers real-time location sharing, emergency alerts, and direct communication with campus police for enhanced safety.
- Emergency call button
- Real-time location sharing with friends
- Instant safety notifications and alerts
- Live chat with campus police
- Anonymous tip reporting
- Emergency preparedness guidance
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UIC SAFE is the official safety app of University of Illinois at Chicago. It is the only app that integrates with UIC's safety and security systems. The Office of Preparedness and Response, along with the Office of Public and Government Affairs, and the UIC Police Department, have worked to develop a new mobile application that provides students, faculty and staff with added safety on the University of Illinois at Chicago campus. The new app is just one part of a number of strategies being implemented to enhance public safety and emergency preparedness on- and off-campus. The apps user-friendly interface allows users to easily connect and share their location with family and friends in real-time as they walk and report information to UIC Police, anonymously if needed. UIC SAFE features include: -Emergency call button: contact UIC Police quickly for help in an emergency. -Friend Walk: Send your location to a friend, who can watch you walk home in real-time. -Safety notifications: receive instant notifications, emergency UIC ALERTs, and instructions when on-campus emergencies occur. -Chat with UIC Police: Communicate live with a UIC Police officer via chat. -Emergency Contacts: Contact the correct services for the UIC area in case of an emergency or a non-emergency concern. -Tip Reporting: Multiple ways to report a safety/security concern directly to UIC Police. -Emergency Preparedness Protractive Measures: Learn what to do in case of an emergency. -Campus safety resources: access all important safety resources and student and employee services. Download today and ensure that you’re prepared in the event of an emergency.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: UIC SAFE at 3.6 against Piazza's 2.1. UIC SAFE also leads on review sentiment (36% vs 14%) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.6). Piazza's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 4 months) and ratings volume (277 vs 24). 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.
UIC SAFE holds the better App Store score, 3.6 against 2.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Piazza has 277 ratings behind it against 24, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 14% of Piazza's written reviews are positive against 36% of UIC SAFE's.
Piazza ships an update fortnightly, UIC SAFE every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and June 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Piazza | UIC SAFE |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.1 (277 ratings) | 3.6 (24 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 14.3% of reviews | 36.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 277 — better | 24 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 29 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Piazza Technologies, Inc. | University of Illinois at Chicago |
Customer experience
Piazza
UIC SAFE
Bugs and requests
Piazza
Reported bugs
4 issues- Inability to post or reply
- Randomly logs out users
- Fails to load posts and resources
- Incompatible with newer iOS versions
Requested features
5 requests- Dark mode option
- Ability to access course materials
- Improved formatting and editing tools
- Better organization of posts and discussions
- Seamless integration with web version
UIC SAFE
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Piazza
No in-app purchases
UIC SAFE
No in-app purchases
