Hands vs VR Science Lab
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Hands
Read full descriptionHide full description
Hands-On Math: Interactive Color Tiles provides students with an open-ended tool for exploring fundamental math concepts. The use of a Color Tiles is one of the best ways to give students an insight into a variety of important mathematical topics. Students place Color Tiles on an interactive Playground to represent mathematical ideas. Using Hands-On Math: Interactive Color Tiles students can develop and explore a variety of important mathematical concepts. Very young children can learn positional terms such as above, below, right,and left while creating colorful designs. Equivalency and related concepts for example, equal to, not equal, more, less, greater than, and less than are easily represented using Color Tiles. The basic operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division can all be represented using Color Tiles. Visualizing the meaning of these operations is a fundamental skill. More advanced ideas such as working with integers, fractions, decimals and percents are topics including in the lesson strategies. Color Tiles are especially well suited for introducing symmetry and asymmetry. Fact familes can be studied using two different Color Tiles to represent sets. An extensive Instructor's Guide for this app is available at the support website. Download the document and install it in iBooks to access ideas about how to use Color Tiles for teaching elementary mathematics.
VR Science Lab
Explore scientific principles through 25 engaging augmented and virtual reality experiments. Learn about chemical reactions, sound waves, and acidity with hands-on activities like volcano eruptions and slime making. Requires a physical kit to activate the AR/VR experiences.
- 25 AR/VR science experiments
- Learn chemical reactions
- Explore sound waves
- Understand acidity
- Hands-on activities
- Augmented and virtual reality integration
Read full descriptionHide full description
Dive into Professor Maxwell's virtual lab to explore the wonders of science through 25 fun experiments that come alive in augmented and virtual reality! Learn key scientific principles including chemical reactions, sound waves and acidity with integrated AR and VR. Then get hands on with favorite experiments including erupting a volcano, using lemons to light up an LED, making gooey slime and more, all in Professor Maxwell's VR Science Lab! To activate the experiences, simply download the app and hold your phone over the book included in the kit to see Professor Maxwell come to life!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: VR Science Lab at Free against Hands's $2.99. VR Science Lab also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 25 months) and device support (3 vs 1). On ads, in-app purchases and iOS requirement 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
VR Science Lab is free to download; Hands costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Hands ships an update every 25 months, VR Science Lab every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on March 26, 2026 and September 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Hands | VR Science Lab |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | — | 4.1 (13 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 13 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 25 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | — | Free |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 976 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ventura Educational Systems | Abacus |
In-app purchases
Hands
No in-app purchases
VR Science Lab
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Hands free?
Is VR Science Lab free?
Do Hands or VR Science Lab have ads?
Which is updated more often, Hands or VR Science Lab?
Other comparisons















