Comparison

ARF RHD Guidelines vs ESC Pocket Guidelines

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

Head to head
About

ARF RHD Guidelines

This app provides clinicians with up-to-date evidence and guidance for diagnosing and managing acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease. It includes a diagnostic calculator based on global criteria to simplify complex algorithms.

Highlights
  • Diagnosis and management of ARF/RHD
  • Up-to-date evidence-based information
  • ARF Diagnosis Calculator
  • Global diagnostic criteria compliance
  • Published by RHDAustralia
Features
Read full description

Rheumatic heart disease represents the greatest cardiovascular inequality between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. From 2013 to 2017, 94% of all new rheumatic heart disease cases were among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This app assists clinicians in the diagnosis and management of acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease. Published by RHDAustralia, based at Menzies School of Health Research, the app contains the most up-to-date evidence and details various aspects of patient care. It is informed by the 2020 Australian guideline for prevention, diagnosis and management of acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease (3rd edition), available at https://www.rhdaustralia.org.au/arf-rhd-guideline. The app also contains an ARF Diagnosis Calculator which embeds the lengthy and complex ARF diagnosis algorithms into a series of simple questions that assist clinicians to diagnose ARF. The algorithms comply with the 2015 American Heart Association revision of the Jones Criteria for diagnosis of ARF, which has been endorsed by the World Heart Federation, making the Diagnosis Calculator now able to be used globally.

About

ESC Pocket Guidelines

Access a comprehensive library of the latest cardiovascular disease guidelines and consensus statements from the European Society of Cardiology. Features include interactive algorithms, full-text search, bookmarking, note-taking, and content sharing capabilities for quick reference and study.

Highlights
  • Latest ESC Guidelines (2023-2025)
  • Interactive algorithms
  • Full-text search
  • Bookmarking and notes
  • Content sharing
  • Printable pages
Features
Read full description

The ESC Pocket Guidelines app now contains the following ESC Pocket Guidelines: ESC Guidelines and documents published in 2025 Cardiovascular disease and pregnancy (Guidelines) Mental health and cardiovascular disease (Consensus Statement) Myocarditis and pericarditis (Guidelines) Valvular heart disease (Joint Guidelines with EACTS) Focused update of the 2019 dyslipidaemias guidelines ESC Guidelines published in 2024 Elevated blood pressure and hypertension Atrial fibrillation Chronic coronary syndromes Peripheral arterial and aortic diseases ESC Guidelines and documents published in 2023 Acute coronary syndromes Cardiomyopathies Cardiovascular disease in diabetes Endocarditis Focused update of the 2021 heart failure guidelines The ESC Pocket Guidelines app also contains interactive tools in the form of algorithms. Additional features: Perform „full text", „index" or „filtered" searches through the entire downloaded content of the app, bookmarks and the notes. Bookmark specific sections or create a personal note and access bookmarks and notes from the „Library“ section. Share links to specific areas of the app via communication channels, e.g. AirDrop, Mail, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and many others. Print pages. Please follow the link below to register for a new MyESC account: https://escol.escardio.org/MyESC/login.aspx

Screenshots

ARF RHD Guidelines3 screens
ESC Pocket Guidelines4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: ARF RHD Guidelines at 100% against ESC Pocket Guidelines's 51%. ARF RHD Guidelines also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.8) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.1). ESC Pocket Guidelines's advantage is ratings volume (841 vs 1) and update cadence (every 4 months vs every 16 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ARF RHD Guidelines holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ESC Pocket Guidelines has 841 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of ARF RHD Guidelines's written reviews are positive against 51% of ESC Pocket Guidelines's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ARF RHD Guidelines ships an update every 16 months, ESC Pocket Guidelines every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on September 16, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
ARF RHD Guidelines versus ESC Pocket Guidelines: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterARF RHD GuidelinesESC Pocket Guidelines
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better4.8 (841 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better50.8% of reviews
Number of ratings1841 — better
Update frequencyEvery 16 monthsEvery 4 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB44 MB
Age rating12+17+
DeveloperMenzies School of Health ResearchESC - European Society of Cardiology

Customer experience

ARF RHD Guidelines

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

ESC Pocket Guidelines

All ratings841 ratings
Positive96.6%
Neutral1.5%
Negative1.9%
Written reviews61 reviews
Positive50.8%
Neutral1.6%
Negative47.5%

Bugs and requests

ARF RHD Guidelines

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

ESC Pocket Guidelines

Reported bugs

8 issues
  • App crashes on iPad and iPhone devices
  • Login authentication failures
  • White blank page display
  • App crashes when opening pathways
  • Guidelines not appearing in downloaded folder
Show 3 more
  • App incompatible with older iOS versions
  • Slow and sluggish performance
  • Full screen not supported on iPad Mini 6

Requested features

5 requests
  • Update to support iPad Mini 6 resolution
  • Include 2023 ESC Congress updates
  • Remove or make sign-in optional
  • Improve font size and design for better readability
  • Add new guidelines (e.g., 2013 stable angina guidelines)

In-app purchases

None

ARF RHD Guidelines

No in-app purchases

None

ESC Pocket Guidelines

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ARF RHD Guidelines free?
ARF RHD Guidelines is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ESC Pocket Guidelines free?
ESC Pocket Guidelines is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, ARF RHD Guidelines or ESC Pocket Guidelines?
ARF RHD Guidelines is rated higher. ARF RHD Guidelines averages 5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while ESC Pocket Guidelines averages 4.8 from 841 ratings.
Do ARF RHD Guidelines or ESC Pocket Guidelines have ads?
Neither ARF RHD Guidelines nor ESC Pocket Guidelines shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ARF RHD Guidelines or ESC Pocket Guidelines?
ARF RHD Guidelines ships an update every 16 months, and ESC Pocket Guidelines every 4 months. Most recently, ARF RHD Guidelines was updated on September 16, 2026 and ESC Pocket Guidelines on September 21, 2026.

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