Comparison

Bates' Pocket Guide vs Proband

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

Head to head
About

Bates' Pocket Guide

This app provides essential information for obtaining health histories and conducting physical exams. It features step-by-step techniques, updated images, and differential diagnoses for quick and accurate interpretation of findings. Ideal for students and professionals needing a fast reference.

Highlights
  • Over 130 detailed topics
  • Step-by-step instructions
  • Updated photographs and illustrations
  • Two-column layout
  • New Algorithms for symptom approaches
  • Differential diagnoses
  • Highlighting and note-taking
  • Advanced search
Features
Read full description

*Featuring the latest content from the latest edition* ABOUT THE BATES' GUIDE: The Bates’ Pocket Guide to Physical Examination and History Taking contains the critical information needed to obtain a meaningful health history, conduct a thorough physical exam, and interpret the findings quickly and accurately. Locate answers fast and review step-by-step techniques and possible findings using the distinctive two-column format with updated images. Bates’ Pocket Guide to Physical Examination and History Taking is the ideal quick-reference resource for today’s medical, PA, pharmacy, and nursing students. FEATURES: • Over 130 detailed topics with step-by-step instructions • Updated photographs, illustrations, and references reinforce key content based on the latest evidence-based information • Two-column layout optimized for smartphones and tablets • New Algorithms provide helpful starting approaches for patients with common presenting symptoms. • Differential diagnoses for common, normal, and abnormal findings • Highlight and take notes within any entry • Advanced Search helps find topics quickly • “Favorites” for bookmarking important entries Authors: Lynn S. Bickley MD, FACP, Peter G. Szilagyi MD, MPH, Richard M. Hoffman MD, MPH, FACP, Rainier P. Soriano MD Publisher: Wolters Kluwer | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Powered by: Unbound Medicine Unbound Privacy Policy: www.unboundmedicine.com/privacy Unbound Terms of Use: https://www.unboundmedicine.com/end_user_license_agreement

About

Proband

Effortlessly create complex family pedigrees on your iPad. This tool uses a gesture-based interface and standard medical vocabularies to capture genetic history efficiently for counselors, geneticists, and researchers. Export diagrams in PDF and PNG formats for sharing and integration into electronic health records.

Highlights
  • Gesture-based pedigree drawing
  • Standard medical vocabularies (ICD-10-CM, HPO)
  • Depicts all family relationships
  • PDF and PNG export
  • Tracks disease history
  • Undo/Redo functionality
Features
Read full description

PROBAND enables genetic counselors, geneticists, and researchers to effortlessly create family pedigrees on the iPad. Designed for use at the point of interview, PROBAND uses a simple, gesture-based interface to make drawing pedigrees as efficient as drawing on paper. With PROBAND, you can quickly create even the most complex family pedigrees simply and easily using the entire standard nomenclature. See a video of Proband in action at http://probandapp.com Capabilities •Counselor can interact directly with the individual and quickly capture family history •Depicts all family relationships: parents, siblings, twins, half-siblings, donors, and surrogates •Uses standard healthcare vocabularies (ICD-10-CM, HPO), free text •Intelligent use of multi-touch gestures and context-aware interface elements make editing efficient and easy, even for complex tasks •Supports standard pedigree symbol partitions •Exports to PDF and PNG for sharing annotated diagrams and for inclusion in other forums such as electronic health records •Tracks disease history through families with affected quadrants •Robust undo and edit allows flexibility during dynamic interview sessions •Capture any level of detail, without the space limitations imposed by paper •Stores information in a structured format for use by other software, computing systems, and clinical decision support algorithms Features •ICD-10-CM and Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO) disease annotations •Multiple relationships per person •Surrogates and donors •Half Siblings •Fraternal and Identical Twins •Undo/Redo •Free-text annotations •All data is stored locally on the iPad •High quality PDF/PNG export This application is one example of the many ways in which DBHi helps transform clinical care and research at our institution and across the industry. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is a non-profit entity as defined by Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. About The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals and pioneering major research initiatives, Children's Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country, ranking third in National Institutes of Health funding. In addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 460-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents. For more information, visit http://www.chop.edu. The Department of Biomedical and Health Informatics (DBHi) resides in The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia as the home for the development of innovative solutions to healthcare's immediate and long-term informatics needs. We provide informatics-focused services, applications, and educational programs to Children's Hospital clinicians and researchers and seek to transform their craft with high-impact, low-cost solutions. http://dbhi.chop.edu

Screenshots

Bates' Pocket Guide4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Proband at 100% against Bates' Pocket Guide's 41%. Proband also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 14 months). Bates' Pocket Guide's advantage is rating (4.8 vs 4.0) and ratings volume (302 vs 8). On price and ads 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. Bates' Pocket Guide sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Proband asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Bates' Pocket Guide holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bates' Pocket Guide has 302 ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 41% of Bates' Pocket Guide's written reviews are positive against 100% of Proband's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bates' Pocket Guide ships an update every 14 months, Proband every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Bates' Pocket Guide versus Proband: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBates' Pocket GuideProband
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (302 ratings) — better4.0 (8 ratings)
Positive reviews40.9% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings302 — better8
Update frequencyEvery 14 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPad
Requires iOS15.09.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB7 MB
Age rating17+12+
DeveloperUnbound Medicine, Inc.The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Customer experience

Bates' Pocket Guide

All ratings301 ratings
Positive94.4%
Neutral2.3%
Negative3.3%
Written reviews22 reviews
Positive40.9%
Neutral13.6%
Negative45.5%

Proband

All ratings8 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Bates' Pocket Guide

Reported bugs

9 issues
  • Sectional information is wrong
  • Topics do not correlate to information
  • Asterisk information is incorrect
  • App information needs updating and reviewing
  • Software is glitchy
Show 4 more
  • Hard to navigate between topics
  • Algorithm images are mismatched with titles
  • Doesn't take Bates account
  • Didn't work (iOS 7)

Requested features

5 requests
  • Update and review app information for accuracy
  • Improve content layout and navigation
  • Offer better preview options before purchase
  • Provide discounts for existing textbook/resource owners
  • Clarify product offerings to avoid buyer confusion

Proband

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Bates' Pocket Guide

One-time1
  • Bates' Pocket Guide 9th ed.$69.99
None

Proband

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Bates' Pocket Guide free?
Bates' Pocket Guide is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Proband free?
Proband is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Bates' Pocket Guide or Proband?
Bates' Pocket Guide is rated higher. Bates' Pocket Guide averages 4.8 out of 5 from 302 ratings, while Proband averages 4.0 from 8 ratings.
Do Bates' Pocket Guide or Proband have ads?
Neither Bates' Pocket Guide nor Proband shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Bates' Pocket Guide or Proband?
Bates' Pocket Guide ships an update every 14 months, and Proband every 2 months. Most recently, Bates' Pocket Guide was updated on October 21, 2026 and Proband on October 24, 2026.

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