Comparison

Bates' Pocket Guide vs Clinical Sense

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

Clinical Sense

Enhance your diagnostic and patient management skills through realistic clinical scenarios. This app offers engaging, real-world cases across various medical specialties, designed for healthcare professionals and students to practice and learn.

Highlights
  • Realistic clinical scenarios
  • Patient management over time
  • Real-time critical decision-making
  • Wide range of medical specialties
  • Concise diagnostic reasoning discussions
  • Weekly new scenario releases
Features
Read full description

With Clinical Sense, you can improve your ability to appropriately manage a patient over time: from presentation, to admission, to discharge and follow-up. Assume the role of a physician navigating a plethora of challenging clinical situations and make critical medical decisions in real time. Clinical Sense is designed for practicing physicians, medical students, nursing professionals, and other healthcare practitioners who want to learn and have fun while doing so. After all, practice makes perfect; and practice can be fun! Our scenarios offer a wide range of medical specialties, which can be played in minutes. They are also accompanied by a concise yet comprehensive discussion of the diagnostic reasoning, including insights into the ideal management of complications that may arise. The scenarios in this award-winning app are all based on the actual case-management experiences of more than 200 physicians across 30 specialties from all over the world. New scenarios are released every week, often in keeping with global endemic and epidemic trends, to help you brush up on the management skills that are the need of the hour! Achievements: • #1 ranked app in 40+ countries. • Top ranked free medical app in 120 countries. • 1,000,000+ downloads worldwide.

Screenshots

Bates' Pocket Guide4 screens
Clinical Sense4 screens

Verdict

The call

Bates' Pocket Guide and Clinical Sense both sit at 4.8 stars, but that hides the real split: 93% of Clinical Sense's written reviews are positive against 41% of Bates' Pocket Guide's. Clinical Sense also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (monthly vs every 11 months). Bates' Pocket Guide's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and device support (4 vs 2). On price, rating 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. Bates' Pocket Guide sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Clinical Sense asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Bates' Pocket Guide against 4.8 for Clinical Sense. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 304 and 260 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 41% of Bates' Pocket Guide's written reviews are positive against 93% of Clinical Sense's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bates' Pocket Guide ships an update every 11 months, Clinical Sense monthly. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Bates' Pocket Guide versus Clinical Sense: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBates' Pocket GuideClinical Sense
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (304 ratings) — better4.8 (260 ratings)
Positive reviews40.9% of reviews92.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings304 — better260
Update frequencyEvery 11 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesAd-supported — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB489 MB
Age rating17++17
DeveloperUnbound Medicine, Inc.Medical Joyworks LLC

Customer experience

Bates' Pocket Guide

All ratings304 ratings
Positive94.4%
Neutral2.3%
Negative3.3%
Written reviews22 reviews
Positive40.9%
Neutral13.6%
Negative45.5%

Clinical Sense

All ratings260 ratings
Positive95.0%
Neutral2.7%
Negative2.3%
Written reviews273 reviews
Positive92.7%
Neutral1.5%
Negative5.9%

User reviews

Bates' Pocket Guide

From 304 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Reliable reference
  • 🖼️ Helpful pictures for diagnosis
  • 📚 Good for quick reference
  • 💡 Easy to understand and logical format
  • 🎯 Useful for clinicals and easy to maneuver

Room to improve

  • 💰 Overpriced app
  • 🔄 Outdated software
  • 🖱️ Not user-friendly navigation
  • 💸 Repeated payments required
  • ❌ Incorrect information/algorithms

Clinical Sense

From 260 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent app
  • 👍 Amazing app
  • 👍 Wonderful way for teaching
  • 👍 Great cases
  • 👍 Engaging and informative

Room to improve

  • 🤔 So hard
  • 🐛 Crashes right away
  • 🐛 Crashes repeatedly
  • 🤔 Incomplete history
  • 🤔 Too long

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

Clinical Sense

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes on iPad
  • Crashes on iPhone 7
  • Crashes after a few pages into a scenario

Requested features

8 requests
  • More pain scenarios
  • More psychiatrist medicine
  • Imaging results
  • More questions about differential diagnosis and history/physical exam
  • Unlock all learning topics
Show 3 more
  • More cases
  • Randomization of cases
  • Cases with more vague/conflicting clinical findings

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Bates' Pocket Guide

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

Clinical Sense

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Bates' Pocket Guide free?
Bates' Pocket Guide is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Clinical Sense free?
Clinical Sense is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Bates' Pocket Guide or Clinical Sense?
Bates' Pocket Guide is rated higher. Bates' Pocket Guide averages 4.8 out of 5 from 304 ratings, while Clinical Sense averages 4.8 from 260 ratings.
Do Bates' Pocket Guide or Clinical Sense have ads?
Clinical Sense shows ads; Bates' Pocket Guide does not.
Which is updated more often, Bates' Pocket Guide or Clinical Sense?
Bates' Pocket Guide ships an update every 11 months, and Clinical Sense monthly. Most recently, Bates' Pocket Guide was updated on November 6, 2026 and Clinical Sense on November 6, 2026.

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