Proximate vs Lore
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Proximate
Discover Wikipedia articles relevant to your current location or any part of the world on an interactive map. Explore points of interest through an augmented reality view or glance at nearby articles on your Apple Watch. The app prioritizes user privacy by keeping location data on the device.
- Nearby Wikipedia articles on a map
- Augmented reality view
- Apple Watch app
- Widget support
- Privacy-focused design
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Proximate places interesting Wikipedia articles in the world around you. Tap on a marker to instantly start reading about that location. You can optionally use your current location to learn more about your surroundings. Scroll over to any other part of the world to see more articles. - Nearby Wikipedia articles on a smooth, interactive map - Augmented reality view of article locations around you - Apple Watch app to glance at nearby articles on your wrist - Widgets to show nearby articles - Privacy-friendly by design: your location stays on your device and is only used to show nearby articles
Lore
This app offers a serene and visually appealing way to explore Wikipedia articles. It focuses on a clean reading experience with customizable themes and typography, free from distractions like ads or editing tools. Enjoy frictionless navigation and private browsing, with your reading history stored locally.
- Book-like typography with adjustable text size
- Five customizable themes
- Clean article layouts
- Instant Wikipedia search
- Reading history kept locally
- Safari extension for sharing
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I wanted a quiet, beautiful way to read Wikipedia. That's what Lore is. For many of us, getting lost in Wikipedia is a near-daily hobby. Lore is built to make that easy and pleasant, with beautiful theming and text set in a classic serif font. No edit buttons, banners, or other elements to get in the way of reading and learning. READING, REFINED • Book-like typography with adjustable text size • Five hand-tuned themes: Warm Sepia, Cool Gray, Deep Blue, Sage Green, and Paper • Clean article layouts: collapsible tables, elegant infoboxes, footnotes tucked away • Tap any image to view it full screen • Jump anywhere in an article with the table of contents FRICTIONLESS • Instant search across English, French, and Spanish Wikipedia • Follow links from article to article, tumble down that rabbit hole • Reading history, kept only on your device • Share any article, or send Wikipedia pages straight to Lore with the share sheet and Safari extension • On iPhone and iPad, with the text column kept to a comfortable width KEEP WHAT YOU FIND • Save an article and it stays with you • Saved articles open with no connection at all, on a plane or underground • Everything is stored on your device. Nothing is uploaded anywhere. PRIVATE BY DESIGN • No account, no ads, no analytics, no tracking, ever. • Your history never leaves your device Lore is an independent app and is not affiliated with the Wikimedia Foundation. Article text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Proximate at none against Lore's 3. Lore's advantage is update cadence (every 6 days vs every 6 weeks). On price, rating, ratings volume 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
Both are free to download. Lore sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Proximate asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Proximate against 5.0 for Lore. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 4 respectively.
Proximate ships an update every 6 weeks, Lore every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Proximate | Lore |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (3 ratings) | 5.0 (4 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 3 | 4 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 — better | 26.2 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 92 MB | 6 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Small Enterprises | John Wentworth |
Customer experience
Proximate
Lore
In-app purchases
Proximate
No in-app purchases
Lore
- Kind Tip$1.00
- Very Kind Tip$3.00
- Ridiculous Tip$5.00








