Comparison

Top Hat vs Macmillan Learning eBook

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

Head to head
About

Top Hat

Enhance your learning experience with interactive resources, in-class participation tools, and dynamic digital textbooks. Engage with professors and peers, and test your knowledge with quizzes and polls to improve comprehension and retention.

Highlights
  • Follow lecture slides on your device
  • In-class response system
  • In-app discussions with peers and professors
  • Dynamic, interactive digital textbooks
  • Take polls and quizzes
  • Access graded and non-graded homework
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Top Hat is the perfect companion app to our comprehensive assessment platform that helps you learn better before, during and after class. Top Hat makes learning fun and engaging (seriously!) and sets you up for success, helping you connect with your professors, your peers and the content you’re learning in and out of the classroom. Here’s what Top Hat offers you: Compelling resources, delivered on your smartphone or laptop: • Follow your prof’s lecture slides on your own device • Contribute in class with an easy-to-use response system that’s always with you • Participate with your profs and peers using in-app discussions Content tailored to your course: • Experience dynamic, interactive textbooks loaded up with images, videos, audio clips and more • Read your digital materials from anywhere and keep them forever Quizzes, tests and polls that improve learning comprehension: • Challenge yourself by taking polls and quizzes on your own devices • Improve your knowledge retention with interactive assessment elements • Check for gaps in your understanding with graded and non-graded homework and short quizzes Thanks for using Top Hat. As you experience the app, we’d love to get your feedback: support@tophat.com or follow us on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook @TopHat

About

Macmillan Learning eBook

Access and study digital textbooks on your iPad or iPhone with a comprehensive, digital-first experience. Download books for offline reading, customize your study tools with notes and flashcards, and personalize the reading environment for easier learning.

Highlights
  • Offline reading
  • Note-taking and highlighting
  • Flashcard creation
  • Customizable reading settings
  • Read Aloud feature
  • Cross-device syncing
  • Accessibility features
Features
Read full description

Use Macmillan® Learning eBook to enjoy a digital-first, comprehensive study experience from the convenience of your iPad or iPhone. Download and access digital textbooks to study anytime, anywhere. Features: • Download books to your iOS device for 100% offline reading. • Customize highlighters and add notes for a rich study experience. • Create flashcards with text and images to learn concepts faster. • Personalize font, font size, and background colors to make reading easier. • Listen to your books and learn on the go with Read Aloud. • Sync your current reading position and all your work across devices so you can easily pick up where you left off. • Built with accessibility in mind.

Screenshots

Top Hat4 screens
Macmillan Learning eBook4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Top Hat at 4.6 against Macmillan Learning eBook's 4.3. Top Hat also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (23K vs 2.2K). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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

Top Hat holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Top Hat has 23K ratings behind it against 2.2K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 15% of Top Hat's written reviews are positive against 11% of Macmillan Learning eBook's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Top Hat ships an update every 2 weeks, Macmillan Learning eBook every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Top Hat versus Macmillan Learning eBook: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTop HatMacmillan Learning eBook
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (23K ratings) — better4.3 (2.2K ratings)
Positive reviews14.6% of reviews — better11.1% of reviews
Number of ratings23K — better2.2K
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
Best chart rank#188 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size152 MB183 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTop Hat MonocleHPHLP

Customer experience

Top Hat

All ratings23,089 ratings
Positive93.0%
Neutral3.2%
Negative3.8%
Written reviews198 reviews
Positive14.6%
Neutral8.6%
Negative76.8%

Macmillan Learning eBook

All ratings2,194 ratings
Positive81.9%
Neutral4.0%
Negative14.1%
Written reviews108 reviews
Positive11.1%
Neutral3.7%
Negative85.2%

User reviews

Top Hat

From 23K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Smooth and intuitive interface
  • 👍 Useful for attendance and in-class quizzes
  • 💡 Potential for interactive learning

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
  • 🔋 High battery consumption
  • 💰 Expensive subscription fees
  • 🔒 Privacy concerns with location tracking

Macmillan Learning eBook

From 2.2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 📚 Easy access to textbooks
  • 🔊 Useful read-aloud feature
  • 💻 Works well on desktop

Room to improve

  • 🔑 Login issues across devices
  • 🐛 Buggy and unstable app
  • 💾 Disappearing or lost content
  • 🔍 Poor search and navigation
  • 📝 Limited annotation and note-taking

Bugs and requests

Top Hat

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Answers not registering correctly
  • Slides not loading properly on mobile devices
  • Inconsistent performance across platforms

Requested features

3 requests
  • Add page numbers and search functionality to ebooks
  • Improve syncing between mobile and web versions
  • Allow more flexible location settings for attendance

Macmillan Learning eBook

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Login credentials not recognized
  • Frequent app crashes
  • Textbooks disappearing from library

Requested features

3 requests
  • Integrate with popular reading apps
  • Improve annotation and note-taking tools
  • Provide a universal e-reader option

In-app purchases

None

Top Hat

No in-app purchases

None

Macmillan Learning eBook

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Top Hat free?
Top Hat is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Macmillan Learning eBook free?
Macmillan Learning eBook is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Top Hat or Macmillan Learning eBook?
Top Hat is rated higher. Top Hat averages 4.6 out of 5 from 23K ratings, while Macmillan Learning eBook averages 4.3 from 2.2K ratings.
Do Top Hat or Macmillan Learning eBook have ads?
Neither Top Hat nor Macmillan Learning eBook shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Top Hat or Macmillan Learning eBook?
Top Hat ships an update every 2 weeks, and Macmillan Learning eBook every 3 months. Most recently, Top Hat was updated on October 21, 2026 and Macmillan Learning eBook on October 19, 2026.

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